any mental health professionals here??

[OKC_TklCpl]

got a little question... well not so much little, kinda involving and scary for me today... My wife is bipolar and taking lithium, and she recently got sick for about 5 days and had a bladder/kidney infection.. I had to take her back to her mental health doc today because she was sobbing uncontrollably and saying that she felt like harming our kids, so she volunteered to stay at the crisis center until tuesday.. Is it possible for the lithium to build up in the kidneys if there is an infection and cause dementia and lots of crazy symptoms? that was the theory of the intake doc but wanted to pick the brains of the late nighters here.

Thanks for lettin me share

 

[leafstk]

Hey man,

I'm more in the counseling realm, not an MD... but it certainly sounds to me like there's a major imbalance going on there. It's good you got her to the crisis centre and she was willing to go... the sad fact is, often with heavy drugs such as Lithium and others that are needed to offset other symptoms, it can be a terrible period of trial and error. In some cases it takes years, as it did with one of my cousins.

I pray that they will find the source and find a healthy balance for your wife. Hang in there dude... I'm sorry I can't offer more than that. Peace.

 

[OKC_TklCpl]

i appreciate that. yeah the doctors there said they expect her to be able to come home on tuesday. was a rough night for the kiddos here not havin mom to tuck them in last night and even i was sleepless until about 6am but yeah im optimistic things will turn out fine. thanks again

 

[Skipadeedoodah]

I haven't ever encountered anything like that with medicine building up and so on and so forth so I can't comment on that. In my experience, the overwhelming majority of the time that an individual I've worked with has suffered a medical illness or difficulty it has dramatically increased their MH symptoms and decreased their ability to cope (temporarily, that is - things go back to normal once the medical complications pass). I don't know exactly why it happens or if that's the case with your wife, but it's a possibility to be aware of. Good luck to you both.

 

[AngelOfDarkness]

I don't have any experience, but I think it would be your best bet to have a sit down with her mental health practitioner and/or a general health one, just to see if you can sort what caused this new behavior. It's good that she agreed to stay in the clinic, however. Good luck.

 

[Smuggy Bear]

Hey, I'm not a doctor, but I was once prescribed to lithium carbonate and a plethora of other meds... they used to think I was bipolar when I was a teenager, then they found out there's nothing wrong with me... Anyways, when I was taking the meds, there was a large emphasis placed on hydration because Lithium does MAJORLY impact your kidneys, and if you become too dehydrated you can contract lithium poisoning. Happened to me once at The Vans Warped tour... outside all day, got in a mosh pit, sweated something fierce... Next thing I knew I couldn't talk, couldn't walk, and my vision got blurry... woke up with an IV in the medical tent!

The point is, Lithium levels are largely controlled by the effectiveness of your kidneys... I can't say precisely how your wife's levels have been affected, I can only speculate, but if I were to speculate I would have to agree with the triage doctor and say that because of the bladder/kidney infection either her levels are too high or too low, but again I am not an expert. I would imagine that her levels will be tested, likely by doing some kind of bloodwork, and that when the analysis is complete they can give you the proper medical advice. I sincerely hope that you and your wife are doing ok! Seriously though, if such is the case and your wife's kidneys are apparently lax in their ability to properly regulate the lithium levels in her body and the problem persists, please be certain that a doctor checks out her kidneys. The LAST thing you want is renal failure or lithium poisoning. Don't stress it... there's no reason to lose sleep, just keep an eye out for it, no?