i am bp1, diagnosed 14 years ago after living in chaos for 20 years. in 2001 i went into hospital to be taken off the cocktail of meds i was on. since then i have coped on 1200mg of lithium daily. haven't had an episode in at least 10 years. gained a degree and steady employment during this time. however i do live from day to day as i am to aware of how fragile my stablility might be.
so, in answer to the question 'does anyone live on lithium alone' i can say 'yes'...well, lithium and a prayer, for the time being anyhow...
good luck...
rob