My pdoc finally agreed that I am bipolar and now that he is convinced, he started me on lithium. It has been going great I feel better than I have for months and months, but I have tremors from the lithium. Any suggestions to help laugh them off in public without telling the world I'm on lithium?
Lex...Tremor is a common side effect with Lithium - you are not alone. It's annoying at best, but it sounds like the med is working well for you. In my opinion, to stay out of mania or depression makes the trade-off well worthwhile.
A few years ago I was on the mood stabilizer Depakote. It caused a terrible tremor - my whole arm would shake. With lithium, I only have a mild tremor in my left hand. My handwriting is compromized, but that's just another trade-off.
You might ask your doctor about propanalol (inderal) - it's a med that's used for hypertension and also helps with tremor. I take it and my tremor is considerably less.
Most people are considerate enought to NOT ask me why my hand shakes. For those that do, I simply tell them that it's a side effect from a med that I take. Hope this helps.
Judy
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Uhm, why do you have to tell the world you are on Lithium?
A lot of meds, for different things, can cause tremors or tremoring.
A lot of different neurological disorders can also.
It isn't "lithium" only and unless you actually draw attention to it, doubt few will come right out and ask why you are tremoring.
I mean folks withdrawing from addiction have some sort of tremoring.
I've had a lot of different side effects from meds over the years and tremoring is & was the least of mine. Try explaining why your tongue inadvertanly pokes out or your arm jerks and swings on their own, or your head is trying to roll backwards down your back due to a convulsive muscle spasming.
If someone directly asks, you could act like you haven't a clue what they are saying and then go "oohh, so I am, maybe I should get that checked out".