Yoda,
This could of happened with any of the other meds too.
This could also happen if a patient doesn't understand or follow dosage prescribed, or a doctor's screw up.
Even a pharmacy screw up can complicate things.
Yes,a "RESPONSIBLE" doctor, makes a huge difference.
There are many good meds. for Bipolar disorder,especially Lithium, it's not always the med that cause side effects, it is negligence on those prescibing and sometimes even the patient.
Sorry, you have had this negative experience, and hope you have sought a new pdoc.
Take care now,
DE

BTW
In the past when several of us used the words like, "reputable" or "responsible" pertaining to pdocs,some members here actually took offense,and became defensive, reacting with remarks like this, "are you saying my doctor is not reputable?" or "yes,the person I know IS seeing a reputable doctor".
Anyone reading the posts here, should not take offense when we use the description, "responsible or reputable" pertaining to pdocs, just like any docs we all want to be sure to find a "responsible/reputable" doc.
Perhaps, DJ left out "responsible", but any med we all well know the prescribing doc needs to be responsible in prescribing proper dosage and titration time.
Lots of luck with this matter.