Lithium
"I am writing mostly because after having so many people tell me their horror stories about Lithium I was looking for something positive and found this site.  I was prescribed Lithium after my first manic episode and it has helped to level me out.  I was also on Olanzapene which I blame for the 20lbs I gained (being in the hospital for a month and then snacking obsessively and not excercising didn't help).  My thoughts of suicide are a lot less  for the first time in a long time and I feel generally more stable than I did even on Effexor which I was on for years."