I'd say give it a shot. 5mg lithium orotate contain roughly .03mmol lithium. A common therapeutic dosage of lithium carbonate is 900mg/d, containing 24.4mmol lithium.
So in conclusion, you should be perfectly safe taking an 800th of a therapeutical lithium dose per day. Will it have any effects? I honestly can't tell you. It has been found that there is a higher incidence oif suicides in areas with lower lithium levels in drinking water (don't quote me on this, I might be misrepresenting the facts here). I have just got started on lithium myself (24.4mmol/d) and the effects are extremely subtle, unlike those of neuroleptics or ssri. Don't expect too much.
I think it's a little hypocritical that people start ranting about how it'd be important to see a doctor before taking miniscule amounts of a naturally occuring alkali metal, while abuse of hard drugs is pretty fucking common on these forums. He was not asking for self medicating with what is considered a "therapeutical dose" of lithium in the medical world, but merely asking about our experiences with lithium as an otc supplement. We should also keep in mind that not everyone has the chance to "just go see a doctor".
I was under the impression it could cause diabetes insipidus, and not type one diabetes? There's obviously quite a difference there.
Yes, diabetes insipidus has nothing to do whatsoever with diabetes mellitus type I or II, except for both causing thirst and frequent urinating, which is why they share the same name. Also, it was my understanding that the nephrogenic diabetes insipidus caused by lithium is transient and only occurs when lithium levels are either too high or have just been raised.
As Sammy has stated, the tremor should also only be occuring at lithium levels which are considered toxic. Some people are more sensitive and experience it on a therapeutic dose, but it's nothing that you should expect to happen.
The biggest danger of lithium is surely the damage it can do to the kidneys, especially if a person lacks discipline to consume sufficient amounts of water every day. It can also damage the thyroid gland which can happen very quickly for some individuals (matter of weeks) or not at all for others. Fortunately, we do not need our thyroid since supplementing thyroid hormones does not mean a lower life expectancy or lower quality of life (except for having to take more pills...). Should a patient's kidneys take damage, that patient will be switched from lithium to another medication.
I live in Germany and lithium is still the first line treatment for bipolar disorder over here. I am pretty sure it is that way in every part of the world right now. Needless to say, the pharmaceutical industry is pretty keen on pushing more expensive drugs for off label use, like lamictal and valproate. It is true, some people seem to tolerate lamotrigine or valproate better (the latter mostly for people far on the manic side of the spectrum), but neither one has been proven to have an efficacy as high as lithium, nor are they particularly safe for long term usw. Valproic acid has been used for a long time now (it's side effects profile isn't really that attractive either though), but lamotrigine has been around for less than 20 years now, so only god knows the long term damage it can do (wait, not even god does).