Lithium: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Lithium is a medicine sold in the U.S. under 5 brand and generic names. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Available as
- Capsule · Tablet · Tablet, extended release · Syrup
- Sold as
- 5 products — Lithium Carbonate, Eskalith and Eskalith CR, and others
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Yes
- Half-life
- about 18 to 36 hours
- What the pharmacy pays
- about $6 for a 30-count supply — not your price
Every lithium product we track (5)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
| # | Drug | Rating | Type | Form | Generic? | Pharmacy pays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 62/100 | Prescription | Capsule | Generic | $6 | View → | |
| 2 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Capsule | Generic | $6 | View → | |
| 3 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Tablet | Generic | $6 | View → | |
| 4 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Capsule | Generic | $6 | View → | |
| 5 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Tablet | Generic | $6 | View → |
What lithium pills look like
Imprint codes, colour and shape from the FDA’s labelling data. Match the imprint on your pill — or search any imprint.
Can you crush or split lithium?
At least one lithiumproduct is labelled to be swallowed whole — crushing an extended-release tablet releases the whole day’s dose at once. Which applies depends on the form you were given.
What each lithium label says about crushing, splitting and chewingHow long does lithium take to work?
“It may take 1 to 3 weeks or longer for you to feel the full benefit of lithium.” — MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
What the NIH says about how quickly lithium worksHow long lithium keeps
No lithium label we read sets a separate limit for after opening, but they do specify how it must be stored — and the stability behind any date assumes those conditions.
Lithium and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for lithium: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadLithium excretion into breastmilk and concentrations in infant serum are highly variable. Although lithium appears on some lists of drugs contraindicated during breastfeeding, most sources do not consider it an absolute contraindication in healthy-full-term infants, especially in infants over 2 months of age and during lithium monotherapy. Numerous reports exist of infants who were breastfed during maternal lithium therapy without any signs of toxicity or developmental problems. Most were breastfed from birth and some infants continued to nurse for up to 1 year of maternal lithium therapy. Reports suggest that lithium in milk can adversely affect the infant acutely when its elimination is impaired, as in dehydration or in newborn or premature infants. Neonates may also have transplacentally acquired serum lithium levels. Lithium levels in these infants decline whether they are breastfed or not, although serum levels may fall more slowly in exclusively breastfed infants. The long-term effects of lithium on infants are not certain, but limited data indicate no obvious problems in growth and development.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised June 15, 2026. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
How long lithium stays in your system
The elimination half-life of lithium is about 18 to 36 hours. The label calls this the elimination half-life and gives no separate distribution phase. Lithium has no active metabolite to worry about — the label states plainly that lithium is not metabolized. It is an element, excreted unchanged in the urine, and it is not a prodrug (lithium carbonate is a salt of the active lithium ion). Because the kidneys do essentially all the clearing, kidney function drives how long it lasts: the label directs lower starting doses in mild-to-moderate kidney impairment (creatinine clearance 30 to 89 mL/min) and says to avoid lithium altogether in severe impairment (below 30 mL/min), though it does not publish a specific half-life number for those groups. For older adults the label likewise gives no separate figure, but cautions that they more often have reduced kidney function and so face greater risk of toxicity. Liver function is not a factor, since the drug is never metabolized. One limit on this number: the label notes lithium can take up to 24 hours to distribute into brain tissue, so blood levels and the half-life do not track brain effects in step. Anything that dehydrates you or drops your sodium — heavy sweating, diarrhea, fever — makes the body hold on to lithium and raises the risk of toxicity, which matters because lithium's toxic range sits close to its therapeutic one.
DailyMed — LITHIUM CARBONATE (lithium carbonate) capsule, Camber Pharmaceuticals — §12.3 Pharmacokinetics ↗Half-life is how long the body takes to clear half a dose. It is not the same as how long a drug test can detect it, and it varies with age, kidney and liver function.
Related guides
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
How long does lithium stay in your system?
The elimination half-life of lithium is about 18 to 36 hours — that is how long the body takes to clear half of a dose. The label calls this the elimination half-life and gives no separate distribution phase. Lithium has no active metabolite to worry about — the label states plainly that lithium is not metabolized. It is an element, excreted unchanged in the urine, and it is not a prodrug (lithium carbonate is a salt of the active lithium ion). Because the kidneys do essentially all the clearing, kidney function drives how long it lasts: the label directs lower starting doses in mild-to-moderate kidney impairment (creatinine clearance 30 to 89 mL/min) and says to avoid lithium altogether in severe impairment (below 30 mL/min), though it does not publish a specific half-life number for those groups. For older adults the label likewise gives no separate figure, but cautions that they more often have reduced kidney function and so face greater risk of toxicity. Liver function is not a factor, since the drug is never metabolized. One limit on this number: the label notes lithium can take up to 24 hours to distribute into brain tissue, so blood levels and the half-life do not track brain effects in step. Anything that dehydrates you or drops your sodium — heavy sweating, diarrhea, fever — makes the body hold on to lithium and raises the risk of toxicity, which matters because lithium's toxic range sits close to its therapeutic one. Half-life is not the same as how long a drug test can detect the drug, and it varies with age, kidney and liver function.
Can you take lithium with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run lithium against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What brand names is lithium sold under?
We track 5 lithium-containing products in the U.S.: Lithium Carbonate, Eskalith, Eskalith CR, Lithonate and Lithotabs. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does lithium come in?
Across the brands we track, lithium is currently marketed as capsule, tablet, tablet, extended release and syrup, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic lithium?
Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic lithium product alongside the brand versions. A generic has the same active ingredient and must meet the FDA's bioequivalence standard; it usually costs less. Ask your pharmacist which one your plan covers.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Lithium: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/lithium
- MLA
- “Lithium: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/lithium.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for lithium on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.