Lithium mood changes

The clinical value of lithium has been recognized since 1949. Lithium carbonate is used in manic depressive psychoses for the treatment of recurrent mood changes.261,262 Mood stability may only occur after months rather than weeks. The drug is administered orally in doses up to 2 g day-1 (30 mmol day-1). The serum Li concentration should be in the range of 0.4-0.8 mmol 1. ... 

Twelve patients with mood disorder had electroencephalography before and after taking lithium for an average of 4.4 months (169). Lithium-related changes included ... 

Lithium (Li) has been used in the treatment of bipolar disorder (manic depression) for approximately 50 years. Over 2000 British patients use Li for this disease. The illness is characterized by alternative states of depression and mania, or overexcitement. At times, the cycle of mood changes continue for several weeks or for one year with good results (intervals) between the phases. In Texas, a correlation has been noted between the influence of Li-salts and the drinking water as well as the increase in visits to psychiatric (mental) public health hospitals. 

Confusion, mood changes, decreased sexual interest, and weight gain are symptoms that may be unrelated to drug administration. On the other hand, psychiatric drugs, including those used in the treatment of psychotic and affective disorders, may be responsible for such symptoms. Tremor and symptoms of nephrogenic diabetes insipidus are characteristic adverse effects of lithium that may occur at therapeutic blood levels of the dmg. The answer is (D). 

Lithium carbonate is used specifically for the prophylaxis or prevention of recurrent mood changes in patients suffering from manic depressive psychoses, the recurrent affective disorders. It is of limited use for other psychiatric states, with the possible exception of pathological aggression, where it does seem to have a role to play. Despite many scares, lithium is a very safe drug in experienced hands. The ability of lithium to reduce or abolish recurrent mood swings has undoubtedly improved immensely the quality of life of many patients and their families and saved the lives of many who would otherwise have been led to suicide. ... 

Depression and mania are both affective disorders but their symptoms and treatments are quite distinct. Mania is expressed as heightened mood, exaggerated sense of self-worth, irritability, aggression, delusions and hallucinations. In stark contrast, the most obvious disturbance in depression is melancholia that often co-exists with behavioural and somatic changes (Table 20.1). Some individuals experience dramatic mood swings between depression and mania. This is known as "bipolar disorder which, like mania itself, is treated with lithium salts or neuroleptics. 

Lithium is therapeutically used in the prevention of major changes in mood which are characteristic of the affective disorders (Birch et al. 1994). The therapy can be... 

Kropf, D. Muller-Oerlinghausen, B. 1979, Changes in learning, memory, and mood during lithium treatment. Approach to a research strategy, Acta Psychiatr.Scand., vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 97-124. 

From alcohol and methamphetamine to Prozac, Valium, lithium, and Zyprexa, psychoactive substances disguise their adverse mental effects for the user. A person grossly mentally impaired by stimulants, benzodiazepine tranquilizers, mood stabilizers, or neuroleptics is likely to have little idea about how dysfunctional he or she has become. When the individual does perceive a change in himself or herself, positive or negative, it is almost never attributed to the causative agent the drug. If the individual feels euphoric, it is attributed to good fortune and especially... 

Patients with bipolar disorder frequently require multiple medications or changes in therapy. For example, antianxiety agents are helpful in reducing anxiety and agitation, especially in patients who refuse antimanic or antipsychotic agents. Likewise an added antipsychotic is more effective than lithium alone in acute manic episodes that include significant psychomotor activity and delusions or hallucinations. Ongoing treatment with antipsychotics after the manic episode is resolved is often not necessary. However, it is not uncommon for a refractory patient to require a combination of mood stabilizers, an antidepressant, and an antipsychotic. 

---