Medications question

[akita]

My GP wants to change my mood stabiliser to either Lithium or Largactil and since having been on neither before, I thought I was ask about them here and what people thought of being on either drug.

Did it work for you? Did it make you gain weight? Any side effects you had whilst on it? Anything else you can tell me about them? I will add that I already have asthma and an irregular heartbeat which might be listed in the side effects.

Thanks for reading and your help.

[Emmabob.]

dont know about largactil, but my psych wanted to get me started on lithium - brought up the asthma & said it should be fine, heard it can cause shakiness & palpitations though which may be an issue if youre using your inhalers a lot?

[one lie at a time]

Why does your GP want to change it? I haven't taken Largactil, but I have taken lithium. It works for a lot of people. For me, the side effects outweighed the benefits. Keep in mind that medications effect people differently - you might have none while taking it.

[Steel Maiden]

I have never tried Largactil or Lithium, but Lithium is said to work well despite the numerous side-effects. Largactil is a D2 blocker with low potency, it is very sedating at higher doses (and is still sedating at lower doses, more so than a lot of antipsychotics). However for some, especially those with bad insomnia and/or mania, the sedation can be welcoming. Largactil also has stronger anticholinergic effects like constipation and orthostatic hypotension, however it has less EPS than haloperidol. But Largactil has been helpful for many, just like Lithium.

Lithium can cause weight gain and chlorpromazine can too, but I don't know if the weight gain is as severe as olanzapine/clozapine or less.

What medications are you on right now?

Also check out the electronic medicines compendium (google those three words and you'll get it) and you can search for any medication marketed in the UK - although I think you need to type the generic name of the drug (i.e. chlorpromazine not Largactil) in order to find information about it.

[Cedrus]

I was on chlorpromazine in hospital as PRN, I can't say it made me gain weight, but I wasn't on it long, nor a high dose. It helped me relax however and I thought it was a good drug to have instead of benzodiazepines.

Good luck with whatever you choose to go with!

[caz23]

I can't help you with the Largactil I'm afraid, but I have been taking Lithium since December 2009 and personally have found it to be quite effective.

In terms of side effects I think that I'm certainly one of the lucky ones and haven't suffered with much of anything other than low libido, increased thist and needing to pee about 500 times a day! It did unfortunately make me gain some weight, but on the plus side I have managed to lose that weight again whilst still taking it.

So for me personally, the positives outweigh the negatives and even with the rather irksome blood tests I'm quite happy to keep taking it for the foreseeable future.

I hope that helps a little and that you have success with which ever med you decide to go with.

[Luukas]

I can only comment on lithium, as that's the only one I have taken. I found the benefits of lithium to be far greater than the problems, but that is one person's experience. The thirst that goes with lithium can be annoying - some days I am drinking water all day and yet remain constantly thirsty, and the following day my bladder feels like a TARDIS, larger on the inside. Fortunately, lithium thirst isn't a constant side effect, just one that appears and disappears in no pattern I've discovered. I have gained some weight, but the unhealthy lifestyle that goes with major depression could well explain that. The biggest benefit I see of lithium is that when I have bad days, I seem to bounce back more easily than I once did. I hope one day to no longer need any meds, but until then I expect to keep benefiting from the help lithium can provide.

[akita]

Quote:

Originally Posted by one lie at a time

Why does your GP want to change it?

He seems to think that the Tegretol isn't working properly.

[akita]

Thanks everyone for the replies on Lithium. I'll do some more researching on both.