I don't think lithium has any food interactions. I've never been told to avoid anything and I've had trouble with toxicity so I've taken it with great care. Perhaps in excess (and I do think maybe you shouldn't drink alcohol n it although I can't really remember) but I think food is safe. The only drugs that affect foods that I know of are MAOIs, which are last resort antidepressants.

I know it's hard to not do this but try to not read what is out there on the internet and get scared. There are all kinds of information about what showed up in 1 person during clinical trials and people writing about what they went through on a med that was bad for them. But those things are usually rare and won't happen to most people.

Weight gain is a rough one. With every med some people gain and some people don't. You can work with your pdoc to find meds that don't afffect your weight over time.

The idea of an anti-psychotic scared me greatly at first. But I got used to it and got less scary with every dose.Again, the side effects vary greatly person to person. I was on loxitane this summer and had musle rigidity and uncontrolled mouth movements so I had to go off it. Otherwise tit was a great drug and side effects weren't that common.

It will be ok. Just try to avoid the internet (except for here or somewhere like here) regarding the meds. You can ask questions here or on the meds board part of PC to learn more about what you'll be taking.