Firstly, according to the periodic table, Lithium is a metal. That's why your kidneys need to be watched.

General properties
Name, symbol,number: lithium, Li, 3
Pronunciation /ˈ l ɪθ iə m/ LI-thee-əm
Element category :alkali metal

Lithium carbonate is an inorganic
compound, the lithium salt of carbonate
with the formula Li2 CO 3 . This white salt is
widely used in the processing of metal
oxides and has received attention for the
treatment for manic and bipolar disorder .

Lithium - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lithium carbonate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Secondly I cold turkeyed off Lithium, Prozac & Risperdal, so I'm coming from a different perspective and don't know which med caused what.

Withdrawl symptoms; cold sweats and hallucinations mostly. Don't remember the rest, it was 2 yrs ago and lasted all of 10 days.

Rebound effect; Ultradian Cycling.
This lasted for 3 months and was very hard to navigate after being zombified for months.

My brain did eventually re-adjust to pre-med state (minus most side effects they caused) and then everything went quiet. Much like Anika's experience, I'm one of those people for whom meds made things worse. I now hardly cycle, as opposed to pronounced weekly cycles on 1 combo and then BAM zombie when my MS was replaced with Lithium.

When I do cycle now, its less of a bother, less pronounced, with a few serious ones every few months.

Now I can't say the meds made my bp worse, and being med free made it better, because I had zero coping skills beyond a chemical safety net and a very sickly perception of myself and my life whilst medicated.

They are overall easier for me to navigate now though.

As Anika so eloquently pointed out, my brain had to adjust to being minus chemicals, and I had to adjust to being bipolar.

These days the 2 of us live in harmony mostly.

Ps. No weight gain, sorry no info or opinion there.