I'm the same way. Years ago when I was first diagnosed with bipolar, I was in the hospital for depression/self-injury. They decided to try me on lithium, and an hour after I took it I was running around the ward! I couldn't sit still or stop talking. Then, it leveled off and really worked for me. I haven't heard of the study you mentioned that lithium is bad for Bipolar II, ultra-ultra-rapid cycling. That's the kind I have (my moods can flip in the same day, sometimes a few times), and lithium worked great for me. I actually felt happy, without being numb, and I lost my desire to drink, because I didn't need it to numb my emotions anymore! Lithium was truly a life-saver for me. Unfortunately, my doctor won't put me on it now, because she said it interacts with my rheumatoid arthritis meds and can be bad for my liver. So, I'm on Seroquel, which I also felt the day after I took it. I went from depressed to ultra-cycling the next day, to irritably manic the next, then leveled off on the third day.

It's great that you have a caring doctor. As the other posters said, don't take the nurse's attitude personally (I know it's hard- we tend to take everything personally!) She may have just been having a bad day that had nothing to do with you. And if she was irritated with you, so what? That's what they get paid for! Look at it this way- if you went to a store repeatedly because you needed more things than you originally thought, would you feel guilty? Of course not- so don't feel like you're "bothering" your doctor- you're giving her business!