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Another thing that I’m particularly interested in the relationship between epilepsy and psychiatric symptoms, although the two might seem to be rather different. First of all they both involve the same organ, that is the brain. Sometimes what happens is if you have a discharge in one part of the brain that can actually generate a range of psychiatric symptoms. These might be to do with depression, you might sometimes, rarely, but sometimes quite dramatically, get symptoms of what we call psychosis. Seeing things that aren’t there, hearing voices…
Howard - Well this is where it gets extremely interesting. The brain, as you know, does all sorts of interesting things, pretty much it does everything we are and everything we do. Epilepsy is a manifestation of increased activity in those brain cells and therefore all the things that we can do, essentially, can be generated by seisures. But because it’s an abnormal way of activating these nerve cells we get things broken up, we don’t get the whole pattern of behaviour. So people have had intense religious experiences, there are accounts of a feeling of conviction, an absolutely free-floating certainty. “This is right!” Which just exists by itself, which is rather unusual. Howard - That’s absolutely right and in principle it should be very straightforward; you map where the epileptic focus is, that is the site of the seisure, with the behaviour and you know exactly what’s going on. It’s not as simple as that for several reasons. First of all, because it turns out that there are several different parts of the brain that can generate individual emotional psychiatric symptoms. Secondly it’s very hard sometimes, particularly if you don’t have deep electrodes, wires in the brain recording exactly where the seisure is starting, to be sure exactly where the seisure is starting. Nerve cells are of course, a microscopic thing, and we’re looking at chunks of brain millimetres or bigger.
Carbamazepine (Tegretol) damps down electrical activity: its main side-effect is sedation. So "overthinking" , increased mental activity, is not consistent with a side-effect of Tegretol.Apparently you have changed your anti-convulsant Paul. You should not suddenly stop taking anti-convulsants, as a backlash effect could occur causing unprecidentedly severe symptoms.If you are stopping taking anticonvulsants they should be tapered off slowly under medical supervision.
I stopped taking the Carbamazepine, about 18 years ago. When i told the specialist at the hospital, his responce was that he then doubted that i had epilepsy in the first place. There was no follow up checks or anything. I did stop taking them at once, no weaning or tapering off. As i previously mentioned, this is when my memory started to be effected and the start of my constant overthinking. Although it has only gor teally bad in the last 6 or 7 years.
I assume that you are suggesting that the effects are not of the drug, but of a rebound from the drug.
And what about this?That's reeeally neat!Me like this stuff:Drugs used in the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder inhibit the replication of Toxoplasma gondii.Jones-Brando L, Torrey EF, Yolken R. Stanley Division of Developmental Neurovirology, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street/Blalock 1149, Baltimore, MD 21287-4933, USA. lbrando@jhmi.eduThe exact mechanisms of action of some antipsychotics and mood stabilizers have not been elucidated. Response to these medications can vary among individuals. Recent studies indicate that infection with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii may contribute to the symptoms of schizophrenia in some individuals.We investigated commonly used antipsychotic and mood stabilizing medications for their ability to inhibit the replication of this organism.We employed a system for testing compounds for in vitro activity against T. gondii. Human fibroblasts (HFF) were treated with test compounds and then exposed to Toxoplasma that has been genetically modified to express cytoplasmic beta-galactosidase. Inhibition by the drugs was determined by spectrophotometric analysis of colorimetric reactions.We tested 12 neuroleptic compounds and found that of these, the antipsychotic haloperidol and the mood stabilizer valproic acid most effectively inhibit Toxoplasma growth in vitro. Valproic acid inhibited the parasite at a concentration below that found in the cerebrospinal fluid and blood of individuals being treated with this medication and displayed synergistic activity with haloperidol and with trimethoprim, an antibiotic commonly used to treat Toxoplasma infections.Several medications used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have the ability to inhibit the in vitro replication of T. gondii.Schizophr Res. 2003 Aug 1;62(3):237-44.Now, just for fun, could vitamin D3from cod liver oil help alleviatinga chronic Toxoplasma infection?As usual, the 'evidence' is weak...but towards a positive effect.wow1,25(OH)2D3 inhibits in vitro and in vivo intracellular growth of apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii.Rajapakse R, Uring-Lambert B, Andarawewa KL, Rajapakse RP, Abou-Bacar A, Marcellin L, Candolfi E. Institut de Parasitologie et de Pathologie et Tropicale, de la Faculte de Medecine, EA 3950 Interactions Cellulaires et Moleculaires Hote-Parasite, 3 rue Koeberle, 67000 Strasbourg, France.The hormonal form of vitamin D, 1,25-dyhydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3), is implicated in a wide range of functions other than its classical role in calcium and phosphorous homeostasis.When Toxoplasma gondii-infected BALB/c mice were treated with 1,25(OH)2D3, they succumb to death sooner than their counterparts. But they showed less parasite burden in tissues which was further supported by mild pathological lesions. As an effort to understand the physiological mechanism for the above observation an in vitro study was performed. Fewer parasites were observed when 1,25(OH)2D3 pre-treated murine intestinal epithelial cells were challenged with parasites. Moreover, the observed inhibition was dose-dependent and had a maximum effect with 10(-7)M of 1,25(OH)2D3. However, no observable difference was observed, when pre-incubated parasites were added to cells suggesting that the observed inhibition was a result of an effect from 1,25(OH)2D3 on Toxoplasma intracellular growth.Our data support the notion that 1,25(OH)2D3 may inhibit intra cellular T. gondii parasite proliferation in vivo and in vitro.J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2007 Jan 30; [Epub ahead of print]I begin to think that, perhaps only in a certain percentageof psychiatric patients, hidden Toxoplasma infectioncould contribute to neurologic symptoms and some peoplemight benefit from long-term anti-Toxoplasma treatment.Hidden, chronic, paucisymptomatic* and persistentinfections by common pathogens had been quite underestimated so far.(see the Helicobacter story in "New cancer theory")But this is a new century...* Che?...sorry, I learnedEnglish from a book!from: Manuel BBC - Fawlty Towers http://www.iptv.org/friends/britcom/images/FawltyGasp.jpg
Hi Iko,Paul reports that his "overthinking" began after stopping Carbamazepine. If this drug were the cause of his psychiatric disorder, (e.g. your suggestion that it enabled toxoplasma to reproduce more rapidly), then his symptoms would have been worse while taking the Carbamazepine.