I know that I suffered from side effects from the get go and for a long time afterwards before finally getting some relief.

Initially, it was the hand shaking for me and diarrhea. I struggled with diarrhea for a very long time, stomach cramps, and throwing up in the middle of the night.

I don't know if lithium helped me or not. It was hard to tell what was working and what wasn't as I was changing meds and on several at the time.

I just want to let you know that the side effects eventually do go away, but it does take time.