
What Causes Severe Fatigue And Sudden Weight Gain While Treating Crohn's Disease?

lamotrigine will be better option than lithium
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for writing to us.
I am Dr. Chintan Solanki , MD- Psychiatrist, and I used to face such problems in my clinical practice with patients of BPD.
Lithium 1.1 after 4 hours is still normal so it is fine. TSH 4 is also normal according to most of the laboratories reference value; however for clarification it is better to upload the report or write down the report with reference range and unit. If it is confirmed that your hypothyroid was side effect of lithium and you are not able to tolerate hypothyroid medicine, I recommend switching to other mood stabilizer like lamotrigine instead of lithium.
considering history of Crohn's disease I also recommend going for serum Vitamin B12 level as it is common problem with this disease and responsible for fatigue symptoms. If B12 comes low, supplements in form of injections will be helpful.
Let me know more information.
- What dose of lithium is going on and since when?
- Since when do you have hypothyroid and how much micro gram of synthyroid are you taking?
- Have you tried any other mood stabilizer medicine in past, if yes please provide details.
- Upload the reports if feasible.
I will be happy to help you further after your response.
Regards,
Dr.Chintan Solanki.


lamicatal can be increased
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thanks for information. It is good that you are on lamictal(lamotrigine) and tolerating it well. Even after stopping the lithium, there is chance to increase lamictal dose for your BPD if needed.
Yes your lithium level and dose correlation is really unpredictable. Ideally lithium level should be done after 12 hours of taking dose. If feasible go for retesting. If level is less than 0.35, it is not at all useful.
Your TSH level if at all in slight higher limit after stopping the lithium it can come to normal.
I can comment further after seeing the detail reports.
Take care.

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