Kaleidoscope Eyes
October 28th, 2008, 11:31 PM
I've been taking Lithium to help manage my mood. I have Bipolar disorder 2 and take anti-depressants to treat it. Unfortunately, SSRIs induce mania for me, and I don't respond as well to the dopamine drugs as to the serotonin ones. To fix this, and keep me on a drug that manages the depression well, I was put on Lithium about a year ago. I gained nearly 30 pounds, but I'm working to lose it and my mood has been great. I'm happy to finally feel stable.
Over the past year, I've begun to notice that my hair sheds more than it used to. More hair gets caught in the shower drain, in my hairbrush, I find myself running my hands through my hair and several times per day coming back with 10 or 20 shed hairs in my hand, more than I've ever noticed before on a regular basis. My mom braided my hair tonight, and even the braids aren't as thick as they used to be. It looks like maybe 1/3 of the volume of my hair is gone, maybe a little more. Luckily, I had very thick hair to start with, but now it's about middle-of-the-road thicknes, just sort of average. I've also noticed that my hairline looks a little different. Its not receding, but there is a thin area on either side of my forehead that lately is thinner than it used to be--you can see my scalp through it when it's pulled back certain ways. My mom did some online research because I was concerned, and it turns out that Lithium can cause hair loss in something like 10% of patients, mostly girls. And, unlike the weight gain, it's not likely to just reach a point and stop.
My options are to sit back and see how far it goes, or switch medications. Next time I see my psychiatrist I'll have to talk to her, and discuss what can be done for this. Theoretically we could lower the Lithium and see if that works, the hair loss is often linked to concentration of the drug, not taking it in general. But right now my Lithium levels are perfect. We've tried lowering it when I started gaining weight and I was too low, it didn't work right. So I guess I'm looking at switching medications. Luckily, my research indicates that after I stop the Lithium, my hair will grow back, and at the very least the loss will stop.
I am just... so stressed out about this. I've been stable! I've been doing great! I've been going to college, on my own, taking public transportation and sitting on campus for 10 hours more or less by myself, and I'm getting good grades. I want to step up to 12 units next semester and actually go full time. I want to transfer in 2 years, to match up with when Christy will move out here and, maybe its silly, but I'm afraid that a bad semester (or two) will seriously alter my ability to do that. I don't want to do this trial and error, dealing with withdrawals, feeling like crap while we work things out again!
*sigh* I guess the point of making this thread was not to rant, but to ask you guys what meds you're on for your Bipolar. I know it helps me to have kind of an idea of what I might be looking at before I talk to my doctor about new meds. Specifically I'm asking about ones that are potential Lithium alternatives, though of course there's always the chance that my anti-depressant (Effexor) will change as well. So what meds are you on? How have/are they working for you?
Post-Script: I'm sorry this post was so long. If you stuck it out and read through it all, you deserve a cookie.
Over the past year, I've begun to notice that my hair sheds more than it used to. More hair gets caught in the shower drain, in my hairbrush, I find myself running my hands through my hair and several times per day coming back with 10 or 20 shed hairs in my hand, more than I've ever noticed before on a regular basis. My mom braided my hair tonight, and even the braids aren't as thick as they used to be. It looks like maybe 1/3 of the volume of my hair is gone, maybe a little more. Luckily, I had very thick hair to start with, but now it's about middle-of-the-road thicknes, just sort of average. I've also noticed that my hairline looks a little different. Its not receding, but there is a thin area on either side of my forehead that lately is thinner than it used to be--you can see my scalp through it when it's pulled back certain ways. My mom did some online research because I was concerned, and it turns out that Lithium can cause hair loss in something like 10% of patients, mostly girls. And, unlike the weight gain, it's not likely to just reach a point and stop.
My options are to sit back and see how far it goes, or switch medications. Next time I see my psychiatrist I'll have to talk to her, and discuss what can be done for this. Theoretically we could lower the Lithium and see if that works, the hair loss is often linked to concentration of the drug, not taking it in general. But right now my Lithium levels are perfect. We've tried lowering it when I started gaining weight and I was too low, it didn't work right. So I guess I'm looking at switching medications. Luckily, my research indicates that after I stop the Lithium, my hair will grow back, and at the very least the loss will stop.
I am just... so stressed out about this. I've been stable! I've been doing great! I've been going to college, on my own, taking public transportation and sitting on campus for 10 hours more or less by myself, and I'm getting good grades. I want to step up to 12 units next semester and actually go full time. I want to transfer in 2 years, to match up with when Christy will move out here and, maybe its silly, but I'm afraid that a bad semester (or two) will seriously alter my ability to do that. I don't want to do this trial and error, dealing with withdrawals, feeling like crap while we work things out again!
*sigh* I guess the point of making this thread was not to rant, but to ask you guys what meds you're on for your Bipolar. I know it helps me to have kind of an idea of what I might be looking at before I talk to my doctor about new meds. Specifically I'm asking about ones that are potential Lithium alternatives, though of course there's always the chance that my anti-depressant (Effexor) will change as well. So what meds are you on? How have/are they working for you?
Post-Script: I'm sorry this post was so long. If you stuck it out and read through it all, you deserve a cookie.