I had been taking 300 mg extended  release twice a day for about 15 days, maybe closer to 20. I was feeling  fine, kinda just happy for the first time in a while. I did have pretty  severe side effects (intense thirst/dehydration, excessive peeing,  slight kidney pain). I decided that the side effects were probably worth  it in exchange for being alright mentally.

However,  at one point I became almost manic and super shaky. I do not usually  become manic, I usually stay somewhere on the hypomanic side of things  (the only time I have truly become manic before was when I was on  lexapro). This was unusual, especially because I'm on two mood  stabilizers (lithium and lamictal). I also was having fairly intense  feelings of bugs crawling on me and was sure that they were in my hair. I  saw them out of paranoia a couple times too. It was bad enough that I  bought lice shampoo to try and feel better.

I  emailed my psych on Friday, and was told to stop taking lithium until  Monday, when our next appt is. I have done so, and the mania / shakiness  has stopped. I feel right back at my baseline (depressed) but also in  less physical discomfort from the side effects.

I  looked it up and apparently mania is a rare as hell side effect of  lithium toxicity? I couldn't find any information on it though, and was  wondering if anyone else had these experiences / knowledge