hi lab. i have rsd and fibromyalgia and have been on gabapentin for about five years now. i am up to 2400 mg daily. i had strong side effects too at first i.e. dizziness, disorentation and nauesea but after a few weeks it wore off for the most part. i still get the nausea but not as bad as it first was. gabapentin is very helpful in managing my chronic pain along with another pain med my pm dr prescribes. but everyone is different so if you have any questions about side effects if i were you i would talk to you dr about it. being that you have bipolar the side effects may affect you differently then for me. i also suffer from clinical depression and it doesn't affect that but i'm not sure about bipolar and i am not a dr so i don't want to give you the wrong advice. i'm just giving you my experience with it and hope that whatever you decide to do that you find some relief from your pain soon. soft hugs.