Which of the following medications can increase Lithium levels?

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The correct answer is that thiazides can increase lithium levels in the body. Thiazide diuretics, a class of medications commonly used to treat hypertension and fluid retention, have a known interaction with lithium. When thiazides are prescribed alongside lithium, they can lead to an increase in lithium levels by causing decreased renal clearance of lithium. Essentially, thiazides interfere with the way lithium is eliminated from the body, which can result in higher concentrations of lithium in the blood. This is significant because elevated lithium levels can lead to toxicity, so monitoring is crucial when these medications are used together.

In contrast, while other medications like NSAIDs (for example, ibuprofen) can also impact lithium levels, they are not associated with the same mechanism of increasing lithium levels as thiazides. Antidepressants and statins likewise do not have the same strong evidence indicating they directly increase lithium levels, although they may have indirect effects or interactions worth considering. Therefore, thiazides stand out as the clear choice when specifically discussing medication that increases lithium levels.

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