I also had lithium toxicity at 900mg, with weekly testing. After that the testing was every few months. I also had my thyroid and kidney function tested at regular intervals. That seems to be the norm here.

Aside from watching your water intake, alcohol intake, as well as food intake (no crash diets etc) Do not take NSAID's like advil with lithium, in case the prescribing Dr, or pharmacist did not tell you. They cause the lithium level to rise.

Lithium worked ok for me some of the time. But I became toxic more than once ( tho not as extreme as the first time) and had quite a hard time, with levels either too low, or too high, was hard to find a balance. I have other health issues that may have played role there. The side effects for me definitely outweighed the benefits.

Just familiarize yourself and someone close to you of the symptoms of toxicity, so you know what to watch for. I knew the symptoms, but at the time was so intoxicated from the lithium I could not tell, I knew I felt very weird but my thought process was so altered. My good friend knew and recognized it right away as I couldn't even walk a straight line. Luckily she took me to emerge right away.

It's always important to be aware of the risks of medications, just try to ease your mind a bit. The more knowledge you have the better it may go.

Is your pdoc aware that you are recovering from an ED?

I am also recovering for an ed, which I think also played a role in my not being able to stabilize a proper lithium level. One thing is that if your metabolism has been damaged/altered, you will metabolize meds differently just like food. I had a good dietician who went through this all with me, I had failed with so many meds not just for that reason, but I bet it is often overlooked.

It took about a month or two to notice and benefits for me. I have started and stopped lithium many times, always had about the same wait time and effect. Side effects tho, maybe a week, if that. I had very noticable tremors the entire 7 years I took it, even below the therapeutic level, that was pretty instant, along with nausea.

Best of luck to you