Xiao Song, 32 years old, suffers from bipolar disorder, mainly taking lithium carbonate sustained-release tablets, and the dose is taken for about 3 months. After taking the drug, the symptoms were significantly reduced, but for a week, nausea, vomiting, hand tremors, and unresponsiveness appeared. Xiao Song went to the hospital, and under the doctor's diagnosis, Xiao Song was infected with influenza A two weeks ago, and began to take antiviral drugs and antipyretics, which lasted for a week. Doctors speculated that antipyretics may have raised the patient's blood levels, triggering adverse effects.
Lithium carbonate is a commonly used drug for bipolar disorder, which can control both manic and depressive symptoms, and can also play a role in controlling symptoms during the maintenance period. Lithium carbonate is metabolized by the kidneys and acts in the form of lithium ions in the patient's body, stabilizing the mood by controlling blood lithium concentrations.
Due to the narrow window of lithium carbonate, the dosage and the toxic dose are similar, so reasonable control of blood concentration can reduce the adverse reactions and poisoning risk of the drug. Common adverse reactions to lithium carbonate include dry mouth, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, etc.
Clinically, there are differences in the metabolism of lithium carbonate in different constitutions of patients, such as age, kidney function, and drug interactions will affect the metabolism of drugs in patients, such as the antipyretic drugs mentioned in the above case may affect the concentration of lithium ions, in addition, the combination with depressive drugs such as sertraline will also be detrimental to the metabolism of lithium carbonate, resulting in toxicity
Therefore, it is important for patients receiving lithium carbonate** to monitor blood levels regularly to help ensure that the effect is maximized while avoiding the risk of adverse effects and drug toxicity.