[clare]

My name is Clare and this is my first visit to this forum (or any other for that matter). I am 49 years old and I was diagnosed as bipolar and prescribed lithium nearly 20 years ago. The lithium had a negative effect on my thyroid function, and caused me to be so hypothyroid that I was eventually hospitalized with grand mal seizures. The doctors at the time called them "idiopathic" seizures, That simply means that doctors don't know, and can't be bothered (?) to find out. I was prescribed Dilantin, which didn't help. Since then, I have tried Epival and Tegretol, too, to no avail. (Made me shaky and sick, made me stupid, in that order) Also, I often experienced "deja vu" seizures during the day. With the exception of about 5 instances, my seizures occur in my sleep. A sleep study showed nothing. I am taking 1500 mg of Keppra now and it has helped the most of all of them, although I often wake up with my mouth and tongue chewed. After my neurologist declared emphatically that hormones do not cause seizures, last year my nurse practitioner discovered the term catamenial seizures on the internet, and after all these years I have what seems to be a cause...now all I need is a solution. I understand that estrogen is a seizure enabler and progesterone does the opposite. When I asked my neurologist about this he said that studies had been done in the 60's, but, well, you know....Now I am interested in finding out more about Wild Yam cream. From what I understand it has a balancing effect on one's hormones and is a natural progesterone. Has anyone else heard of this as a treatment? Thanks for listening.