Other Functional Neurological Disorder

[Rose White]

something your brain can't get quite work out, your body thinks something is physically wrong and misfires

Interesting way to describe! I hadn’t considered the body thinking or firing separate from the brain. Sort of like the body taking over. I had the trembling and tics and muscle cramps, fever and vomiting, from trauma processing. The fever and vomiting were acute but could last weeks. The trembling and tics and muscle cramps lasted years but resolved with me facing the trauma. They still return from time to time and are a kind of weathervane telling me that I’m stressed out. When I was experiencing all that I was told that it was trauma from the past exiting my body now, or getting my attention so that I was forced to admit that it was that bad and could begin the healing work of grieving. Grieving is the worst best thing. Or the best worst thing. It seems to be endless and overwhelming.

 

[cuppanina]

Interesting way to describe! I hadn’t considered the body thinking or firing separate from the brain. Sort of like the body taking over. I had the trembling and tics and muscle cramps, fever and vomiting, from trauma processing. The fever and vomiting were acute but could last weeks. The trembling and tics and muscle cramps lasted years but resolved with me facing the trauma. They still return from time to time and are a kind of weathervane telling me that I’m stressed out. When I was experiencing all that I was told that it was trauma from the past exiting my body now, or getting my attention so that I was forced to admit that it was that bad and could begin the healing work of grieving. Grieving is the worst best thing. Or the best worst thing. It seems to be endless and overwhelming.

Exactly like that. Your body is saying 'something's wrong' due to trauma and overriding the brains control system. It's a way of your body showing that you're hurting when you can't.
For example, when a friend died, my body paralyzed itself to keep me in bed so I wouldn't have to get up and face the reminders. Processing that trauma enabled me to start going to PT. Your body is trying to protect you by telling your brain there's something wrong. FND is interesting like that.

 

[Weemie]

Sorry got caught up in the concept of global neurological disorder. And how that related to dissociation. I think I got confused about how it could be global if it’s isolated to hands and leg but I think I worked it out. @Weemie did I work it out?

I'm not sure if this is what you landed on but essentially - much like dissociation, FND can manifest a broad range of symptoms pretty much anywhere in your body.

Usually those parts are localized (my old therapist WJ used to say my hands froze up and hurt because my body remembers firing a gun and it manifests my emotions like that - he had met veterans with similar symptoms) in FND but you can also have more global symptoms like seizures.

Dissociation is similar in that sometimes a person's entire sensory/information systems are impacted and sometimes it's only vision or only hearing or only memory or even just a certain memory. But like FND it can happen to any aspect of those systems, just like FND can manifest in any part of the body.

 

[Friday]

Thank you @Weemie . Does this

mean that it can involve all parts of the body?

I'm not sure if this is what you landed on but essentially - much like dissociation, FND can manifest a broad range of symptoms pretty much anywhere in your body.

Yep yep! This came up during my Dx process… but the fact that antibiotics FIX me, if only for a few days/weeks… and then my lymph nodes swolled up like hard boiled eggs & grapes and I spiked a 104+ fever as soon as the antibiotics wore off? And then everything settled back into muscle spasms, cognitive f*ckery, and other “norms” 5 times now, over the past year ans a half? Had my docs go… oh. Yeah. That would be an infection. We need to find the right drugs for that.

There are a whole LOT of things that effect the brain… and the brain effects EVERYTHING ELSE.

So it’s worth spending a couple YEARS (brick wall, bang head… sorry I live in a capitalist country medical care is shite) ruling out other causes for anything the brain is doing to f*ck you up. It took 15mo before we figured out it was an infection (and cancelled about 2 dozen appointments, to schedule about 2 dozen more).

Sometimes? It’s the brain attempting to process trauma (and 10,000 complications follow). Sometimes? It’s (one of 100, 000 things) that are affecting your brain, causing global effects.

NEVER assume it’s psychological, before ruling out physiological. Ever. Seriously.

If I’d assumed THIS was PTSD? Just because I have PTSD? I would never get the meds I need to treat the infection. Because psych doesn’t do antibiotics. Or surgery. Rule out, rather than assume.

 

[Renly]

NEVER assume it’s psychological, before ruling out physiological. Ever. Seriously.

I second this!

 

[Weemie]

NEVER assume it’s psychological, before ruling out physiological. Ever. Seriously.

This happened to me when I got serotonin syndrome. Because I have FND and PTSD I assumed it was psychological. My symptoms were so severe that I broke a couple of cups by jerking so hard that I threw them across the room. I was like la de daaaaa, lol.

 

[cuppanina]

I second this!

Absolutely. FND was diagnosed after all kinds of tests, at first they assumed I had some form of tumor. That trip in itself caused a lot of trauma and issues stemming from that, and I was hesitant to get help for symptoms after.

 

[cuppanina]

I'm having a new symptom that's causing visual issues. Going to the doctor for it soon.

 

[Weemie]

I'm having a new symptom that's causing visual issues. Going to the doctor for it soon.

Hope you can get some help for it, wishing you luck.

 

[brokenpony]

i also have this problem. i have focal seizures, tremors/myoclonic jerks, trouble swallowing randomly, brain zaps, urinary hesitancy/pelvic floor dysfunction (and some issues with vision but that is mostly when very derealized, not sure how to categorize). it’s a bit scary to think that this was caused my the trauma.

 

[BlackBearFamily]

Yes, I also have FND (Conversion Disorder). Yes, those with DID often have FND as well.

I think of FND this way: If you squeeze a balloon, the air inside is displaced. A bulge appears elsewhere in the balloon. Well, those of us with DID carry so much pain and try to hide so many memories from ourselves that, if we do not get DID therapy and manage to release some of those horrible feelings and memories, the pain 'bulges' out and is expressed as FND.

 

[loumad]

i also have this problem. i have focal seizures, tremors/myoclonic jerks, trouble swallowing randomly, brain zaps, urinary hesitancy/pelvic floor dysfunction (and some issues with vision but that is mostly when very derealized, not sure how to categorize). it’s a bit scary to think that this was caused my the trauma.

\hi pony, I have experienced tremors and jerks and screaming with panic attacks and no sleep, the swallowing thing happens loads, i have times when i have had a severe panic attack and can't control the sounds and im laughing, words repeating over and shouts ,movements and jerks., crying but no tears and rolling around but i have no control until i finally fall asleep. i am not sure if it is just when the mix of symptoms anxiety etc , bipolar linked, no sleep and distress etc but is this linked to the swallowing thing?