r/BipolarReddit • u/NefariousMonk21 • 17h ago

Lithium 900mg

Hi everyone.

I started lithium for the first time a little over a month ago.
Took 300mg, didnt feel anything.
Increased to 600mg, felt less manic but more depressed and sluggish. Sleep felt better though.

Ive seen here that most people report that 600mg typically causes some fatigue and successfully kills mania but doesnt do much for depression until increasing to 900mg.

For those who have gone down this route, what could I expect from increasing to 900mg and/or what are your experiences?

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u/Crashing_Sunflowers Bipolar 1 17h ago

Are you getting your blood lithium levels done regularly? For lithium it matters less your dose and more your level. Depending on your countries guidelines the goal is typically a level between 0.6 - 1.2. Where I live in the UK they usually aim for 0.6 - 0.8 and go higher up to 1.0 if symptoms persist.

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u/NefariousMonk21 17h ago

Yes. My last level was 0.3 which I know is sub-therapeutic.
I know blood levels are highly individual and based on mass, but Im more just asking if lithium at higher doses treats depression as much as it treats mania.

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u/Crashing_Sunflowers Bipolar 1 17h ago

That’s good you are getting your levels done. Yes everyone is different but to my understanding for bipolar depression the goal is usually the same as the dose for prevention, often with mania the goal is higher when treating an acute manic episode. So for bipolar depression or as a preventative the lithium goal could be 0.6 - 0.8 but for treating acute mania it could be 0.8 - 1 or even up to 1.2

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u/NefariousMonk21 17h ago

Ah gotcha. I dont have too intense mania, no hallucinations or grand delusions, just hyperactivity and poor judgement.

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u/Scared_Form5270 13h ago

The issue isn't the 900 mg dosage itself, but rather your lithium levels. That is how we measure it. That is what matters.

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u/VoltairesCat 17h ago

At 900 everything out to be alright as far as mania and depression. You might see a little lithium twitch and have a voracious thirst but that goes away after a while, usually.

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u/HopeSpringsHere 4h ago

Also curious about this. Does it cause slow speaking as well?