Lithium
Lithium is a mineral with anti-depressant and anti-manic effects. It is used to treat bipolar disorder (manic-depression) and severe depression.
Sodium and Potassium
In the first twenty-four hours, lithium may increase sodium, potassium, and water
excretion. These changes frequently do not cause problems, but during this first day,
restricting salt (which contains sodium) may be dangerous. For the next four to five days,
however, sodium may be retained. Later, sodium metabolism appears to normalize. Therefore,
concerns about the effect of restricting salt exist only for the first day the drug is
taken.1
References:
1. Baldessarinin RJ. Drugs and the treatment of psychiatric disorders. In Goodman and Gilman’s The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 6th ed., A Goodman Gilman, LS Goodman, A Gilman, eds. New York: Macmillan, 1980, 433 (review).
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