Lithium
"Many years ago I was diagnosed with bipolar ll. Lithium was my doctor's first choice. Not even sure how effective it was. The side effects were awful. I could not work, I lost down to 95 pounds. I was so weak I had difficulty climbing stairs. I shook so bad I could not sign my own name. Then my doctor started to add all sorts of medicines to counteract the side effects. I became hypothyroid had to take medicines for that, tremor had to take medicines for that (didn't work well). Dr. decreased dose (didn't help much). I was on leave from work for 12 weeks. Finally stopped the lithium. It took awhile for my Dr. to believe my problems with this medicine because they were not typical. Those 12 weeks were the worst."