Kidney damage - Lithium

[KurtCobainLover]

Just wondering if anyone’s kidneys have been impacted by lithium? My recent blood tests show that my kidney la aren’t working as well as they should and are below the level where I can stay on Lithium which is gutting as it’s the only drug that’s worked for me.

Does anyone have experience of this? Will my kidneys go back to normal if I stop taking it?

Also, any recommendations for an alternative? I’m currently on 200mg lamotragine and 30mg aripiprazole alongside the lithium.

I’m seeing my psychiatrist in a couple of weeks to discuss but he tends to ask me what I want to do rather than make suggestions……

I would be asking a kidney consultant as it definitely can cause damage. I used to work as a dialysis nurse, and looked after a patient who always said she was on dialysis because of lithium - but she may have been taking a large dose for many years.

Your psychiatrist needs to provide an alternative.

I’m on lithium so have looked into it all a little. Length of time on lithium and how long you had the damage before it was found can be factors. It is usual for kidney function to improve if you stop the lithium but that doesn’t always happen. Have you been consistent with making sure you have got dehydrated at all? All the best - as pp said make sure you get referred to specialist for it - I presume that would be nephrology?

With regard to other treatment options, I’m not sure what is possible. The 3 drugs you currently are on are all considered mood stabilisers (albeit one is also an older style antipsychotic) so I would presume that they look at other mood stabilisers and maybe antipsychotics too,