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How Long Does Lithium Take To Work For Depression. It can take up to 2 weeks for the drug to be effective and up to 3 weeks for manic symptoms to diminish and 15 months to. I suffer severe depression and as i said it has made a difference but im far from good. Lithium concentrations should be determined immediately before the next dose ie 8 to 12 hours after the previous lithium dose. It can also cause problems with your kidneys or thyroid gland.
View 6 Replies Mental Health. But to answer your question it takes 57 days to reach the level necessary to get an accurate blood level and hopefully an improvement i. Similarly lithium itself can have whats known as a paradoxical reaction where it actually creates more anxiety and depression which is another important reason not to use lithium without talking to your doctor. It will probably take several weeks to see big enough changes in your symptoms to decide if lithium is the right medication for you. Recent high-quality studies have confirmed the central role of lithium in the treatment of bipolar disorder and have established lithium as the drug of first choice for long-term prophylaxis in this condition. You see people who respond to lithium augmentation do so within a couple of weeks.
Many people need to stay on it long-term to prevent the illness relapsing.
My Psychiatrist wants to prescribe for me as most of the ADs have stopped working. 3 But such detailed follow-up is difficult compared to population-based measures like rehospitalization. Lithium is one of the most widely used medications for the treatment of bipolar disorder. However several indications for its use in unipolar major depression are also based on sound evidence. If you are having depressive mood swings or cannot seem to get your mood stabilized this medication may work wonders. Lithium concentrations should be determined immediately before the next dose ie 8 to 12 hours after the previous lithium dose.