Are Low Doses Of SSRIs That Bad? (Desperate)

[Johnson Bagfoot]

Hi all,

I posted my history and current troubles 2 months ago here: Nightmarish Life After 8 Years On SSRIs

Since then, things have not improved. Im housebound and suffering intense fatigue and anxiety all day and all night. Presumably these are protracted withdrawal symptoms from SSRIs, and the consequence of whatever endocrine/neurological adaptations they've resulted in. It seems almost impossible to know what's wrong, or to skillfully reverse it. It's worsening over time rather than improving.

I think my only option here is to reintroduce SSRIs at some dose and try to become more functional.

Further lab tests that showed mild adrenal insufficiency / low cortisol. Consistently low potassium. Consistently low morning body temps in the range of 96.1f axillary. Consistently low pulse.

At times of highest subjective feelings of anxiety, pulse and temperature are lowest. This is paradoxical, because anxiety would conventionally be associated with a racing heart and fast breathing. The opposite with me.

Peat diet has not improved things. Mirtazapine and cypro significantly worsened things. Presumably by further blunting the existing adrenal insufficiency. I could not get thyroid prescribed due to reasonable TSH of 2. And am somehow unwilling to experiment due to the risk of worsening already unbearable symptoms, and some "hyper" symptoms like profound heat intolerance which doesn't quite fit with hypo.

Overall, I'm wondering if I should just reintroduce SSRI and see if it improves things? It's been 7 months since I went completely off, after a 1 year taper. No sign of improvement.

Can SSRIs have negative effects in low doses (e.g. 20% of standard therapeutic dose)?

Also, if there are any benign suggestions of things to try that's greatly appreciated. Fairly heavy duty stuff like pregnenolone I'm frankly too scared to try, since my condition is so bad that small negative effects cause profound and intolerable suffering.

Many thanks

 

[Makrosky]

Hi,

Have you tried the usual stuff we use in the forum ?
Liver, Fat solubles, coffee, aspirin, niacinamide, red light, pregnenolone (it is not "heavy duty stuff", it just works wonders) and the like ?

Check the 5a-DHP thread they compare it to paroxetine (SSRI) in some posts if I recall correctly.

I think also snorting small pinches of pure pregnenolone powder can quickly raise neurosteroids in the brain (not kidding) without any side effects (personal experience).

Anyway, if you are suffering THAT much, I don't think there's any point on keep suffering. Please. Please. There's thousands (if not millions) of people using SSRI's with acceptable results. If you are really that bad and SSRIs help you, I would go back to them with small doses and then rethink new strategies like more comprehensive lab tests to check your hormones (not only TSH or cortisol), improving diet AND environment (very important), etc.

We only live once man, no need to suffer unnecessarly. Don't aim for perfection either. It's better to live with SSRis that live a nightmare.

Good luck. I think you might need what you are more scared of : hormones

 

[JohnBonham]

Johnson,

I was reading the many replies to your previous thread and, frankly, I think they're crazy. I stopped "Peating" after I got sick of people constantly telling myself and others to eat a bunch of sugar and take hormones, as well as drink a ton of milk and orange juice. Coffee isn't a miracle drink that everyone should drink either. Peat sure seems to be wrong about a lot of stuff, too. The only reason I saw your post is because I got an email about the top threads on this forum. I also still like to see the studies Haidut posts so I'll wander back here every once and a while.

The low potassium is certainly strange. How low is it, and I assume you mean serum potassium? And does it not raise with increased intake?

There is a very well documented condition called "Refractory Potassium Deficiency," where a potassium deficiency won't respond to even massive doses of potassium. The fix was to give magnesium simultaneously, as magnesium is needed for for cellular uptake of potassium.

Cortisol and potassium seem to be intimately linked, though some say high cortisol (as in Cushing's) depletes potassium and others say cortisol' mechanism is to retain potassium. I can empathize with your confusion in this arena because the human body is very complicated and confusing.

I can tell you this, though: using hormones without knowing the details of your own body is dangerous, and eating a bunch of sugar is probably going to cause numerous deficiencies in zinc, magnesium, thiamine, etc. And if you drink a liter of both orange juice and milk a day, you're barely getting half of the RDA for Magnesium. I've even heard people say here that we don't even need the RDA of magnesium, which I think is way off base. A tin of oysters a week won't cover your zinc needs at all. Chris Masterjohn, a very good researcher, told me that the body can only absorb 5-6 mg of zinc every 5 hours or so, so a large dose of zinc from oysters doesn't do much anyway. Fruit sure doesn't have a lot of zinc, either. And people are gorging themselves on it here.

