Not everybody suffers negative side effects, but pharmaceutical companies are legally required to list all or any side effects.
The tooth decay thing can go with many meds, and not just mood stabilizers, even antibiotics,oral contraceptives,hormone replacement,nutritional supplements,etc. while using those medications, it is a good idea to pump up oral hygeine (sp?). Especially flossing, which is important even if you are not on any meds.
The baldness, well that is questionable, again not everyone using a medication will experience all this scarey stuff.
I had a professor who has been on Lithium for life practically, and he had a great head of hair, he had to be in his mid 50's plus.
Weight gain? Heck at a certain age, regardless of meds. we gain weight, and again so many medications have this side effect for some people. I'm one of those that suffers the side effect "may cause weight gain", I'm never the one that gets the other side effect that many meds have on their list, "may cause weight loss". Grrrrrr! For me, when on Depakote, I gained 15lbs in one month and was constantly fatigue, falling asleep even while driving, got off of that med. real quick, after falling asleep waking up before nearly driving off PA tpk. lined with the boulders, I do not know what made me wake up, maybe the rumble strips?
If possible, try not to let all this stuff make you so scared to give something a try, as long as you are working closely with your pdoc with this, and always call him or her if there are unusal (sp?) things happening.
I use to research every med prescribed to me and/or family members, so often opting not to take them, turned out this is not a good thing either. Now when I am over tempted to read up on meds. I distract myself, doing something else.
All this stuff can drive someone bonkers, don't deny yourself of something that may have more positives than the negatives, if it doesn't work out there are so many alternatives. Takes time, but in the long run it is so much worth it.
I wish you lots of luck with this, keep us updated.
DE