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I have a mother who has a 8 month old healthy baby girl who weighs 18 lbs. The mom needs to go back on 900 mg a day of lithium cr. The depakote has not kept her bipolar under control at all. The mothers blood levels are usually around .5 With blood levels this low would you expect there to be problems in the infant? Everywhere I am reading says different things.
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Rogers929:
In a number of past studies with lithium in fully breastfeeding mothers suggests that lithium levels in the infant are about 30-40% of the mom's level. Mom's level of 0.5 is actually about half that commonly seen (1.1 meq). So I would suggest this infant's lithium levels are going to be quite low, probably in the 0.1 to 0.2 range, which will probably not bother the infant at all. Again, it would be important to have this infant closely followed by a pediatrician, and include an occasional lithium level, during the first month of therapy.
Be sure the pediatrician or infants physician knows this infant is being exposed to lithium.
Regards
Tom Hale Ph.d.
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