I have been on Lithium twice. The first time I took it for several months and my doctor only checked my blood level one time two weeks after I started taking it. I called my physician because I had zero hours sleep in five days and was having hallucinations and also had nausea and vomiting and diarrhea. My doc sent me to the emergency department first to rule out a medical diagnosis and then admitted me to a psychiatric hospital. I was lithium toxic. My level was 2.9; therapeutic is 0.5-0.9 And while I was toxic I itched horribly all over my body, even my scalp.

A couple of years later a different physician put me on lithium and I started having s/s of being toxic after only two weeks. Can't remember what dosage I took.