Anyway, I'm just saying to be wary of what you hear on this forum. I started to actually get better once I stopped with all this nonsense. There are good doctors out there, but many dogmatic ones as well. I found that a physician's assistant was much more willing to listen and order different tests. And, for goodness sake, don't go blindly take a supplement or substance or hormone without a qualified medical professional's guidance. I don't want you harming yourself, and none of us know your unique biochemistry. There is good testing technology out there, use it to your advantage. Find a GOOD doctor to help you.

Lastly, I believe you'll get through this. Be patient, and never give up hope. Maybe someday you'll be able to use this experience to help someone else. Who knows? Suffering can be a gift, even though it may not seem like it.

God Bless

 

[Hugh Johnson]

You are willing to take SSRIs which have been established as dangerous, but not pregnenolone?

Whatever, man. Read this:

The Cure For Depression

 

[Diokine]

You need to take care of your kidneys. The low potassium is probably from the renin-angiotensin system and high aldosterone. This comes about after long term hypothyroidism and emergency cortisol-adrenaline. Consume only things that smell and taste good to you, and if nothing does then consume nothing. I would recommend a period of only green veggie broths (parsley and cilantro are my favorites) with lots of salt to taste, some nutritional yeast for B vitamins and trace minerals, and lots of sunshine. Some coconut oil may be helpful also. Pregnenolone is usually very calming in these situations. Find things in your environment that you can bring order to - pull weeds, do your laundry, clean your room.

Lots of big side stretches and deep breathing will be very helpful. You want to feel your pelvic girdle open up and become very "juicy." You may feel like crying during some of these exercises - encourage it. Let the tears flow. Experiment with different breathing techniques until you can feel the clamp around your head release. Get your diaphragm to loosen, open your mouth and throat and create low sounds from deep within.

I do not recommend SSRI's.

 

[lampofred]

Can you get your hands on some LSD or MDMA? Those are the two strongest substances I know when it comes to reversing learned helplessness/desperation.

 

[Johnson Bagfoot]

Hi,

Have you tried the usual stuff we use in the forum ?
Liver, Fat solubles, coffee, aspirin, niacinamide, red light, pregnenolone (it is not "heavy duty stuff", it just works wonders) and the like ?

Check the 5a-DHP thread they compare it to paroxetine (SSRI) in some posts if I recall correctly.

I think also snorting small pinches of pure pregnenolone powder can quickly raise neurosteroids in the brain (not kidding) without any side effects (personal experience).

Anyway, if you are suffering THAT much, I don't think there's any point on keep suffering. Please. Please. There's thousands (if not millions) of people using SSRI's with acceptable results. If you are really that bad and SSRIs help you, I would go back to them with small doses and then rethink new strategies like more comprehensive lab tests to check your hormones (not only TSH or cortisol), improving diet AND environment (very important), etc.

We only live once man, no need to suffer unnecessarly. Don't aim for perfection either. It's better to live with SSRis that live a nightmare.

Good luck. I think you might need what you are more scared of : hormones

Thank you, that's good, rational advice.

Some of that stuff. Not caffeine, I have a very bad reaction. The fear of hormones is just a matter of stability right now. I've also read people have bad reactions to pregnenolone both on and off SSRIs, so it isn't risk free, even in low doses. I also want to reduce variables in order to work out how I might fix this. Many people here seem to be taking high doses of many different things, and it makes me wonder if they have clarity on the effects of any of it or are simply convinced that they do.

I think your points about suffering are very valid and true. I agree. I hoped recovery would happen over the past 6 months. In a way, staying off SSRIs was my interpretation of being compassionate to myself long term, by enduring some temporary erratic waves. But it hasn't worked out as a temporary thing at all, sadly. Reintroducing also represents something of an issue now, and may cause paradoxical effects unlike the first time I introduced it, so it's all going to have to be very slow and gentle.

Johnson,

I was reading the many replies to your previous thread and, frankly, I think they're crazy. I stopped "Peating" after I got sick of people constantly telling myself and others to eat a bunch of sugar and take hormones, as well as drink a ton of milk and orange juice. Coffee isn't a miracle drink that everyone should drink either. Peat sure seems to be wrong about a lot of stuff, too. The only reason I saw your post is because I got an email about the top threads on this forum. I also still like to see the studies Haidut posts so I'll wander back here every once and a while.

