Anyone out there taking low-dose or microdose lithium? Why, and what have you noticed (if anything)?
I'm currently taking 5mg elemental lithium as lithium orotate per day on the chance that it actually is helpful vs developing Alzheimers, but I'm interested in its effects on mood in the ~5 to 20mg dosage range. I'm well aware that anecdata can't be extrapolated but I'm interested to hear it nonetheless.
I have noticed no effect on mood at 5mg. There are hints that it may be useful for depression, mild manic symptoms, and irritability at doses well below what's typically used for bipolar disorder, but the research is mostly quite preliminary.
Tagging @autistics @actuallyadhd in part because I don't know of any mood disorder groups on fedi, but also because many AuDHD folks suffer from one or more of those issues.
@muninn i haven’t tried this one—is there any data on how it impacts thyroid? i know that is the major (potentially permanent) side effect at higher doses which is why it’s considered more dangerous than other anti-depressants l
if you haven’t already looked into it, getting your shingles vaccine as early as possible is a very safe way to reduce your risk of all types of dementia by a significant amount (around 20% when taken at the recommended 50 or older but potentially more if you take it early) https://apnews.com/article/dementia-alzheimers-shingles-vaccine-6e5354efbefff22240af1a91addb88a4
@Satsuma So as near as I can tell, it seems there are few to no safety concerns with lithium at or below 20mg a day. I'm sure there will be outliers but supposedly people in some geographic areas get a few mg a day from their water & food, in fact that's the basis of some of the studies which seem to show lower rates of Alzheimers and in some cases suicide and violent crime in areas with naturally high lithium intake. Though granted I don't know if any research has been done on thyroid problems in those areas.
And yeah, I will be getting a shingles vaccine the day I'm eligible.