Experience trying over the counter lithium oronate 5mg daily?

@trishaanderson
Thanks for the heads up!

The website drugs dot com has a lot of useful information. You need to do your own internet search to find the specific webpage since it appears my first reply containing hyperlinks was rejected.

Of particular interest is

consumption of higher dosages (up to 240 mg of lithium orotate per day), with no apparent signs of toxicity
However I believe the 5mg dossage may be too low. Yes, extrapolation from the dosage given to the mice suggests that a dose of anywhere between 1 to 10 mg may be effective. Do an internet search on raffaelemedical and lithium-orotate-and-alzheimer-s-harvard-study-reveals-a-breakthrough-in-brain-aging. Not that it matters much, but my own extrapolation reached the same conclusion – actually as little as 2 mg may be effective). HOWEVER, you need to keep in mind that the mice were fed the Lo in their water and they were actually young rats which developed the condition because they were totally deprived of lithium.
This is important as the it relates to how the humans developed the disease at an OLDER age. A rational supposition is that it was due to age related degradation of the digestive system leading to a reduced absorption of Li from food. Thus the dosage in pill form needed to deliver the same amount of Li to the human brain may be MUCH higher.
You may consider say a 20mg dose – especially since that is the highest dosage in one pill I could find on Amazon. You could look at the reviews to see if you find anything that might be important in your husband's case.

@pierwell The website drugs dot com has a lot of useful information. You need to do your own internet search to find the specific webpage since it appears posts with active hyperlinks are rejected.

Of particular interest is

consumption of higher dosages (up to 240 mg of lithium orotate per day), with no apparent signs of toxicity

However I believe a 5mg dossage may be too low. Yes, extrapolation from the dosage given to the mice suggests that a dose of anywhere between 1 to 10 mg may be effective. Do an internet search on raffaelemedical and lithium-orotate-and-alzheimer-s-harvard-study-reveals-a-breakthrough-in-brain-aging. Not that it matters much, but my own extrapolation reached the same conclusion – actually as little as 2 mg may be effective).
HOWEVER, you need to keep in mind that the mice were fed the Lo in their water and they were actually young rats which developed the condition because they were totally deprived of lithium.
This is important as it relates to how the humans developed the disease at an OLDER age. A rational supposition is that it was due to age related degradation of the digestive system leading to a reduced absorption of Li from food. Thus, the dosage in pill form needed to deliver the same amount of Li to the human brain may be MUCH higher.
You may consider say a 20mg dose – especially since that is the highest dosage in one pill I could find on Amazon. You could look at the reviews to see if you find anything that might be important in your case in question.

@dalecasto The dosage mentioned earlier seems a bit unclear, so perhaps it needs clarification.

In lithium orotate, the actual lithium content is approximately 4%. Currently, dietary supplements on the market are labeled differently—some specify the elemental lithium amount (e.g., "5mg lithium," which would correspond to roughly 125mg of lithium orotate).

So when the text mentions "up to 240mg of lithium orotate," that would equate to around 10mg of elemental lithium.

@randomatomThank you for your response. In my attempt to be brief (due in part to a much longer response disappearing) I posted less than clear information. And perhaps my confusion.

And it is critical that no one give the FDA an excuse to restrict Lithium Orotate.

The whole paragraph states
Dosing
Over-the-counter lithium orotate is promoted as a health supplement for use as a low-dose source of lithium. The recommended daily allowance (RDA) of lithium is 1 mg/day supplemental lithium orotate doses up to 20 mg/day have been suggested.

