#83

Pure Encapsulations Brand

#84

The most common side effects are:
Dehydration
Increased thirst
Frequent urination
Tiredness
Weight gain
“occurring in up to 10-20% of people taking lithium orotate supplements at recommended doses.”
Sorry, you seem to be in this group.

The frequent urination I can understand. Poor sleep is probably from the same cause.

I take lithium orotate in the evening because it seems to help me sleep.

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#85

Yeah, I will try 1mg and see if I can tolerate it and still get some benefits. I think the insomnia was more than just increased need to urinate, but hard to be sure. I am 100% sure 5mg was too high a dose for me.

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#86

We tried taking 1mg lithium orotate for a few weeks but we stopped because it was causing insomnia for both of us. I was somewhat surprised as most people here say it helps them sleeping better and 1mg is really on the low end.
I guess there is a lot of individual variability here.

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#87

Thanks. Is it third party tested? With supplements you never know sometimes there’s 10x more than the stated dose…

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#88

Looks like telmisartan can increase lithium levels so I’ll go back to 1 mg: Lithium and telmisartan Interactions - Drugs.com

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#89

IDK if it’s 3rd party tested or not. Do you know which Lithium Orotate brands are?

#90

Damn good find. Guess I’ll be sticking to my 1mg lithium dose as well since I’m on 40mg Telmisartan.

Hopefully the 1mg lithium supplement + Telmisartan + the lithium I get from my diet provides the right amount

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#91

No idea. As I said above, I only buy lithium 1 mg from regulated pharmaceutical companies as it’s not allowed to be sold as a supplement in France.

By the way, Pure Encapsulations Lithium (Orotate) 5 mg also contains “N-acetyl-l-cysteine (free-form) 200 mg”. Apparently, “There is evidence from animal studies that NAC may prevent lithium-induced renal dysfunction”.

Yeah, I was surprised to see the warning in the leaflet. However, I couldn’t find sources confirming the extent of the effect :man_shrugging:

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#92

Consumerlab has tested some.

Life Extension is always a very reliable brand when it comes to testing. None of their supplements have ever failed to my knowledge.

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#93

Longevity doses are a lot less than those for mental health. You cannot necessarily carry forward the same conclusion on interaction. Actually best to measure this. My measurements were taken whilst i was drinking alcohol from time to time.

#94

I agree but as I’ve just started telmisartan (yesterday), I prefer to go back to 1 mg for now and then see (and yes, ideally, measure).

#95

I just ordered the Life Extension 1mg version yesterday. Definitely want to have some Lithium in my stack.

#96

That is a sensible approach. I am on 2mg myself having measured and without being tea total.

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#97

Interesting that I was just on consumer lab last night and saw they failed Life Extension’s ashwagandha supplement for having less withanolides than labeled. So, they are not immune to poorly controlled products. In general tho, I like Life Extension and it’s actually the lithium supplement I’m currently using. (BTW, I decided to pass on ashwaganadha. Too much anecdotal evidence of anhedonia for me)

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#98

Damn! I overlooked that one. First test it failed that I’m aware of.

I don’t take ashwagandha either. I was taking it for several years straight (including the Life Extension brand) but I already take so many supplements so I dropped that one.

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#99
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#100

@DeStrider
What’s the brand and where do you get it? Do you need an Rx? And if you don’t mind me asking, what is the cost?

Thanks.

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#101

I use DoubleWood Lithium Orotate (5 mg) It’s about $0.08 per capsule.

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#102

@John_Hemming do you think it would be valuable to test levels before beginning supplementation - or will they guaranteed be lower than detectable levels, so only value of testing would be ones starting micro dosing it?