I'm on depakote and it brought my mania to a screeching halt. I still went into a depression afterwards, that always happens to me, we had to add an antidepressant to it. Initially I was very tired on it but it did not last too long. I've been on it since November and stable since mid January. Lamictal is not known to be as good for mania and I am leery of lithium only because I don't drink much fluids through the day.