The fact that the paragraph stated “supplemental lithium orotate doses up to 20 mg/day" followed by "Case reports exist of consumption of higher dosages (up to 240 mg of lithium orotate per day), with no apparent signs of toxicity.
Led me to believe that the dose of 20mg/day indicated “20mg/day [of elemental lithium in the form of lithium orotate] and the higher dosages should be interpreted as up to 240 mg/day of [elemental lithium in the form of] lithium orotate.
Consider also the drugs dot com entry for Lithium carbonate [ /pro/lithobid.html#s-34068-7 ]
Usual Adult Dose for Bipolar Disorder
Extended release formulations: 600 mg orally 2 times a day
Lithium Carbonate is 18.75% elemental lithium, thus the total lithium dosage works out to be 225mg, very close to the 240 grams mentioned in the website
This morning attempted to follow the link to the source cited for the 240 Mg figure. Following the daisy chain of publications I arrived at one that was interesting. It stated that No toxicity or target organs were identified; therefore, a no observed adverse effect level was determined as 400 mg/kg body weight/day. These results are supportive of the lack of a postmarket safety signal from several decades of human consumption. SEE: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih dot gov /34146638/
I must be doing something wrong because I keep coming up with a safe dosage of 18 Mg/ per pound.
In any event, keep in mind TRUST NO ONE, especially me (after all, I am also 77 so my mind is probably not as clear as it was). Consider everything as a theory which you need to double check yourself

@maryjow718 I can appreciate your concerns. And also that you are unlikely to get any help from the medical profession. On the other hand, keep in mind that Lithium Orotate is NOT a drug. It is only a from of a trace element in a different form. If you have microsoft edge (which uses CoPilot - an artificial intelligence search engine, you may try asking it "are there any known drug interactions with lithium orotate" as I did. It took about one minute to generate a pretty impressive response listing the possible interactions. You could also go to a website like drugs dot com (I cannot post hyper links) and look up the three drugs and look for interactions. Also keep in mind that mg stands for 1/1000 of a GRAM which is .0357 of an - ounce. And to be blunt, the alternate is a 100% chance of dying from Alzheimer's.

@gilkesl Taking 10/1000 of a gram of lithium in an over the counter supplement that costs 25cents a day and has NEVER caused any negative reactions in dosages up to 24 times larger a in response to a 10 year long study showing a direct the effectiveness is hardly comparable.

@dalecasto I completely disagree with your assertion that lithium orotate is not a drug. This statement trivializes its significance.

My AI search defined a drug as:

summary, a drug is any substance (except food) that alters the body’s structure or function and is used for diverse purposes, ranging from healthcare and well-being to recreational and, sometimes, illicit activities

It is a chemical compound that alters human physiology, just as do prescription, OTC compounds, vitamins, herbal remedies, among others. As such, all of these chemicals (really, including food which is also made of chemicals) need to be taken with respectful intention and responsibility.

@dalecasto thank you for your clarification of the Li orotate discussion! There doesn't seem to be any urgency to move patients thru the steps that confirm what kind of dementia they/we are dealing with. I think that's a result of the limited success of any of the treatments that do more than "slow it down." My significant other has been under neurologic care for over a year and we finally reached the point where Leqembi has been recommended. The next appt for that consultation is next March! We've asked for a referral to another location and are waiting. Meanwhile...I've read up on Leqembi and am concerned about the side-effects and actual benefit. After researching as much as I could about Li orotate, Carol has been taking 10mg daily since Aug 23. We'll mention it to her neurologist on Nov 23, which is her next appt where we'll review her recent amyloid PETscan. Li orotate is our only ray of hope and and it can't hurt!

@dalecasto I too have read all of that and am on 5mg of Lithium
Orotate as a safe dietary supplement. Safe doesn’t mean no one will have a reaction - which is why i found 1mg capsules and worked up to 5mg.

It is a lot to expect most of us to be literate in the difference in elemental levels. I know a lot and what you write i am sure is brilliant - but it gave me a headache

My suggestion is - Stick with a common expression of mg and stay under 5mg - and the consensus is that it will be safe, pending any reaction at an individual level. But we all have the power of judgment and choice.

I notified both my primary care and neurologist of my intention and their response was exactly as you would expect - we don't know enough yet - be patient for human trials. My response was that i so appreciate their input, but my disease course is on a faster track than the research - especially given massive cuts to research budgets. And since no literature i found suggested that low dose or micro dose is dangerous, i am taking this step.

Watch thyroid and eGFR (kidney) levels - both are routine in my annual physical. And drink plenty of water - I shoot for 30-40oz a day- to ensure it doesn't concentrate in your system

Hope that is Helpful.