Lithium
About
Lithium is a type of medicine known as a mood stabiliser. It's used to treat mood disorders such as: mania (feeling highly excited, overactive or distracted) hypo-mania (similar to mania, but less severe) regular periods of depression, where treatment with other medicines has not worked bipolar disorder, where your mood changes between feeling very high (mania) and very low (depression) Lithium can also help reduce aggressive or self-harming behaviour. Lithium is available on prescription. It comes as regular tablets or slow-release tablets (lithium carbonate). Brand names for the tablets include Priadel, Camcolit and Liskonum. It also comes as a liquid that you swallow (lithium citrate). Common brands of lithium liquid are Priadel and Li-liquid. Lithium may take several weeks or months to work. Common side effects of lithium are feeling or being sick, diarrhoea, a dry mouth and a metallic taste in the mouth. You'll have regular blood tests to check how much lithium is in your blood. These results will be recorded in your lithium record book. You'll be given a lithium alert card to keep with you at all times. In an emergency, this will let health professionals know you're taking lithium. Try to avoid a low-sodium (low-salt) diet as this can increase the levels of lithium in your blood and increase the chance of getting side effects. Page last reviewed: 9 August 2023 Next review due: 9 August 2026
Key facts
Lithium may take several weeks or months to work.
Common side effects of lithium are feeling or being sick, diarrhoea, a dry mouth and a metallic taste in the mouth.
You'll have regular blood tests to check how much lithium is in your blood. These results will be recorded in your lithium record book.
You'll be given a lithium alert card to keep with you at all times. In an emergency, this will let health professionals know you're taking lithium.
Try to avoid a low-sodium (low-salt) diet as this can increase the levels of lithium in your blood and increase the chance of getting side effects.