The low potassium is certainly strange. How low is it, and I assume you mean serum potassium? And does it not raise with increased intake?

There is a very well documented condition called "Refractory Potassium Deficiency," where a potassium deficiency won't respond to even massive doses of potassium. The fix was to give magnesium simultaneously, as magnesium is needed for for cellular uptake of potassium.

Cortisol and potassium seem to be intimately linked, though some say high cortisol (as in Cushing's) depletes potassium and others say cortisol' mechanism is to retain potassium. I can empathize with your confusion in this arena because the human body is very complicated and confusing.

I can tell you this, though: using hormones without knowing the details of your own body is dangerous, and eating a bunch of sugar is probably going to cause numerous deficiencies in zinc, magnesium, thiamine, etc. And if you drink a liter of both orange juice and milk a day, you're barely getting half of the RDA for Magnesium. I've even heard people say here that we don't even need the RDA of magnesium, which I think is way off base. A tin of oysters a week won't cover your zinc needs at all. Chris Masterjohn, a very good researcher, told me that the body can only absorb 5-6 mg of zinc every 5 hours or so, so a large dose of zinc from oysters doesn't do much anyway. Fruit sure doesn't have a lot of zinc, either. And people are gorging themselves on it here.

Anyway, I'm just saying to be wary of what you hear on this forum. I started to actually get better once I stopped with all this nonsense. There are good doctors out there, but many dogmatic ones as well. I found that a physician's assistant was much more willing to listen and order different tests. And, for goodness sake, don't go blindly take a supplement or substance or hormone without a qualified medical professional's guidance. I don't want you harming yourself, and none of us know your unique biochemistry. There is good testing technology out there, use it to your advantage. Find a GOOD doctor to help you.

Lastly, I believe you'll get through this. Be patient, and never give up hope. Maybe someday you'll be able to use this experience to help someone else. Who knows? Suffering can be a gift, even though it may not seem like it.

God Bless

Thank you John,

I think this is the most zoomed out and rational reply I've gotten so far. I appreciate it. I didn't "buy in" to very specific, high dose or restrictive suggestions in the other thread, but it was a little alarming as you say. It is hard to know what the biochemical reality of a stranger over the internet is, so if you trust them, there's a lot of potential to damage them. It's very easy to buy into the certainty of peat, or trusted forum members, or the substances vouched for by forum members here. Especially when a person is suffering, and there's a lot of allure to the simplicity of the solution offered, which gives them hope.

As far as Peat goes, I just eliminated PUFAs, added some glycine containing stuff, and tried to include some benign recommendations. But overall, a totally nonrestrictive diet, which I sense is probably wise right now, before understanding the cause of symptoms/dysfunction.


And yes, exactly. Low potassium should predict high cortisol, a long with the other symptoms. But there is paradoxical low potassium and low cortisol (they'd treat with hydrocortisone if it was a little bit lower). Blood potassium has been measured between 2.9-3.2mmol/l over many repeat tests. The reference range is 3.5 - 5.5. But an optimal minimum in studies I've read (ie to eliminate or reduce any cardiac, cognitive or other symptoms) has been around 4.2-4.5.

I'm getting it investigated right now by an endicrinologist, but I am definitely encountering dogmatic thinking that sees the lab tests at the exclusion of my symptoms. I'm sure that low potassium is often absolutely fine in healthy individuals, but for me it represents a clue into an unseen dysfunction somewhere up the chain, perhaps in kidney or endocrine function. A key to solving a riddle that has plagued me with suffering for a long time. But equally, it's hard to start pushing an investigation into potassium without someone starting to suspect you're a hypochondriac. Especially when SSRIs imply there was mental health difficulty, which colours just about every interpretation of symptoms. My sense is also that SSRIs somehow masked the underlying issue, perhaps by elevating cortisol or other effects. But many symptoms also begun only upon discontinuation of SSRIs, so it's quite a mess.

And you make precisely the point of my worry. Introducing hormones before clearly understanding the biochemical situation of the body represents a great risk. We can post a few lab tests, a few symptoms, but what is really going on upstream? Surely better to clarify and test more before adding something with powerful system-wide effects. There is possibly not such a a risk for other members with more resiliency, since their body's can essentially bounce back quick from anything chemically injurious. Whereas my current state is one of hyper-sensitivity and drawn out consequence.

