MCI/Alzheimer's Helping? - Report Your LiO Effects +/-

The other topic mentioned above is "Have MCI, sharing new intel re Lithium Orotate" at this Mayo Connect link:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/new-intel-re-lithium-orotate/
It's a fabulous source of info and discussion about the 2025 study, and much more. After reading some Reddit discussions, I found it quite helpful to read people's reports on their experiences so I'm hoping we can expand on that here too. I was particularly interested to read this Reddit topic:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Alzheimers/comments/1oje8j4/comment/nmdvest/
where someone noted that one brand of 5mg LiO we've been taking also lists the far less effective Carbonate ingredient (LiC not LiO). If the LiO ingredient is mixed with less expensive LiC, it could have far less benefit. My understanding is that we're understandably discouraged (prohibited?) from posting brand names here.

@plus So to start off with my own report:
My wife was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) caused by Alzheimer's Disease (AD), a few months ago. After reading the aforementioned Harvard study, I looked for more info regarding any potential side effects or downsides to taking low-dose (1 to 20mg) Lithium Orotate. Finding no negatives, and with moderately strong potential upsides I started both of us on 1mg daily.

At first with breakfast, then adding another dose at bedtime. I've read that there may be some chance that the relatively high acid level in the human stomach might reduce the amount of LiO reaching the brain where it's needed. I've also read that stomach acid's irrelevant with LiO, but am still doing the morning (lowest stomach acid level before breakfast) and night (typically 4-6 hours after dinner). Our current total daily dose is 12mg/day, but 10mg of that's apparently at least partly LiC so I'll be changing brand on the 5mg portion asap.

As to effects, no downside or side effects. Fairly soon after starting LiO I noted mild improvement but not enough to be sure it's from the LiO. Lately I'm getting more confident of positive benefit. My wife was unable to draw a clock in the initial neurology test, and unable to read an analog clock at home. I've not tested her ability to draw one yet, but she can now tell the time again. Her memory has definitely improved somewhat, and her cognition has too.

Anyone else have a sense of whether or not LiO is helping?

My wife and I have just settled on a dose of 6mg >30 minutes before coffee & breakfast, and 6mg >4 hours after dinner (12mg/day). I'm hoping this Mayo Clinic Connect topic will get replies from people taking LiO for Alzheimer's/MCI. Since I've read elsewhere that psychiatrists prescribe 240mg LiO/day without toxicity, it could be that <50mg would be quite safe. I doubt anyone's currently doing that, other than possibly one of the formal AD studies apparently ramping up might trial a 240mg/day dose. Might it help if there's any study of the Lithium blood level in elderly subjects with no clinical AD/MCI symptoms?

I've just commented on this Connect topic:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/understanding-lithium-lab-results/
In it, the blood level of Lithium is reported to have a Target Range for mood disorders. The question was asked on behalf of someone prescribed 20mg/day of Lithium Orotate. The only reply other than the one I just posted there, included this from an AI inquiry:
"0.6 - 1.2 mmol/L ... to ensure the drug is effective at stabilizing mood while avoiding dangerous toxicity."

If that target range positively affects mood without toxicity, it seems to me possible it could similarly affect AD/MCI. I wonder if LiO has been prescribed to improve mood of AD/MCI patients.

So much more searching, reading, re-reading, and correlating to do!

Update on my dear wife's progress:
Last week she could read analog time, but not calculate it. That is, if I asked her the time she'd look at the analog clock and about 50% of the time she'd reply within 5 minutes without thinking about it. Last month she couldn't do that at all. Back then she was unable to tell analog time at all, whether or not she tried to figure it out. With her MCI she did still understand how digital clock time relates to time of day. Back in mid-May (before LiO) her hand drawn clock for the Neurologist looked like Picasso's melting one, and had little relevance to the target time.

In late June, she sat staring at a 100 piece children's puzzle for an hour. She couldn't find edge pieces, or put together two matching pieces I handed her. After a few weeks of 6mg/day Lio she began to laboriously find and assemble pieces herself. Most interesting to me was that she'd fairly often say her hand just "went to the piece" that would fit, without any thought.

Last week she said something similar about the analog time. Today she glanced at the clock, and without a thought said the correct time. This hasn't happened for months. Whether it's improvement in memory, cognition or both, it's notable improvement.

Anyway, I hope others reading this will take a moment to share their LiO dose, how long taking it, and any effects whether better or worse.

Things to note from the Harvard article:
Could Lithium Explain — and Treat — Alzheimer’s Disease? https://hms.harvard.edu/news/could-lithium-explain-treat-alzheimers-disease

- Study shows for the first time that lithium plays an essential role in normal brain function and can confer resistance to brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease.
- Scientists discovered that lithium is depleted in the brain by binding to toxic amyloid plaques — revealing a new way Alzheimer’s may begin.
- A new class of lithium-based compounds avoids plaque binding and reverses Alzheimer’s and brain aging in mice, without toxicity.

The study described was NOT done on humans, but on mice. A few limited clinical trials of lithium for Alzheimer’s disease have shown some efficacy, but the lithium compounds they used — such as the clinical standard, lithium carbonate — can be toxic to aging people at the high doses normally used in the clinic.

All information shared by members on the Mayo Clinic Connect is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on the community.

Talk to your doctor before taking over-the-counter supplement lithium orotate. It is not a regulated substance. Compounds may vary.