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When those hormones are balanced, everything is fine. But if your thyroid makes just a little less or more than you need?it could cause havoc, both with how you function and the effectiveness of your AEDs.
Hypothyroidism — or an underactive thyroid — is the real baddy. It can result in fatigue, weight gain, constipation, fuzzy thinking, low blood pressure, fluid retention, depression, body pain, slow reflexes, and much more.
On the other hand, hyperthyroidism — an overactive thyroid — can result in a rapid metabolism and symptoms like: anxiety, insomnia, rapid weight loss, diarrhea, high heart rate, high blood pressure, eye sensitivity/bulging eyes, vision disturbances, and many other concerns.
Although any kind of hormone irregularity is cause for concern, endocrinologists, generally consider hypothyroidism the worse of the two.
Which leads us to the bad news?
In a new study, when researchers at the American Academy of Neurology called for hormone testing?
The team found that about 32% of epilepsy patients who were taking anti-epileptic drugs (both in mono or polytherapy) had thyroid hormone abnormalities.
The most relevant finding was in patients who were taking Depakote (Valproate) as a monotherapy.
Previous studied had shown that Depakote increased the levels of thyroid-stimulating hormones which, in turn, can lead to hyperthyroidism.
However, when recent research compared anti-epileptic drugs, they found that the following drugs actually encouraged hypothyroidism. (The no-no.)These drugs were:
For further information, go to:
What everyone with epilepsy should know about their thyroid?
Phylis Feiner Johnson www.epilepsytalk.com
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