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Needing a LOT of Lithium

Messages
62
My initial hair level of Lithium was <0.04. I have been supplementing with Lithium Orotate, 5mg twice a day for about a year.
Latest Hair Test shows my Lithium is still <0.004.
I am on the Yasko All-In-One Multi and just starting the PC/PS complex. No extra B12 or Folate
Do some people need to take a LOT more Lithium than others?
 

sregan

Senior Member
Messages
703
Location
Southeast
My initial hair level of Lithium was <0.04. I have been supplementing with Lithium Orotate, 5mg twice a day for about a year.
Latest Hair Test shows my Lithium is still <0.004.
I am on the Yasko All-In-One Multi and just starting the PC/PS complex. No extra B12 or Folate
Do some people need to take a LOT more Lithium than others?

Is a hair test the best way to determine Lithium levels? Do you feel better since you have been supplementing?
 

PeterPositive

Senior Member
Messages
1,426
As @sregan pointed out... I wouldn't be sure that the hair test is that significant.
I am not an expert but I wonder how accurate can be the hair mineral content in representing the status of your body tissues.

Hair can be very different for different people, some have strong hair, other much weaker and their color and type influences the minerals they retain. I do a hair test every year, mostly to check heavy metals such as mercury. I am not sure it's 100% accurate, but mercury is not supposed to be in our bodies (in an ideal world) so if it's there it must be because of the diet, amalgams etc...

Additionally it sounds a bit strange that no effect seems to be found after 1 year of supplementation. Unless you have gut malabsorption issues the mineral should be in your system.

Did you have any positive effects from taking the mineral? If not maybe you could try a higher dose, Lithium orotate is considered safe in the range of 5-10mg / day although I am not sure if there's any literature about long term supplementation.

It would be interesting to know if there are labs that can measure intracellular lithium as they do for zinc, magnesium etc...
 
Messages
62
As @sregan pointed out... I wouldn't be sure that the hair test is that significant.
I am not an expert but I wonder how accurate can be the hair mineral content in representing the status of your body tissues.

Hair can be very different for different people, some have strong hair, other much weaker and their color and type influences the minerals they retain. I do a hair test every year, mostly to check heavy metals such as mercury. I am not sure it's 100% accurate, but mercury is not supposed to be in our bodies (in an ideal world) so if it's there it must be because of the diet, amalgams etc...

Additionally it sounds a bit strange that no effect seems to be found after 1 year of supplementation. Unless you have gut malabsorption issues the mineral should be in your system.

Did you have any positive effects from taking the mineral? If not maybe you could try a higher dose, Lithium orotate is considered safe in the range of 5-10mg / day although I am not sure if there's any literature about long term supplementation.

It would be interesting to know if there are labs that can measure intracellular lithium as they do for zinc, magnesium etc...
Hait tests are not good for many things..... but they ARE good for Lithium ( provided that the lab is reputable) I used Doctors Data, who are excellent. Dr Yasko has tested thousands for Lithium using Hair, and found that some genotypes ( MTHFR C677T, MTR and MTRR ) are predisposed to be Lithium dumpers into the urine..... they show up with low hair Lithium and high urinary Lithium on Urinary Analysis. If you add in B12 before rectifying the Lithium level, the dumping is exacerbated.
I know I have absorbed the Lithium, because I get a metallic taste in my mouth about 15mins after taking it. But at the moment I think I must be dumping more than I can retain.
Back to square one.
 
Messages
62
Is a hair test the best way to determine Lithium levels? Do you feel better since you have been supplementing?
Probably the best way. Blood testing is not accurate, since it is designed to check therapeutic levels for those who are on Lithium carbonate for Bipolar Disorder.It is not sensitive enough for physiological levels.
 

PeterPositive

Senior Member
Messages
1,426
Hait tests are not good for many things..... but they ARE good for Lithium ( provided that the lab is reputable) I used Doctors Data, who are excellent. Dr Yasko has tested thousands for Lithium using Hair, and found that some genotypes ( MTHFR C677T, MTR and MTRR ) are predisposed to be Lithium dumpers into the urine..... they show up with low hair Lithium and high urinary Lithium on Urinary Analysis. If you add in B12 before rectifying the Lithium level, the dumping is exacerbated.
I know I have absorbed the Lithium, because I get a metallic taste in my mouth about 15mins after taking it. But at the moment I think I must be dumping more than I can retain.
Back to square one.
I see.
The Yask All-in-One product contains a small dose of B12, if I remember correctly, like 50-60mcg of Hydroxy B12.

Would that be sufficient to "dump" the lithium? I ask because in comparison I take mountains of it... 10mg of MB12 + 8mg Adeno-B12. By these standards there should be no traces of lithium left in my body!

Did you do the urinary lithium test to see if you're excreting too much?

cheers
 

PeterPositive

Senior Member
Messages
1,426
Also... is Yasko the only source about the validity of hair tests for Lithium status or is there other literature that you know of? I'd like to understand more about this matter since I have the double C677T mutation and I am taking high doses of B12.

thanks
 

Jonathan Edwards

"Gibberish"
Messages
5,256
I find it difficult to believe that a hair test for lithium would be any good. Lithium is one of the most soluble of all metal ions and I am pretty certain that it will exchange for sodium ions (which shampoos tend to be full of) in a matter of seconds. Heavy metals are of course quite different because they bind persistently to organic molecules.
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
I have the same problem as you Milford. Lithium doesnt show up in my hair tests so I got supplements of it and took for over a year before I had another hair test, only to find it still doesnt show up for me. At that I wondered what I had genetically wrong with me to be causing this but on researching couldnt find anything connected to lithium.

Hait tests are not good for many things..... but they ARE good for Lithium ( provided that the lab is reputable) I used Doctors Data, who are excellent. Dr Yasko has tested thousands for Lithium using Hair, and found that some genotypes ( MTHFR C677T, MTR and MTRR ) are predisposed to be Lithium dumpers into the urine..... they show up with low hair Lithium and high urinary Lithium on Urinary Analysis. If you add in B12 before rectifying the Lithium level, the dumping is exacerbated.
I know I have absorbed the Lithium, because I get a metallic taste in my mouth about 15mins after taking it. But at the moment I think I must be dumping more than I can retain.
.

Very interesting as I have double mutation of MTHFR C677T, double copy of a MTRR mutation also have two +- MTR/MTRR (2) mutations, so maybe that does explain why my hair tests show no lithium.

I though was on B12 and high levels of it due to the MTHFR mutation and obviously that still doesnt help me get lithium into my body like other people.

I'd like some lithium to register on my hair tests to see if I then feel any better with anything. ** wondering now where I can get a lithium urinary analysis done in Australia**
 

Little Bluestem

All Good Things Must Come to an End
Messages
4,930
When I began hair mineral testing (Trace Minerals, Inc.), my lithium was undetectable. I did not supplement it because it is one of the "additional elements".

I later decided to take lithium for other reasons. My hair level went to normal, to high, to normal, and back to undetectable. I have not discussed this with my dietitian yet.