Sandra C. Asks... I have been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder for 3 years. I spent one month and many drugs on a psych unit at the hospital where I was an RN on staff. After approximately one year, I got rid of oh so many drugs down to Lithium Carbonate and Ambien for sleep.

Many people who carry the bipolar diagnosis also carry something else – extra pounds – primarily due to the medications used to treat mania or depression. Atypical antipsychotics, including Zyprexa and Seroquel; anti-manics, including lithium and Depakote; and even some antidepressants have been known to pack on the pounds, despite a person's best efforts to stay fit and trim.

A number of people have written about their experiences with lithium orotate as an alternative to pharmaceutical lithium (lithium carbonate or lithium citrate). I wanted to know more about it, so I reviewed the research. The bottom line is that we know very little about lithium orotate – the data is scant and old and tells us very little about the safety or effectiveness of lithium orotate as a substitute for lithium carbonate, the standard formulation.

People are often frightened when the doctor raises the possibility of lithium treatment – it conjures up all kinds of images from the media and Hollywood of dark, dangerous institutions and wild kinds of symptoms. Patients often look surprised when I mention it – saying, “but isn’t that for only really crazy people?” It is unfortunate that lithium has gotten such a bad rap, because it is one of our best tested, longest used (since the 1960s), and most effective interventions for bipolar disorder. Here’s a list of its many benefits: