This is what I wrote my pdoc:

Dr. Orazio,

After much thought, I decided that I don't want to wait until my thyroid is done for or for my kidneys to have damage either.
As you mentioned during our last visit., I would like to try tegretol as my mood stabilizer and discontinue the lithium.
If after giving the tegretol a fair shake and it doesn't work out then we can always go back to the lithium as a last resort.

Thank you for your consideration,
elizabeth