Lithium
Therapeutic drug monitoring for lithium, used in bipolar disorder — a medication with a narrow therapeutic index, meaning the effective and toxic doses are uncomfortably close.
Included because anyone on lithium needs regular monitoring of the level plus kidney and thyroid function, which lithium can affect long-term.
Optimal ranges, root causes, and the complete correction protocol — nutrition, supplements, lifestyle, hormones and peptides — plus 100+ other markers.
Unlock everything — $10/mo →📚 Standard therapeutic drug monitoring guidance for lithium.
🩸 Test your Lithium
Order directly through Marek Diagnostics — no doctor's visit needed, drawn at any Quest location in the US. Code CAMERON applies 10% off automatically.
Order this test — 10% off → Browse all 102 markers →What Lithium is usually tested alongside
On its own, one marker is a data point. These panels include Lithium plus the markers that make it interpretable — each names every test, why it is on the list, and loads the whole set into your cart in one click at 10% off.
includes this + 12 more markers — Healthy, asymptomatic, and want the most informative baseline you can get — the panel to run once a year and track for decades.
includes this + 6 more markers · built for men — Never had proper bloodwork, or want the highest-value snapshot for the least money.
includes this + 6 more markers · built for women — Never had proper bloodwork, or want the highest-value snapshot for the least money.
Why your Lithium might be wrong
Most abnormal results are interference, not disease. These are the things that measurably move this specific marker — check them before you change anything. Each one says whether the number is wrong and should be repeated, badly timed and should be redrawn, or real with a cause worth explaining.
Lithium levels are meaningful only as a 12-hour trough. A sample taken four hours after a dose is far higher and not comparable to any reference range.
Draw exactly 12 hours after the evening dose.
All reduce lithium clearance and raise levels — a genuine and dangerous interaction, because lithium's therapeutic window is narrow.
Any new medication needs a level check. Tremor, vomiting, confusion or unsteadiness is lithium toxicity and an emergency.
Lithium is handled like sodium by the kidney, so dehydration or a sudden drop in salt intake raises levels — a common route to toxicity in hot weather or illness.
Maintain hydration and consistent salt intake, especially when unwell.
What Lithium means in combination
A single marker tells you a little. Combinations tell you the story — these are the named patterns this marker takes part in, and what each one points at.
Both are narrow-therapeutic-window drugs reported against a trough range, and timing relative to the dose is the single largest determinant of the number. A lithium drawn four hours after the dose is far higher than the same person's true trough.
Lithium: exactly 12 hours after the evening dose. Sirolimus: immediately before the next dose. New medications matter enormously — NSAIDs and diuretics raise lithium, CYP3A4 inhibitors raise sirolimus. Tremor, vomiting or confusion on lithium is toxicity and an emergency.
What to test next
Markers rarely answer alone. These are the ones that put Lithium in context — each with its own full breakdown.
Frequently asked questions
Therapeutic 0.6–1.2 mEq/L (condition dependent) Ranges vary by laboratory and assay — always compare to the range printed on your own report.
Optimal ranges, root causes and the full correction protocol are available inside Coach Cam's Peptide Academy.
See the full breakdown inside the Academy.
See the full breakdown inside the Academy.
You can order Lithium directly through Marek Diagnostics without a doctor's visit — drawn at any Quest Diagnostics location in the US. Code CAMERON applies 10% off automatically.