You make a very good point about magnesium too, I'll introduce some mag citrate at low dose, since it can't hurt. I did not realise the regulatory effect on potassium. Those studies are interesting, I've read over a few abstracts just now.

Very hard to find a good Doctor too! I'm looking, hoping, willing to pay... but most true experts are fairly narrow in their scope. Let's say, a good endocrinologist might understand cortisol/potassium, how likely is that they'll know about long term SSRI usage and its potential interactions/effects on the HPA. Sometimes I ask "testing" questions about the effects of fairly common pharmaceuticals that I know the answer to and have heard incorrectness or ignorance. For instance, effects like cortisol blunting in mirtazapine / cypro will be unknown by the average GP (who focus upon the anti-depressant and anti-histamine qualities), so it was very quickly prescribed to me despite borderline adrenal insufficiency.

You are willing to take SSRIs which have been established as dangerous, but not pregnenolone?

Whatever, man. Read this:

The Cure For Depression

SSRIs are often negative, but for me, represented a little more stability than I currently have. Returning to that stability exceeds the danger, since subjective well-being is a pretty good criteria for making choices. Pregnenolone is an unknown, and my biochemical situation is also an unknown. To combine two unknowns seems very risky.

You need to take care of your kidneys. The low potassium is probably from the renin-angiotensin system and high aldosterone. This comes about after long term hypothyroidism and emergency cortisol-adrenaline. Consume only things that smell and taste good to you, and if nothing does then consume nothing. I would recommend a period of only green veggie broths (parsley and cilantro are my favorites) with lots of salt to taste, some nutritional yeast for B vitamins and trace minerals, and lots of sunshine. Some coconut oil may be helpful also. Pregnenolone is usually very calming in these situations. Find things in your environment that you can bring order to - pull weeds, do your laundry, clean your room.

Lots of big side stretches and deep breathing will be very helpful. You want to feel your pelvic girdle open up and become very "juicy." You may feel like crying during some of these exercises - encourage it. Let the tears flow. Experiment with different breathing techniques until you can feel the clamp around your head release. Get your diaphragm to loosen, open your mouth and throat and create low sounds from deep within.

I do not recommend SSRI's.

Thank you very much. I also thought kidney function might be implicated somehow. A question, why would long term hypothyroidism in my case display a normal TSH (1.9~), middle of the range t3/t4/antibodies, and profound heat intolerance. Some symptoms seem very hypothyroidy (low pulse, low temp, fatigue), but labs and other symptoms totally contradict this. Running on stress hormones and long term damage does feel correct though.

"The low potassium is probably from the renin-angiotensin system and high aldosterone" would you mind explaining a little more how I might go about getting this tested to make sure? Just so I can ask my endocrinologist about this possibility.

I'd doing lots of release type stuff at the moment, shaking, breathing. But not stretches, that is a very good idea. One issue I've had specifically is a tight band of tension inside the neck, like a pillar or column of tightness about 3 inches in circumference, from the mid neck up to the skull. I have been able to release other areas but not this easily. Any ideas?

Another issue is also that since stopping SSRIs, I have found it hard to distil raw physical sensation into emotion. Occasionally it happens, and there can be some crying and release. But overall, there is a sense that emotions are stuck under the surface despite a willingness to surrender and feel them. I think this might be serotonin dys-regulation. Things were much more free and available to come to the surface of experience while on a low dose. I'd also love to be off SSRIs completely.

Can you get your hands on some LSD or MDMA? Those are the two strongest substances I know when it comes to reversing learned helplessness/desperation.

I think that would be way too dangerous right now for a state of instability and fatigue. LSD seems more benign, but setting and set are important. Mine is one of environmental restriction due to illness, and the mental state of anxiety and fatigue. I'd like to try reducing serotonin in a fairly simple way, but the pharmaceutical options I've encountered so far to do so have diverse effects (e.g. cypro also significantly blunts cortisol, which is very risky for me). I don't feel like I'm in a state of "learned helplessness" in the psychological sense of being unwilling to leave a situation, I just feel the restriction (and perhaps desperation) of quite extreme symptoms and fatigue. I think that's fairly natural, too.


Thanks all,

Johnson

 

[Lurker]

From what I read, a lot of the clinical research for SSRIs was done on people that were hospitalized for depression. That's bad. Do what it takes to get out of the hospital by all means. That's were people go to die. You don't want to be there.

