>From: Nancy Dunham <[log in to unmask]> >Well it has happened again (why am I not surprised). My lithium took my >tsh >from 2.5 (where I felt like I was hardly living after being .2 for so long) Is there no alternative to lithium? It does bad things to thyroid function, here's a good discussion - http://psychiatrictimes.com/p020156.html An increasing body of research supports the hypothesis that lithium alters cellular responsiveness to thyroxine in addition to inducing significant changes in the function of the thyroid gland. Bolaris et al. (1995) documented altered binding of T3 in the CNS of rats, implying that a state of cellular hypothyroidism developed. In 1998, Lazarus listed impaired thyroidal uptake of iodine, impaired iodination of tyrosine, altered thyroglobulin structure and impaired release of thyroxine from the thyroid gland as the mechanisms by which lithium induces hypothyroidism. Impaired release of thyroxine is considered the most clinically significant, and this phenomenon has been used to enhance the effectiveness of radioactive iodine when treating thyrotoxicosis (Bogazzi et al., 1999). Elevation of thyrotropin in response to lowered circulating thyroxine is probably the main stimulant for goiter formation, which has been reported with incidences of 3% to 60% in lithium-treated patients; much of this variation is related to varying definitions of goiter and differences in the methods used to measure thyroid size (Lazarus, 1998). Thyroxine is secreted as T4 and then metabolized to its active form, T3, by the enzyme 5'deiodinase. Lithium appears to impair the process of deiodination of T4 peripherally (deiodinase I) and within some cells (deiodinase III) (Terao et al., 1995). Eravci et al. (2000) found varying effects of lithium on different isoenzymes of deiodinase and noted that it appeared to enhance the activity of deiodinase II present in rat frontal lobes. This effect may contribute to alterations in cellular responsiveness to thyroxine. ************************ So, it elevates TSH (which frequently causes a goiter), causes trouble for the thyroid in producing thyroid hormone, causes the cells not to be responsive to thyroid hormone at all, both T4 and T3, and causes problems for T3 in the cells also. I would assume the doctor is taking T4 and T3 levels. Obviously, an alternative would be better if one exists. It's likely one cause of Bipolar is hypothyroidism. With its effect on the thyroid, does the drug actually make your life better? Skipper _________________________________________________________________ Get real-time traffic reports with Windows Live Local Search http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=42.336065~-109.392273&style=r&lvl=4&scene=3712634&trfc=1 _______________________________________________________________ Snip, Please If you "Reply" to a message, and *you* fail to erase or delete the previous message, *your* message cannot be distributed. Why not ask a question? If we're not currently talking about what *you* want to hear about, ask about another topic! Or make a statement. To be prepared, you might want to search the Thyroid Archives http://www.Emissary.Net/thyroid/index.html to see what has been said before about any thyroid-related topic. _______________________________________________________________