Lithium calmed my unrelenting and destructive mood swings. However, despite being kind of a miracle drug, it made me shake, use the bathroom constantly, break out and gain weight. While the shaking wore off after a while, I still need to be vigilant about getting treatment for my acne and maintaining my weight through diet and exercise. Also, lithium has high toxicity so you'll need to get your blood tested every few months to make sure it's at a safe level. Despite all of these side effects and annoyances, I am glad that I was put on lithium. It helped me where other drugs failed.