Posted by papillon2 on February 28, 2012, at 3:51:32
In reply to Saphris/Lithium - effect on comprehension -, posted by Solstice on February 27, 2012, at 21:07:02
> But.. which do you think would be more likely to cause this thing? Lithium... or Saphris?
Lithium can certainly cause cognitive impairments in some people. I have unipolar depression, not bipolar disorder, but when my Lithium level was .8 it felt like there was a brick wall in my brain blocking any sort of comprehension. It was so bad I would literally stand on the spot staring at whatever was in front of me. But as Scott says, bipolar disorder can also cause confusion. And the Saphris website lists confusion as a side effect, too.
So, once your daughter's Saphris dose is leveled out, perhaps she can perform a little experiment by lowering her Lithium dose (no need to cut it out completely). If the cognition problems get better, you'll know it was the Lithium. If it's the same, then it's her illness or the Saphris. I must stress though that it's very important to change medication doses only one at a time, if more than one is changed you won't know what is helping and what isn't.
Lithium side effects are largely dose-dependent. At a lower dose, your daughter might retain some of the benefits of Lithium with fewer (or no discernible) side effects. It probably wouldn't be enough for Lithium monotherapy, though.
Always speak to your psychiatrist before making any such changes.
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poster:papillon2
thread:1011847
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120221/msgs/1011888.html