YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

I have been on every antidepressant I can afford w/o insurance; and, none have helped. I've been struggling with mood swings since I was a teenager and lithium is an affordable option I haven't tried. I can't see a therapist or psychiatrist- I don't have money, insurance, or medicaid. I do see a family practicioner that would probably write a script for it. Has it helped anyone? What are the side effects, etc... can you drink at all? Any info would be appreciated.

I was on lithium along with prozac, and it helped for a while, then it "pooped" out on me and didn't have same effect.

I was not a typical lithium user. My body was so efficient at breaking it down, I had to take a mega-dose, and even then my bloodstream showed only a trace amount. So I would not be a good person to ask about side effects.

Wish I could be more of a help.

Please take care, all the best, we here are all cheering for your greatest today and tomorrow!

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From this MentalPod board - some places to get help for people with limited resources:

• Help for little or no money
• Best Insurance Companies/Types for Mental Health Care
• Links for More Mental Health Info/Suicide Hotlines

Thanks, I think lithium might be too dangerous for me. I don't know what to do....I can't do anything.

Heather, have you tried Paxil (paroxetine is the generic name)? For many years it helped a lot with my depression & some mood swings. Then I went off of it to see if maybe I could live life without medication and just change diet/exercise/supplements/etc but in the end after 6 months of fighting to find another way I ended up going back on medication and have since accepted that it is just what I need. Unfortunately when I tried to go back on Paxil I had problems so have since changed to other med's. I've never personally tried Lithium but have tried Lamictal and found it to be helpful but causes a bit of brain fog. It seems that is a side effect of most Bipolar drugs from what I understand.

Heather- Hey there

I've felt your pain and it thoroughly sucks! I'm in the same situation- lost my insurance, don't have Medicaid, poor as hell bc of all my mental/medical issues, etc... Thankfully, my psychiatrist right now is pretty mindful of that. It make me furious when past docs have tried to start me on something I can't afford to keep up- and/or have to rely on them to consistently give me samples 'like they say they can'. Grrr.

I'm not sure whether you have something in your area- but currently I'm seeing a psychiatrist that treats at a place specifically for those without insurance (and can't afford to pay privately).

Another thing that has been helpful is that Shire was willing to give me a years worth of scripts at no cost. I've been told (can't tell ya 1st hand) that you can ask some of the drug companies to help you out with no/low-cost medications that they provide- I'm assuming you'd need a script though. My old psychiatrist is actually the one that helped me w/ the script from Shire- I just had to fill out a form that the psych already had in her office.

As far as meds go... WAY too many to count. My depression has been quite untreatable till just recently. I was put on Lithium in the hospital. I don't think it had a noticeable effect on ME- but there was 1 or 2 side effects that annoyed me and I guess the doc figured he might as well take me off since it had little/no positive effect on me. It might work for you though- who knows?

In the past I had success with Cymbalta and Topamax together. When I tried to go back on that combo years later (recently) it didn't do crap. After SOOOOO many trials and errors with meds I've finally found some stability with Cymbalta (Depression/Anxiety), Neurontin (as a mood stabilizer and to help w/pain), Vyvanse (ADHD), Wellbutrin (Depression), Ambien (Insomnia)

For the most part my meds have been fairly reasonable in cost compared to other scripts I've had/could take. Of course it's helpful if you can get samples I'd make it clear to your doc that you need a script that won't cost you a fortune and will be able to maintain if they offer samples. One other thing- compare the cost of filling your med(s) between different pharmacies. It's CRAZY how much of a price difference there is! It doesn't make sense to me... Example- Getting 90 days worth of generic Ambien at Target was going to cost me over $100 VS 90 days worth of generic Ambien at Costco costs me abt $14! Another ridiculous tip- If I were to have Costco run that same script through certain insurance/ (and I think Medicaid?) it would cost me WAY MORE than if insurance WASN'T paying for it!! WTF?!

Prices might differ where you live compared to my experience here in UT. Hope this gives you some hope and ideas though

Forgot to mention that if you can afford to (sometimes I can't) pay more upfront- it could save you quite a bit if your Doc is willing to write the script for a 90 day supply instead of just 30 days or whatever. I've had it cost almost the same price to get 90-days as it was to get 30-days.

Indigo- I was lucky to not have anywhere near the 'brain fog' side effect on Lamictal as I did with Topamax ("dope-a-max") lol Lamictal didn't have any effect on me, but I have heard that most people have success with it. Have you tried Topamax before?
It's such a difficult side effect to try to cope with. I'm not diagnosed with Bipolar, but have been prescribed the anti-convulsants as an (off-label) mood stabilizer.

Lithium has helped me. I did not find I had any side effects, that could be because I almost never have side effects or because I was also on wellburtin, topamax, seroquel, immovane, and clonazepam at the time.

I am assuming you are not in Canada, but if you are you can apply for "plan g" which pays 100% for most psychiatric meds.

I started Lithium a month or 2 ago. I'm on a pretty small dose, and while it seems to have had some positive effect, it has also seems to be pushing my typical headaches into migraines, and my typical nausea, which was mostly just an annoyance, to a state where I can't even stand the smell of food. I'm still on it just to make sure I don't fall back into hypomania.