It was lithium. The diagnosis is SILENT syndrome.

For years my doctors and I looked for a cause. It is now confirmed: the ataxia I live with was caused by lithium toxicity — SILENT syndrome, irreversible lithium-effectuated neurotoxicity. I was taking lithium for bipolar disorder, exactly as prescribed.

So this blog changes with it. I'll write more about bipolar disorder — the diagnosis, the medication, the years before the poisoning — alongside everything already here on ataxia, rehabilitation, and daily life.

Hi — I’m İlkyaz, or Summer. I’m not a doctor, a therapist, or an expert. I’m a person who lost her balance, literally, and had to learn a body again.

Who I am

I live with bipolar disorder. For eight years lithium kept me stable. I took it exactly as prescribed, with regular blood checks. That part of the story — the diagnosis, the medication, the years before the poisoning — is in Mental Health, Bipolar Disorder, and Me.

What happened in 2023

Then the floor moved. Tremor, slurred speech, a walk that stopped being automatic. Months of tests, no clear answer. 

I wrote that year down in What I Experienced in 2024, before we had a name for it.

The name: SILENT syndrome

In August 2026 it was finally confirmed: SILENT syndrome — irreversible lithium-effectuated neurotoxicity. The ataxia I live with was caused by lithium toxicity. The thing is, in 2024, a neurologist told me that it must be lithium toxicity but I couldn’t confirm it with a psychiatrist. Finally, I found a psychiatrist who has an experience with lithium toxicity… Before that, all the doctors I spoke never believed that it was lithium.

If you need the clinical picture in plain language, start with What is SILENT syndrome?

Rebuilding, without waiting for a name

I didn’t wait for the diagnosis to start the work. Two hours of rehab a day, cardio, cognitive drills. This blog began as my own record of what worked. The physical side is in the habits that accelerated my healing, the aerobic-exercise science, and my weekly recovery protocol.

Daily life is its own chapter — working with screens again, the heavier days, trust after ataxia. Recovery is not only what happens in the gym.

Why this space exists

Orange Healing is my notebook and my offering: the books, exercises, science, and small practices that helped, written down so you don’t have to start from zero. It isn’t medical advice. Talk to your own doctor before changing anything.

If you’re new, start here — two short reading paths, about fifteen minutes each. One for lithium and SILENT. One for rebuilding. If one sentence here makes you feel less alone, the lighthouse is doing its job. Welcome — I’m glad you’re here.