Bipolar Disorder Support Group
Bipolar disorder is not just a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders marked by periods of abnormally high energy and euphoria, often accompanied by bouts of clinical depression. This is the place to talk about your experience with bipolar disorder, learn from others' experiences, and find support.
Lithium comes from salt deposits on wine barrels and other interesting sources. It's one of the better drugs for bipolar but needs to be monitored because there are quiet a few side effects. I have a friend that is bipolar 1 and he swears by lithium. I would try it if I could. I'm on abilify and zoloft right now.
As my pdoc explained it, there are the lighter mood stabilizers like lamictil, the medium ones like abilify, risperdal, etc., and the stronger ones like lithium.
Some drs say I'm bp1, some say bp2. If you're bp1, you'll probably want to try lithium; bp2 can be helped by it, too but there are many options.