I took it prior to diagnosis and it seemed to almost have a mood-stabilizing effect for me. I credit it with getting me through grad school and into my career before the bipolar blew up; I was fighting with the symptoms for a lot longer than I "should have been able to" (according to the dr who is an expert in bipolar who diagnosed me).

One thing to know about it is that the higher the dose the less sedating and weight gain works the same way (I didn't have too much weight gain, just a few lbs. but on higher doses I didn't have any).

Any med sounds terrifying if you read the profile but remember that the profile is supposed to make the drug look as bad as possible essentially; it has to warn about anything anyone in clinical trials reported and statistically there are going to be side effects during a trial (or any time).

I really liked it and wish I could still take it; it didn't work well and I think I had blood pressure issues on it when I took it after diagnosis with a mood stablizer and now I'm on an MAOI so can't take it regardless. It's still one of my favorite meds and I've experienced most of them.