Coming off lithium

@Basecamp80

Okay, first things first, DO NOT stop your lithium or change your dose without speaking to your doctor first.

Secondly, the reason you've been symptom free is because you've been taking your lithium. Bipolar disorder is a lifelong illness. Once your mood has been stabilized, drug therapy is continued indefinitely to prevent relapse. When lithium treatment stops, relapses can occur within six months in 90% of patients.

When lithium is used as part of maintenance therapy for bipolar disorder, your doctor will want to take regular blood tests during your treatment because it can affect kidney and thyroid function. Which can also affect weight gain.

There's lots of reasons you could be gaining weight on lithium, some easy to fix, so you don't have to stop the medication.

Lithium often triggers increased thirstiness. Quenching your thirst with high-calorie beverages, such as full-calorie soda or fruit juice, is a possible contributor to weight gain. Lithium might also cause sodium and water retention in people who consume a high-salt diet, which can lead to added body weight.

Reduced thyroid function, or hypothyroidism, is a well-known potential complication of long-term lithium treatment. This condition leads to a reduced metabolic rate, which in turn leads to weight gain. Hence the blood tests.

Talk to your doctor about your options, he could lower your dose, but that does put you at risk of relapse. Usually the best way to tackle the weight gain is through diet and exercise.