Thank you for all the information you just posted. I don't drink alcohol at all so that's not a concern. My mood swings aren't due to anxiety. In fact my mood changes on the manic/hypomanic side usually show up in my dreams at night while sleeping and I wake up with the symptoms. I have been on just about everything you can throw at me as far as bipolar mood stabilizers go and this is the only med that has actually worked. How long it continues to work remains to be seen. But even this much relief is a big deal to me.