That was her results. I have read her book, I found it rather useless in my daily dealings of Bipolar, just my opinion of course

Lithium is started out usually at 300mg , then up to 600 mg and maybe further increases depending on your blood serum levels.

Most common side effects when starting.... dry mouth, mild GI upset, headache. etc etc . So yeah "typical" side effects of damn near any medications psych or others.

I approached every single psych med with the same thought process... I will give it a chance.... but if A,B,C happens I will get off it.

So make your personal list of " non acceptable side effects" and stick to them.

Maybe try Lithium out, If you notice your losing important things then by all means tell Pdoc and stop taking it.

If you do decide to give Lithium a chance make sure you increase your daily amount of fluid intake.