It's hard to think and see clearly where you are when things are out of control. But when you start to get it together, interfering with serotonin breakdown is not the best way long term (or short term if you can avoid it). It can be hard to get off the SSRIs. I just read in today's paper The People's Pharmacy had a protocol for tapering off (see attached).

Hang in there. People here are trying to help the best they know. But unfortunately no one here knows exactly what's best for you.

 

[Tarmander]

I remember your other thread...there were a lot of different recommendations for sure. That is really a strength of this place, you get a lot of ideas although most of them you can toss out. To throw in my two cents again, I think you are very depleted, as I said in the other thread. In other words, all give, give, give, and no recharge. SSRIs in the short term really do give some stability...they lower anxiety, and increase cortisol. So yeah they will calm you, give some energy, and maybe from there you can find some stability that will help you deal with some of these problems.

But long term, at some point you have to stop stepping on the gas right? If you go back on SSRIs, is there a good reason to think that you will be able to deal with these issues in 3-6 months WAY better then right now? Because they are going to be the EXACT same issues in3-6 months. Maybe right now you are in the middle of a divorce or something, in which case putting off dealing with these issues is a good idea...but if you are just feeling really bad, putting them off is not going to make it better.

If you want out of this, you are going to need to make a big move, and experiment, and risk messing things up, that is just how it's going to go. Liver, eggs, thyroid, charcoal, salt, sunlight, breathing, pregnenolone, fat soluble vitamins, minerals...all these are the LEAST risky things to try. Can you mess yourself up going on thyroid? Yep, same with magnesium, preg, ADEK...you can end up worse. But if you go back on SSRIs, you might as well call it quits man. You see where you are headed, you know it ain't good. No one is going to care about you like you will, no one! You have years of experience on these SSRIs, you know what that path is, and where it leads, because you are living it.

 

[Makrosky]

Oh by the way, have you tried Rosa Rhodiola?

 

[Makrosky]

But long term, at some point you have to stop stepping on the gas right? If you go back on SSRIs, is there a good reason to think that you will be able to deal with these issues in 3-6 months WAY better then right now? Because they are going to be the EXACT same issues in3-6 months. Maybe right now you are in the middle of a divorce or something, in which case putting off dealing with these issues is a good idea...but if you are just feeling really bad, putting them off is not going to make it better.

The OP says 6 months since he stopped after 8 years of them. That's clearly not enough to overcome the withdrawal symptoms and other stuff SSRIs do. It took me almost a year to get rid of the worst part of withdrawal symptoms after 4-5 years.

That piece of Tarmander's advice I agree 100%. Beware you won't solve any problems on the long term. So either you develop strategies during that time or you will be in the starting point again.

Maybe you can try herbal SSRI's or IMAOS to see if they help. Like Rosa Rhodiola, Saffron, etc.

I would definitely encourage you to try pregnenolone. Buy an idealabs bottle, it's just 30 bucks and start with one drop.

 

[Diokine]

Re; renin-angiotensin, aldosterone testing. Does breathing feel good? Do you feel pleasurable sensations in your solar plexus with deep breath? If not then your levels are off.

Read this as a primary on gluco and mineral corticoids and ventilation

Sex, hormones, and stress: How they impact development and function of the carotid bodies and related reflexes

Re; tight band of tension

This is a really complicated one, but the general idea is that the basal structures of your brain (medulla, pons, thalamus) form a feedback-looped circuit that receives input from the whole of the body, referencing the thyroid and carotid body. This is the master regulator for whole body metabolism. So disruptions in these circuits creates tension (voltage, electrochemical potential, however you'd like to analogize) which you perceive as tension. Interactions with insulin and thyroid hormone, dopamine, and acetylcholine are major players here. This tension can be loosed with breath exercises and observation.

Re; Physical sensation and emotion

I think this is basically due to vagal nerve fatigue. High nervous sensitivity and dynamic range is required for proper emotion. Circadian rhythm and proper sleep/meal timings are critical for this sensitivity. Stress increases fatigue.

 

[REOSIRENS]

Triiodothyronine will cure some side effects caused by ssri

 

[REOSIRENS]

Lithium low doses is a must ... lowers prolactin parathyroid and stimulate t3 production

 

[LUH 3417]

Lithium low doses is a must ... lowers prolactin parathyroid and stimulate t3 production

I would be careful with lithium. I was using orotate off the internet and I ended up almost fainting in a park and nearly going to a hospital because of what I imagine to be lithium toxicity. I had to take lots and salts and fluids after but it was really scary.

