Any Way to Counteract Lithium? TRT, GH, Thyroid?

[ucimigrate]

Hi Guys,

1. For my mood issues and anxiety, I take low dose lithium. It works wonders for calming down.

All day, it is the same mood effect as if I had gone swimming for a few hours. Just more mellow.

2. The only real bad side effect is the weight gain...about 50 lbs...most of it fat (the rest waterweight). I can see it just switches my body from sort of "ectomorphic" to "endomorphic."

If I had to put a number on it, my metabolic rate is cut in half; normally, I burn close to 3000 calories a day, but on lithium, I gain weight after 1500 calories.

3. I recently stopped taking the meds, and have just felt so anxious, restless, tired, depressed, and lacking focus.

4. I will ask my doctor to put me back on it soon. But, I hate being 50 lbs heavier than I normally am. I have never been so heavy.

5. I am thinking these three medications, in low doses, will help:

a. TRT
b. HGH
c. Thyroid (Synthroid)

6. Any opinions or data on counteracting the side effects of lithium carbonate?

Believe me, I don't drink any sweetened drinks, drink at least 5 liters of water a day, and otherwise eat healthy. It is the medication, not me, that slows the metabolic rate down.

 

[G34RS]

I would actually talk to your psychiatrist about wellbutrin/bupropion before any hormonal treatments if you haven’t tried it yet. It can tends to be a very good medication for weight loss, depression, and libido.

 

[ucimigrate]

I have done Wellbutrin. It definitely has a very mild stimulant effect. Yet, I did not notice any major weight loss, etc.

Then again, I was not on lithium then. I cannot see it doing that much harm, either.

 

[CasperKValentine]

I'm not familiar with Lithium or a medical expert but if what you say is accurate and it slows your metabolism that much I don't think there's much of anything to counteract that.

Not trying to be a downer but I honesty don't think any of your ideas are good. Why TRT? That is designed to replace your natural testosterone levels if below the normal reference range. I'm not sure where people get the notion it's going to drastically help with weight loss.

A low dose of T3 or Levothyroxine won't work. When you take thyroid hormones they shut down your natural production. Taking a low dose you could wind up with lower than natural levels. Now if you have a thyroid issue and a doctor puts you on permanently that's a different story.

What about exercise and weight training? Do you eat clean and train regularly?

 

[ucimigrate]

If TRT makes no difference, what about all those news stories?

https://www.youtube[dot]com/watch?v=Bk8vQHCEqds

Did this senior citizen look this good as a young man, and his lower T just made him out of shape?

I would love to get the results he did.

 

[DR.D]

I'd bet it's the Thyroid. After a few years of Lithium, I've seen a number of people require replacement, so thyroid hormones would be the most direct way to correct the problem (if this is the case.) Once corrected, I'd guess you could lose the weight in 9 months without even trying.

I agree with Casper though, about staying away from T3. I've found T4 to be very effective, very forgiving when experimenting with higher doses, and less suppressive than any other options Rx and OTC (like the T2s.) If you decide to come off, a good long taper down has always done the trick at restoring me without any problem.

 

[CasperKValentine]

If TRT makes no difference, what about all those news stories?

https://www.youtube[dot]com/watch?v=Bk8vQHCEqds

Did this senior citizen look this good as a young man, and his lower T just made him out of shape?

I would love to get the results he did.

I didn't say it would make no difference at all under any circumstances. If you are 35 years old and you have the testosterone level of and 80 year old man, yes it's going to make a difference in body composition especially if you diet and train. I'm just shooting you straight brother, you're most likely not going to hop on TRT and start dropping weight. At the core it's still calories in vs calories out. That's just the science of how our bodies work. Maybe that guy did like me. Got on TRT, completely changed his eating habits, and worked his ass off in the gym. I went from being a chubby big bellied 215 lbs to a fairly lean muscular190 lbs and that's been over the course of a few years. Did TRT help me? Yes, it did but nothing magical happened.

 

[CasperKValentine]

I'd bet it's the Thyroid. After a few years of Lithium, I've seen a number of people require replacement, so thyroid hormones would be the most direct way to correct the problem (if this is the case.) Once corrected, I'd guess you could lose the weight in 9 months without even trying.

I agree with Casper though, about staying away from T3. I've found T4 to be very effective, very forgiving when experimenting with higher doses, and less suppressive than any other options Rx and OTC (like the T2s.) If you decide to come off, a good long taper down has always done the trick at restoring me without any problem.

Sound like that could be it then. If thyroid is the problem I'd try to get that checked out by a doctor and get put on something permanent. If it's already an issue running something on your own could likely worsen the problem when you try to come off. Could be as simple as going to the dr. getting some bloodwork and getting a script.

 

[ucimigrate]

I'd bet it's the Thyroid. After a few years of Lithium, I've seen a number of people require replacement, so thyroid hormones would be the most direct way to correct the problem (if this is the case.) Once corrected, I'd guess you could lose the weight in 9 months without even trying.

I agree with Casper though, about staying away from T3. I've found T4 to be very effective, very forgiving when experimenting with higher doses, and less suppressive than any other options Rx and OTC (like the T2s.) If you decide to come off, a good long taper down has always done the trick at restoring me without any problem.

@dr. D., I am presuming you are a real medical doctor (MD, not PHD, chiropractor, etc.)

Thanks for giving real advice. I always wanted T4, rather than T3.

1. Is TSH a completely reliable measurement for regular and sub-clinical problems?

I will check, but my entire life, even recently on lithium, my TSH was in the normal range.

Despite alternative medicine doctors, etc. trying to convince a person he is secretly ill, I think a normal TSH range is the best measure to say there is nothing wrong with the thyroid, even at a subclinical level.

2. If I just stop lithium, will my thyroid function return to normal? If so, how long will it take?

 

[DR.D]

UCI, I am not an MD (it's just a nickname) so this is not medical advice. I have been an lab analyst in the pharmaceutical field for quite awhile though, and draw my opinions from clinical observations of myself of many others. I have seen Li do this before on more than one occasion, and the onset is generally ~2 years after chronic intake of 300mg or more of the Carbonate daily. It is my best guess, only having a limited understanding of your medical history and current drug regimen.

But if I were you, I'd ask my doc for a T7. The TSH matters, but it's often not as simple as that. I've never use chronic Li for just this reason (but I do take a little post-w/o for the insulinomimetic contribution) so I cannot say firsthand how long it would take to bounce back. If it were me, I'd get on some T4 until the weight was lost, then taper down over about 6 months and reevaluate my thyroid status.