I took ill after giving birth to my first child, I had all of the symptoms of an over active thyroid but my levels on tests were borderline so that was ignored, I was so upset, frustrated and very poorly and was desperate for a Dr to listen, and so I wound up seeing more than one doctor to see if one would help me. My symptoms were bad, I had heart problems, vision problems, weight loss, the lot. However my ex husband (who was my husband at the time) could not handle what I was going through and did not believe me. Instead he told friends and family that I was having some kind of mental breakdown. I struggled to prove him wrong because I didn’t have a diagnosis but I was physically ill not mentally. He called the authorities trying to get me put away because I was experiencing panic attacks severe mood swings (all to do with thyroid), I was noticing differences in myself, my weight loss, my hair was falling out a bit, my skin was in bad condition and he accused me of being an hypochondriac. It got worse and I left him because he would just not believe me and even called me a mad woman to my face. He turned our friends against me, told the health visitor that I was unstable. We live in a very small town and so people whom I had never met once I introduced myself admitted they heard stories that I was a lunatic and there was even a nickname attached (a bit like village idiot). I lost custody of my son (unofficial), I collapsed one night and my ex had to take care of my son, I asked him to keep him full time until I had this illness under control and so he saw that as the opportunity to lord it over me and not let me have my son back.

5 years on and I finally found a Dr who listened, I have been seen by an Endocrinologist and I have my diagnosis, I have sub clinical Hyperthyroidism, I have even had a mental assessment by a psychiatrist and there is nothing wrong with my mental health. I am on beta blockers now for my heart and am awaiting a scan on my thyroid since the blood results.

Because it has been 5 years my lawyer said that I haven’t a hope of full custody any more because my son is settled with his father (I’ve had weekend access all of this time), my ex still tells people I am mentally ill and I want to sue him for Slander. He and his new Mrs put libellous remarks about me on facebook recently and mutual friends joined in, even the owner of a local cafe that I take my daughter (to my new partner) to. It seems a great deal of the town is against me due to his lies and I want the truth to be made public and this slander to stop.

I have witnesses who have admitted my ex husband told them that I was crazy, they would stand up in court and say this also. And so, how would I start a case against him?

These lies have cost me contracts for work (I’m a wedding photographer), custody of my son, of course my marriage, my home (I had to leave our family home and I even still paid the tax on the place despite renting somewhere else), my reputation around a town of people whom before these lies I was a stranger to and of course my friends.

If they can prove that the "lies" are true, then it is not slander. "Being crazy" is subjective.
Get a psychiatric evaluation. Only then can you prove that they are wrong and that they are slandering you.

Good luck

I took ill after giving birth to my first child, I had all of the symptoms of an over active thyroid but my levels on tests were borderline so that was ignored, I was so upset, frustrated and very poorly and was desperate for a Dr to listen, and so I wound up seeing more than one doctor to see if one would help me. My symptoms were bad, I had heart problems, vision problems, weight loss, the lot. However my ex husband (who was my husband at the time) could not handle what I was going through and did not believe me. Instead he told friends and family that I was having some kind of mental breakdown. I struggled to prove him wrong because I didn’t have a diagnosis but I was physically ill not mentally. He called the authorities trying to get me put away because I was experiencing panic attacks severe mood swings (all to do with thyroid), I was noticing differences in myself, my weight loss, my hair was falling out a bit, my skin was in bad condition and he accused me of being an hypochondriac. It got worse and I left him because he would just not believe me and even called me a mad woman to my face. He turned our friends against me, told the health visitor that I was unstable. We live in a very small town and so people whom I had never met once I introduced myself admitted they heard stories that I was a lunatic and there was even a nickname attached (a bit like village idiot). I lost custody of my son (unofficial), I collapsed one night and my ex had to take care of my son, I asked him to keep him full time until I had this illness under control and so he saw that as the opportunity to lord it over me and not let me have my son back.

5 years on and I finally found a Dr who listened, I have been seen by an Endocrinologist and I have my diagnosis, I have sub clinical Hyperthyroidism, I have even had a mental assessment by a psychiatrist and there is nothing wrong with my mental health. I am on beta blockers now for my heart and am awaiting a scan on my thyroid since the blood results.

Because it has been 5 years my lawyer said that I haven’t a hope of full custody any more because my son is settled with his father (I’ve had weekend access all of this time), my ex still tells people I am mentally ill and I want to sue him for Slander. He and his new Mrs put libellous remarks about me on facebook recently and mutual friends joined in, even the owner of a local cafe that I take my daughter (to my new partner) to. It seems a great deal of the town is against me due to his lies and I want the truth to be made public and this slander to stop.

I have witnesses who have admitted my ex husband told them that I was crazy, they would stand up in court and say this also. And so, how would I start a case against him?

These lies have cost me contracts for work (I’m a wedding photographer), custody of my son, of course my marriage, my home (I had to leave our family home and I even still paid the tax on the place despite renting somewhere else), my reputation around a town of people whom before these lies I was a stranger to and of course my friends.

If they can prove that the "lies" are true, then it is not slander. "Being crazy" is subjective.
Get a psychiatric evaluation. Only then can you prove that they are wrong and that they are slandering you.

Good luck