lithium olanzapine and setraline?
i take lithium at 1000mg olanzapine at 50mg and sertaline have taken the lithium for nearly 1 1/2yrs now..... my doctor didnt say when he put me on olanzapine to do any different............. when my mum went to put up a new prescripton the pharmasist told her i should take the lithium and the olazapine 2hours apart cause they counteract each other and make the lithium stronger..... is this right? why didnt my doctor tell me this?
Update:im uk based.
makes me really thristy and crave sweet things, not putting on weight loosing it.
also about 30min-1hr after taking it i feel like im going under anasthetic.
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Wow, Olanzapine. When they had me on that all I did was sleep. That's a pretty powerful antipsychotic. I take Seroquel now (Quetiapine, I believe). All of the atypical antipsychotics tend to make you crave sugar, too.
Your doctor probably didn't realize the contraindication when he placed you on the two meds together. I've been on Lithium for 8 years now--and a ton of other meds off and on. My first psych. believed in playing musical meds, even if there wasn't a problem. Anyway, what I've learned over the years (and this is not to insult doctors in any way) is that any time I have a med change or question, the person to talk to is my pharmacist.
Doctors prescribe the meds for patients, but they have so many other things going on: diagnoses, hospital admissions etc. that they don't have the time to learn everything they need to about all of the meds on the market....and Zyprexa (Olanzapine), Risperdal, Seroquel, etc. are fairly new as far as psych meds go. Pharmacists, on the other hand, work with nothing BUT meds all day, every day. It's their particular specialty and they're experts with them. So if a pharmacist tells you something, unless he/she is just particularly uneducated, you can consider it gospel.
I would follow the pharmacist's instructions until you can get in to see your doctor. (If the pharmacist is wrong, it's no big deal---you still get your daily dose in.) Explain what he/she said to your doctor and take it from there. If this is a pharmacist you trust, you may want to talk to him/her anytime your meds change. (Lol, I think my "favorite" pharmacist is really sick of hearing from me--he recognizes my number on the caller id now.)
Good luck with it! =)
I have looked in the British Medical Association Guide to Medicines and Drugs and nothing is mentioned in there. I don't know if you are in the US of UK but if you are in the UK, I would check it out with NHS Direct on 0845 4647 open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They are very good indeed. If you are in the US you need to go back to your Doctor and tell him what the Pharmasist told your Mum. You need to get it sorted. Good Luck.
Lithium is used to treat and prevent episodes of mania (frenzied, abnormally excited mood) in people with bipolar disorder (manic depressive disorder; a disease that causes episodes of depression, episodes of mania, and other abnormal moods). Lithium is in a class of medications called antimanic agents. It works by decreasing abnormal activity in the brain.
Olanzapine is used to treat the symptoms of schizophrenia (a mental illness that causes disturbed or unusual thinking, loss of interest in life, and strong or inappropriate emotions). It is also used to treat bipolar disorder (manic depressive disorder; a disease that causes episodes of depression, episodes of mania, and other abnormal moods). Olanzapine is in a class of medications called atypical antipsychotics. It works by changing the activity of certain natural substances in the brain.
Consult your doctor.