 

[namaste]

Hi Johnson,

I was on SSRI's from ages 13 to 20. Since going off (five years ago) I've had issues similar to yours, although probably not quite as intense. I do have signs of HPA dysfunction including moderate 'adrenal fatigue' (not totally sold on that term but it's the best I've got). I had what I'd call a 'crash' a few years ago and have had chronic dissociation, GI issues, mood flattening, and fairly significant sexual dysfunction (which stems back to my teenage years) ever since.

I've probably spent hundreds of hours looking this stuff up at this point. Here is what I can tell you:

1) There is no evidence that any of this is permanent. Persistent is probably a better word.
2) There was recently a long-term study done on those with chronic fatigue / HPA symptoms. The most effective treatment, by far, was somatic therapy (think yoga, tai chi, etc).
3) The diet discussion tends to be dogmatic. Don't subscribe to any one solution. I've found that eating a whole foods diet (whole grains, veggies, seafood) with no dairy and limited meat makes me feel best. You might have to experiment but I'd try eating whole foods with elimination phases for things like dairy, nightshades, etc.
4) You should probably get a baseline blood panel done. Things like testosterone (total+free), LH, FSH, TSH, prolactin, estradiol, progesterone, DHT, etc.
5) There is a huge amount of amateur research being done on these issues across multiple forums right now. The medical community is not going to be our savior unfortunately. Please do read this thread (Post Finasteride Syndrome, 5ar, And The Brain), starting around page 30. The poster gbolduev might be controversial but he has spent a lot of time on this and talks about things you've mentioned such as potassium. I happen to think that PFS and post-SSRI syndrome are more closely related than we really know. The tl;dr of the emerging theory on PFS/post-SSRI forums is that we have a hormonal imbalance that, if corrected, could potentially resolve issues with the serotonin transporter and receptor. There are about 5-10 people in that thread who are about to embark on some pretty impressive trials.

Please do reach out to me via PM if you'd like to talk further. I wish you the best.

 

[REOSIRENS]

I would be careful with lithium. I was using orotate off the internet and I ended up almost fainting in a park and nearly going to a hospital because of what I imagine to be lithium toxicity. I had to take lots and salts and fluids after but it was really scary.

Dr Raymond Peat wrote not in a positive way about minerals bounded with orotate/citrate ...and my personal opinion both orotate/citrate are things to avoid... Lithium is so misunderstood...it is amazing stuff... But people continue to make mistakes by taking high doses without meal or running on very low blood sugars... I have wrote so many times that lithium consumes great deal of thiamine retinol Potassium magnesium and dhea glucose cholesterol... If you are not running low you will see great benefits from lithium supplementation...
It is amazing cause it lowers serotonin prolactin parathyroid ...and bonus your teeth and bones will be stronger than ever



Don't take high doses
150mcg twice daily is just fine

 

[REOSIRENS]

E

. I happen to think that PFS and post-SSRI syndrome are more closely related than we really know. Th

Yes you are right they are related..they share 80 percent of same side effects

 

[REOSIRENS]

I would be careful with lithium. I was using orotate off the internet and I ended up almost fainting in a park and nearly going to a hospital because of what I imagine to be lithium toxicity. I had to take lots and salts and fluids after but it was really scary.

"." When tissues calcified in the process of aging, calcium was blamed (ignoring the existence of calcium phosphate crystals in the tissues), and low calcium diets were recommended. Recently, when calcium supplements haven't produced the intended effects, calcium was blamed, disregarding the other materials present in the supplements, such as citrate, phosphate, orotate, aspartate, and lactate."
Dr Raymond Peat

In this case don't blame lithium... Check first the way you are taking folks

 

[LUH 3417]

"." When tissues calcified in the process of aging, calcium was blamed (ignoring the existence of calcium phosphate crystals in the tissues), and low calcium diets were recommended. Recently, when calcium supplements haven't produced the intended effects, calcium was blamed, disregarding the other materials present in the supplements, such as citrate, phosphate, orotate, aspartate, and lactate."
Dr Raymond Peat

In this case don't blame lithium... Check first the way you are taking folks

What kind of lithium do you take? Orotate can be mutigenic also.