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Lithium Project
I'm still in the research phase of this possible project. I'm going to start throwing information up here for anyone interested.
Sources: I'll likely purchase something like Lithium Orotate as reagent. There are a lot of places selling it in the form of a supplement. The usual dose provided in these is around 5mg. Although I haven't determined an appropriate dosage yet, the normal dosage for Lithium Carbonate for example can be as little as 250mg or as much as 1.2g. So the supplement forms are pretty much out of the question if we want a therapeutic level.
Need: More work on comparitive dosing between the different forms etc.
Labs: http://www.truehealthlabs.com/Blood-Test-for-Lithium-Levels-p/quest_613.htm
This looks like a great service. 59.00 for a lab draw. I'm not sure how quickly the results come in. I'm sure there are alternative services similar to this.
No one try to do anything with lithium unless you plan to get drawn. I've worked psychiatric... toxicity isn't good. Thyroid testing is significantly pricier. I can get one done through some people under the table type of thing... so I'll probably get one before and after. If people have insurance, this is an easy one to request yearly from a physician anyways.
Effects: As discussed previously, a 3% increase in grey matter has been found to result in as little as 4 weeks. A few items to be read:
<a href="http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mnh&AN=11072948&site=eds-live&authtype=ip,uid&CustID=s6735259">Lithium-induced increase in human brain grey matter.</a>
<a href="http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pbh&AN=90673877&site=eds-live&authtype=ip,uid&CustID=s6735259">Lithium's role in neural plasticity and its implications for mood disorders.</a>
Please add more as you guys find fun stuff. I have a list I've been working through too.
Sources: I'll likely purchase something like Lithium Orotate as reagent. There are a lot of places selling it in the form of a supplement. The usual dose provided in these is around 5mg. Although I haven't determined an appropriate dosage yet, the normal dosage for Lithium Carbonate for example can be as little as 250mg or as much as 1.2g. So the supplement forms are pretty much out of the question if we want a therapeutic level.
Need: More work on comparitive dosing between the different forms etc.
Labs: http://www.truehealthlabs.com/Blood-Test-for-Lithium-Levels-p/quest_613.htm
This looks like a great service. 59.00 for a lab draw. I'm not sure how quickly the results come in. I'm sure there are alternative services similar to this.
No one try to do anything with lithium unless you plan to get drawn. I've worked psychiatric... toxicity isn't good. Thyroid testing is significantly pricier. I can get one done through some people under the table type of thing... so I'll probably get one before and after. If people have insurance, this is an easy one to request yearly from a physician anyways.
Effects: As discussed previously, a 3% increase in grey matter has been found to result in as little as 4 weeks. A few items to be read:
<a href="http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mnh&AN=11072948&site=eds-live&authtype=ip,uid&CustID=s6735259">Lithium-induced increase in human brain grey matter.</a>
<a href="http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pbh&AN=90673877&site=eds-live&authtype=ip,uid&CustID=s6735259">Lithium's role in neural plasticity and its implications for mood disorders.</a>
Please add more as you guys find fun stuff. I have a list I've been working through too.
Comments
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http://www.tahomaclinicblog.com/lithium-the-misunderstood-mineral-part-1/
"The amounts of lithium I recommend for brain anti-aging range from 10 to 20 milligrams (from lithium aspartate or lithium orotate) daily. I’ve actually been recommending these amounts since the 1970s. At first I was exceptionally cautious and asked all of my patients taking lithium to have regular “lithium level” blood tests and thyroid function tests. After a year or so, I quit asking for the lithium level blood tests, since 100 percent of them came back very low. Another year after that, I stopped requesting routine thyroid function tests, too, only doing one when I was suspicious of a potential problem. In the 30 years since, I’ve rarely found one."
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If we had access to serial mri s we could test for these same effects over a longer period with stated lower dosing.
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It's very likely I'm going to start taking lithium carbonate again soon. Let me know if there's any data I can provide.
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Prescribed? Ok, if you've been on it can you give us a description. Subjective how is made you feel etc. Also dosage prescribed, body weight, how often they draw your labs etc. I've worked with people on lithium, but it's seldom prescribed alone so experience s don't mean as much.
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It is prescribed. I'm going to request copies of my labs once i have two more for a total of three as a starting point. I keep a journal of symptoms, i'll begin to post it when I've filtered out some psych symptoms from it.Fortunately, I've been crazy for a while. I specifically requested to try lithium alone for a while because I don't like not knowing what is doing what to my body.
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I'm Bipolar Type 1 I was prescribed Lithium. I can only describe how it made me feel as a person suffering from bipolar. 1) it stabilized my moods 2) I felt calmer Besides greatly helping my mental illness that's about all, nothing major.
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Ok, so a little update. I've sourced and arranged everything here. It's a tad pricey for me to do right now however. An MRI of the Brain, 2d, No contrast is 500$. It would require at least two. Lab testing for lithium levels - 59.00 per week Lithium Carbonate - cheap to nearly free So, it's a 1500 buck project in terms of the basics. Anyone want to jump in and research some methods of testing changes in things like mentation etc. ?
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Time to drop some knowledge bombs.Below are three links, the first of which discusses the effects of naturally occurring water lithium levels in 27 different Texas municipalities, where higher lithium levels in the water supply were negatively correlated to rates of suicide, homicide, and rape.The second article discusses similar finding in 18 Jpananes municipalities, where water lithium levels were found to be negatively correlated to rates of suicide.The third aritcle is a review of 11 studies that examined trace lithium levels, and found that 9 out of the 11 supported a negative correlation between the trace lithium level in the water supply and suicide rates.The exciting part here is that the lithium levels we are discussing are in the range of 70-170ug/L, which at a water consumption rate of 2L per day (recommended for average male adult) equates to 51-124mg of lithium per year. It may be that beneficial effects of lithium salts can be achieved with consumption of only trace amounts of lithium, but more studies definitely should be hunted for *nudge nudge*.EDIT: Yall took too long.Here is an article discussing the apparent longevity benefits of lithium in the water supply.(4) http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00394-011-0171-xAnd one reviewing the effects of trace lithium on humans.
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A great read is " Lithium induced increase in human gray matter" Moore, J G 8/10 subject had an increase of grey matter of 3% or so. They hint at some sub-regional studies that they are working on. I need to dig a bit more at this level as it would be nice to identify specific regions for attention and testing of functions associated with these regions. Another to take a look at is " Lithiums role in neuroplasticity and its implications for mood disorders." Really cool evidence regarding an increase in neuroplasticity and the mechanism behind it. It discusses increased cognitive abilities such as memory span tests. Interesting stuff.
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Is there any sort of fruit/vegetable which has the same ammount of lithium? It may be cheaper than buying straight lithium but if I would have to eat 5kg of eggplant then I would probably go with the pills/powder.
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Lithium is really cheap. Even if found in a good source the amount would be so low that it would be impossible to maintaibe adequate serum levels.
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A list of some lithium levels in various foods by weight can be found here: http://www.collectivewizdom.com/Lithium-LithiumRichFoodsThe mysterious thing (other than their source of this information) is that daily consumption of any of these foods in typical quantities would be much greater than the amount of lithium studied in the water supply studies above. ^ Weird...
Displaying all 12 comments