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Originally Posted by Starznight
Yeah.. I wouldn't think conversion disorder either... It's not the same as being a hypochondriac, which is also a true disorder... And from my understanding it generally picks 1 'area' of attack and wouldn't become progressive in a sense, and after 15 years of looking for an answer you would think a pattern or trigger would stand out.... The legs stiffen up before a test while in college, in large groups of people, moments of heightened emotion, or after eating, smelling or seeing something that might remind you a trauma you didn't know you had...
They might be small things, but if you've been wracking your brain to figure it out even if not for the past fifteen years, but in more recent years, it's probable something would have 'stuck out'. But improving some with PT, and receiving some benefits from medication, is a bit too much to call a placebo effect, as the mind should have run with it when benefits were seen.
My SIL has conversion disorder, hers attacks the digestive tract, it took a few attacks, some almost life-threatening, but after a bit the doctors were able to diagnosis it, she was initially treated with placebos, improved remarkably... Then it was ah-hah, now what happened before each attack? Money issues, money issues, money issues... Her treatment is let my DB handle the finances, stay out of it. She's been fine for three years now, it doesn't make her crazy, or mentally ill, she just physically can't handle the stress when it comes to money, and knows she needs to talk to people when she starts to worry even staying out of the family finances.
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I just looked up the MD symptoms, and they actually seem to fit. Aside from the obvious ones, I had/have LD issues, scoliosis, the heart arrhythmia. I'll be sure to ask about it when I see the doctor.
I'm still really sore, but the swimming last night and large doses of ibuprofen seem to have loosened up my muscles so I can walk normally now. The last week and a half, my hips have tightened up/collapsed halfway through my stride making it hard to even use a walker. The doctor from Mayo told me to do the exercises they taught me, but I found it impossible since my hip mobility was normal in front of me, but nil behind me so I couldn't complete the movements.
I even tried doing the things that conversion syndrome Websites suggested, like singing while you walk, which is supposed to change your gait pattern by letting automatic processes take over while you think about something else. The results were that I fell because my automatic processes weren't doing any better than me. Its strange that it took another patient to tell me that if I can't walk, I should swim and then try again. A doctor telling me this a week ago could have saved me a lot of trouble.
I actually do believe conversion syndrome is real, I just don't see how it can cause the array of symptoms I have, like the heart issues. And I'm afraid I can't use Mayo now for a couple reasons. Now that they've dx'd me with it, I'm afraid its going to be their go to cause for everything.
Also the doctor wants to take me off benzos. The dose I'm on now allowed me to continue working because my muscle tightness/spasms were too painful to sit at my desk. The original dose prevented Myoclonus that came with uncomfortable electric shock sensations. While I don't like the mental fog from the benzos, I don't want to go back to being shocked randomly through my day. I'll talk to the Mayo doctor about this when she calls back
Incidentally, when the myoclonus was at its worst, I did develop jerks that didn't shock me and in hindsight I think that these may have been a conversion type reaction to the actual myoclonic jerks. They went away shortly after the shock type jerks were under control. So I'm not completely dismissive of Conversion/FND, but see the overall condition as closer to what happened with my knee.
Long time ago, my knee was collapsing on me whenever I took a step. The MRI came out clean. After three weeks, the orthopedic told me there was nothing wrong with my knee, it may be neurological or psychological, but if I really want he's willing to do an exploritory scope. After some thought, I told him to scope it. The result was that I had a three inch tear in a layer that doesn't show on imaging and needed to be sewn up. He said he'd never seen it before, and it looked like that spot had just dried up and ripped.
My body obviously has some strange neuro and/or rheumitology processes going on in it and I think the FND dx is her way of justifying not being able to explain what that process is. For my part, I'm going to keep searching for a dx.