yes, its a long story.. lol!

I can't remember past about 7yr old cos of the epilepsy so only know what my mum told me.

Apparently she had Toxaemia (blood poisoning) when she was pregnant with me as she was Rhesus Negative blood and my dad was O+

I was born and was blue for a short while then also had jaundice, they did not know my thyroid had not developed properly in womb maybe as a result of the blood poisoning? I was born in 1969 maybe they didnt do the heel prick test on newborns then for thyroid but I was 23 months old before they found it wasn't working.

I think they may have thought it was brain damage and the thyroid tests were the last results. At 23 months old I could not sit unsupported, crawl, walk or speak, apparently didn't even do 'baby babbling'.

Once they found it I was on thyroxine since 23 months old and I had intensive physio and speech therapy in a child development unit attached to a local hospital.

I'm not sure how the epilepsy started but apparently I had it from 4-7yrs old, which affect my learning prob forgot what I had been taught after a seizure, I'm not sure. I remember been told I had to repeat a year and but then jumped back up to class I started with and stayed in mainstream education.

My deafness happened after I was moved from childrens doctor to adult one at 16 and the new one didn't agree with my previous doctor always kept my thyroid high so as not to stunt growth. I started after hearing difficulties a few months after my dose had been lowered.

They say they can't know for sure that my difficulties are a result of my thyroid but each illness has come after my thyroxine was reduced and my most healthiest time was on the highest dose.

Since I started a group for ataxia I met a brother and sister who also both have the combination of all three - ataxia, hypothyroidism and deafness. But its quite rare and never heard of anyone else with all three though we are all affected with different degrees of each.

Whilst doing research I have found Hypothyroidism listed as causes of Ataxia, Dystonia and deafness.

Kati