Remission of classic rapid cycling bipolar disorder with levothyroxine augmentation therapy in a male patient having clinical hypothyroidism

Abstract

The literature suggests that patients with bipolar disorder, particularly females, have greater vulnerability to rapid cycling features. Levothyroxine therapy might be potentially useful to attenuate mood instability in this patient group. In contrast, reports on male patients remain limited and controversial. Herein, we report a 32-year-old male patient who had bipolar 1 disorder for 12 years who developed a breakthrough rapid cycling course and first-onset clinical hypothyroidism at the age of 31 years during lithium therapy. After levothyroxine augmentation therapy was introduced, the patient had remission from the rapid cycling illness course along with normalization of serum levels of free T4 and thyroid stimulating hormone in the subsequent year. This observation suggested that investigation of both levothyroxine pharmacology and thyroid pathology in male patients with rapid cycling bipolar disorder might be of much value.