I agree, if I had to choose between Lithium and Depakote, I'd pick Depakote any day. Lithium really drowned me out. I felt level and stable, but I was emotionally muted, and could feel the medication. So I switched to Depakote, which was like a wonder drug coming from Lithium.
As far as effectiveness and side effects, different meds work differently on different people (if you can follow that
). Lithium is still the most effective med as far as number of people that respond to it, even though it can be rough on some people. Even with Depakote, you have to have blood tests done, but for kidneys instead of liver I believe. I've got a great Bipolar handbook at a bookstore,
Surviving Manic Depression. I forget the authors. It has an excellent guide to medication in it, but it's a couple years old. I'm sure if you look, you can find comprehensive info on the various meds out there. There are some new drugs out that look promising and seem to have even fewer side effects, although they aren't effective for nearly as many people and some are off-label prescriptions.
I ended up having problems later on with Depakote causing me to be really tired all of the time. I was pretty levelled-out as far as cycling goes, but just exhausted... and hungry.
I'm now on Lamictal, and have been for a little over a year now, and have been pleased with it. I can't stress enough that if you're having issues w/ meds, just ask your doctor about other alternatives. Lithium is still the preferred treatment, with Depakote a close second, but docs don't want you to be so unhappy on meds that not taking them seems like a better alternative. Hopefully at some point, they'll be able to identify a biological cause to target with a more specific and gentle medication.
Depakote better than Lithium 
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