Lithium, B12 and mercury and sleep

[Mary]

I know this will not be news to many of you but it was to me when I just read lithium is needed to transport B12 and folate into the cells. (See the attachment by Amy Yasko.) On hair analysis, my lithium levels were just about non-detectable (can't remember the exact number but extremely low). I started taking lithium orotate (Swanson brand, 5 mg.) several days ago and felt calmer that same night, and slept better. I was amazed.

I also read in the below attachment that if lithium levels are low, and you take B12, it can deplete lithium even further. Lithium can be very calming (I can feel it!) I'm wondering if the negative reaction some people have to B12 and/or folate, stems from lithium depletion. Yasko talks about normalizing lithium levels before starting the methylation supplements.

I know lithium can negatively affect the thyroid but this is a pretty low dose and I seem to need it.

And also, very low lithium can be an indication of mercury problems, which I'm pretty sure I have. I'm doing the Quicksilver Mercury Tri Test in the very near future, plus 23andme, and hope to get some answers there as detoxing is always very hard for me.

 

[L'engle]

Be very careful. I had my thyroid and also parathyroid glands negatively affected by a very small dose of lithium orotate. I'm not saying other people should try taking it, because it does help B12 transport. I don't take large amounts of b12 anymore. But in it's place, I have a nearly impossible to manage level of sensitivity to vitamin D that only came on after the lithium, as well as a much more sensitive thyroid. And all I took was a TOTAL of 25mg (5X5mg) over the course of a month. If you gt any sensations in your thyroid area, do not keep taking the lithium.

I hope you have better luck with it than I did. 2014 was ruined for me by the problems caused by the lithium orotate and I am not out of the woods yet. Ruined. Entire nights with no sleep (several of them), run away magnesium loss, calcium oversensitivity, all due to the vitamin d sensitivity that came about after taking the lithium orotate. Ruined entire year. I can not emphasize this enough. As in destroyed. I had to spend the summer hiding from even the most minor sun exposure as the high vitamin d insomnia would return with even a small amount of sun exposure. I'm not even exaggerating.
Wish I had stuck to the San Pellegrino water which has much smaller but still appreciable amounts of lithium. It isn't listed on the bottle but on their site the more detailed mineral break down.

This is probably a worst case scenario but I feel I must share it. Good luck.

 

[Mary]

@L'engle - thanks for posting your experience with lithium. Wow - I had no idea a small dose could do that to someone. Did you know your lithium levels before taking it? On hair analysis, my lithium levels are non-detectable. I wish we could have our own labs and kept tests done weekly for all the stuff we have to take!

Because of your post, I just did a little research and found that kelp is supposed to be a good source of lithium (as well as iodine) and other trace minerals. I take Iosol drops daily, but now am thinking of just getting a good kelp supplement which hopefully would take care of lithium and iodine needs (and help with other minerals). I also read that getting minerals in a food source is best as it has all the needed cofactors, etc.

I am calmer and sleeping better with the lithium, I see my doctor next week and will talk to him about it all. I also took lithium orotate (5 mg.) several years ago and didn't notice anything at that time.

Anyways, I think I will plan to switch to kelp in the very near future - I hope you get some relief soon and that your symptoms improve. Is there a protocol or anything that is recommended to deal with your vitamin D sensitivity?

 

[Little Bluestem]

I knew that lithium is needed for B12 transport, but not that B12 depletes lithium.

I get the same calming benefit from lithium that you do. Since starting the lithium, the lithium level on my hair test has gone from undetectable to normal to high to normal to undetectable. Since I notice if I skip the dose for even one day, I continued to take it when it was high. Since I read about possible bad effect, I am afraid to increase the dose now that it is undetectable again. I will discuss it with my dietitian.

My B12 (Cobalt) has remained undetectable through all of this.

 

[L'engle]

@Mary No, I didn't know the lithium level before I took it. So far I just have to really avoid vitamin D. I only hope it isn't permanent but who knows.

Another factor can be that the orotate form may have a higher uptake than the prescription form and could vary between people I imagine.

Hopefully nobody gets the same experience I had! Strangely the first few days taking it I got a reduction in brain fog, which was fairly noticeable. If not for that I wouldn't have taken it beyond the first try. The clarity didn't last. The thyroid problems took a couple of months to clear up and my thyroid is more sensitive to triggers now.

 

[Mary]

Just saw my doctor today and he said the 5 mg. dose of lithium orotate should not pose any problem (though I know @L'engle had a major negative reaction to it). I live in southern California and my doctor said there's hardly any lithium in the water here, whereas San Antonio, Texas has high levels of lithium in the water and the people there tend to be very laid back

I have now read that low lithium levels can be associated with criminal behavior, all sorts of negative things.

And the doctor said it helps produce serotonin which is why it helps with mood and sleep. I'm curious to see if my B12 number goes up with lithium supplementation - I know it didn't for @Little Bluestem, but we are all very different (though so similar too in so many ways!)

 

[Kathevans]

@L'engle did a doctor ever ascertain what happened? I just had a Doctor's Data Essential Elements test done and it showed my lithium levels to be very high in a range of .4-20, mine are 78. YIKES! I have been taking the Lithium Orotate 5mg for a few months, in fact from January 13th-April 18th, and I have to say, I'm distressed to find my levels are so high. I certainly have insomnia. But as I've read that low lithium is a sign of mercury toxicity, does this mean I don't have a mercury problem?? If it isn't one thing, it's another.

 

[Critterina]

Just want to share my experience with lithium. I took the 5 mg per day for several months. It definitely improved my mood. Then I started getting very sleepy after taking it at breakfast. I said to myself "Hey, I sleep at night anyway: No problem!" I took it before bed two nights. It messed with my dreams, in that I was stressfully solving one problem after another all night (in my dreams). I did not wake feeling rested, more like agitated. So I quit for several months. Then I felt I needed it again, for my mood. Again it helped, but 2 weeks was enough. For me, I think it will be something I use sporadically, a week or two at a time.

Interesting the Vitamin D connection. I had headaches from Vitamin D for a while, so quit it. I'm back on it, no headaches. But these days I use oil drops, not the gelcaps. Now, if I can only find out the timing - if I was taking them together or not. If I do find out, I'll post.