Hey everyone! I am a musician with bipolar disorder. I have been slowly tapering off of lithium with the help of my psychiatrist (he is very careful), but find so far in the tapering process that I am not as stable without lithium. My issue is that taking lithium gives me hand tremors, and I have found playing guitar difficult as a result, often missing frets, hitting dead notes, and unable to perform more advanced techniques (at its worst, I can barely perform basic chord transitions in time). It is discouraging because I feel like I have to choose between my health, and my passions.

I know at the end of the day, if I am unstable without lithium, then I have to return to it. I feel awful all the time even without lithium, and  I cannot play guitar if I am too depressed to even get out of bed. Has anyone here found themselves in my position? Does anyone have advice? I haven't yet exhausted my options (i.e. propranolol). I am currently waiting to see whether, or not I stabilize before further reduction of dose. How do you guys cope with hand tremors when they affect your passions, primary coping skills, offers something cathartic, and gives you reason to continue pushing?

I haven't been able to play for 2.5--2.75 years which hurts.

Additionally, if anyone has any resources they can provide, that would be wonderful. If you know of other Reddit communities who might offer something useful I would love that (I am new to reddit). While I'm sure this has been discussed so far, my google searches have been unfruitful. Thank you so much.