[harley]

ok.
went to joel freidman in providence. he is supposedly the top dog in the country on pd. i had this bigshot baffled. my pd meds are now so tiny, 1/2 a stalevo ev 4-5 hours, .5 mirapex 3 times daily and way into what shouldve been an off time, i functioned completely normal. dbs is turned off. this doc looked over my records from drs monique gireoux, phillip ballard, jay nutt, and the cleveland clinic, read my 3 page long summary of what i have been through both physically and emotionally, noted i was dxd with ptsd,saw anxiety ran in my family and the ball got rolling.

first, he is going to try to get me in for a speck scan. this is the new, improved scan still not available to the general public yet that will show how many dopamine producing cells i have. i am to call him in 3 weeks to find out if he was able to do that. depending on the outcome of that will determine whether or not i even have pd. if not.. then i go to a specialist neurophych who will try to see if i have a "conversion disorder."

Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders :: Br-Del
Conversion disorder



Definition
Conversion disorder is defined by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision, also known as the DSM-IV-TR,as a mental disorder whose central feature is the appearance of symptoms affecting the patient's senses or voluntary movements that suggest a neurological or general medical disease or condition. Somatoform disorders are marked by persistent physical symptoms that cannot be fully explained by a medical condition, substance abuse, or other mental disorder, and seem to stem from psychological issues or conflicts. The DSM-IV-TRclassifies conversion disorder as one of the somatoform disorders, first classified as a group of mental disorders by the DSM IIIin 1980. Other terms that are sometimes used for conversion disorder include pseudoneurologic syndrome, hysterical neurosis, and psychogenic disorder.

Conversion disorder is a major reason for visits to primary care practitioners. One study of health care utilization estimates that 25–72% of office visits to primary care doctors involve psychological distress that takes the form of somatic (physical) symptoms. Another study estimates that at least 10% of all medical treatments and diagnostic services are ordered for patients with no evidence of organic disease. Conversion disorder carries a high economic price tag. Patients who convert their emotional problems into physical symptoms spend nine times as much for health care as people who do not somatosize; and 82% of adults with conversion disorder stop working because of their symptoms. The annual bill for conversion disorder in the United States comes to $20 billion, not counting absenteeism from work and disability payments.

Description
Conversion disorder has a complicated history that helps to explain the number of different names for it. Two eminent neurologists of the nineteenth century, Jean-Martin Charcot in Paris and Josef Breuer in Vienna were investigating what was then called hysteria, a disorder primarily affecting women (the term "hysteria" comes from the Greek word for uterus or womb). Women diagnosed with hysteria had frequent emotional outbursts and a variety of neurologic symptoms, including paralysis, fainting spells, convulsions, and temporary loss of sight or hearing. Pierre Janet (one of Charcot's students), and Breuer independently came to the same conclusion about the cause of hysteria—that it resulted from psychological trauma. Janet, in fact, coined the term "dissociation" to describe the altered state of consciousness experienced by many patients who were diagnosed with hysteria.

The next stage in the study of conversion disorder was research into the causes of "combat neurosis" in World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945). Many of the symptoms observed in "shell-shocked" soldiers were identical to those of "hysterical" women. Two of the techniques still used in the treatment of conversion disorder—hypnosis and narcotherapy—were introduced as therapies for combat veterans. The various terms used by successive editions of the DSMand the ICD(the European equivalent of DSM) for conversion disorder reflect its association with hysteria and dissociation. The first edition of the DSM(1952) used the term "conversion reaction." DSM-II(1968) called the disorder "hysterical neurosis (conversion type)," DSM-III(1980), DSM-III-R(1987), and DSM-IV(1994) have all used the term "conversion disorder." ICD-10 refers to it as "dissociative (conversion) disorder."

DSM-IV-TR(2000) specifies six criteria for the diagnosis of conversion disorder. They are:

The patient has one or more symptoms or deficits affecting the senses or voluntary movement that suggest a neurological or general medical disorder.
The onset or worsening of the symptoms was preceded by conflicts or stressors in the patient's life.
The symptom is not faked or produced intentionally.
The symptom cannot be fully explained as the result of a general medical disorder, substance intake, or a behavior related to the patient's culture.
The symptom is severe enough to interfere with the patient's schooling, employment, or social relationships, or is serious enough to require a medical evaluation.
The symptom is not limited to pain or sexual dysfunction, does not occur only in the context of somatization disorder, and is not better accounted for by another mental disorder.
DSM-IVlists four subtypes of conversion disorder: conversion disorder with motor symptom or deficit; with sensory symptom or deficit; with seizures or convulsions; and with mixed presentation.

Although conversion disorder is most commonly found in individuals, it sometimes occurs in groups. One such instance occurred in 1997 in a group of three young men and six adolescent women of the Embera, an indigenous tribe in Colombia. The young people believed that they had been put under a spell or curse, and developed dissociative symptoms that were not helped by antipsychotic medications or traditional herbal remedies. They were cured when shamans from their ethnic group came to visit them. The episode was attributed to psychological stress resulting from rapid cultural change.

Another example of group conversion disorder occurred in Iran in 1992. Ten girls out of a classroom of 26 became unable to walk or move normally following tetanus inoculations. Although the local physicians were able to treat the girls successfully, public health programs to immunize people against tetanus suffered an immediate negative impact. One explanation of group conversion disorder is that an individual who is susceptible to the disorder is typically more affected by suggestion and easier to hypnotize than the average person.

Causes and symptoms
Causes
The immediate cause of conversion disorder is a stressful event or situation that leads the patient to develop bodily symptoms as symbolic expressions of a long-standing psychological conflict or problem. One psychiatrist has defined the symptoms as "a code that conceals the message from the sender as well as from the receiver."

Two terms that are used in connection with the causes of conversion disorder are primary gain and secondary gain. Primary gain refers to the lessening of the anxiety and communication of the unconscious wish that the patient derives from the symptom(s). Secondary gain refers to the interference with daily tasks, removal from the uncomfortable situation, or increased attention from significant others that the patient obtains as a result of the symptom(s).

Physical, emotional, or sexual abuse can be a contributing cause of conversion disorder in both adults and children. In a study of 34 children who developed pseudoseizures, 32% had a history of depression or sexual abuse, and 44% had recently experienced a parental divorce, death, or violent quarrel. In the adult population, conversion disorder may be associated with mobbing, a term that originated among European psychiatrists and industrial psychologists to describe psychological abuse in the workplace. One American woman who quit her job because of mobbing was unable to walk for several months. Adult males sometimes develop conversion disorder during military basic training. Conversion disorder may also develop in adults as a long-delayed after-effect of childhood abuse. A team of surgeons reported on the case of a patient who went into a psychogenic coma following a throat operation. The surgeons found that she had been repeatedly raped as a child by her father, who stifled her cries by smothering her with a pillow.

Symptoms
In general, symptoms of conversion disorder are not under the patient's conscious control, and are frequently mysterious and frightening to the patient. The symptoms usually have an acute onset, but sometimes worsen gradually.

The most frequent forms of conversion disorder in Western countries include:

Pseudoparalysis. In pseudoparalysis, the patient loses the use of half of his/her body or of a single limb. The weakness does not follow anatomical patterns and is often inconsistent upon repeat examination.
Pseudosensory syndromes. Patients with these syndromes often complain of numbness or lack of sensation in various parts of their bodies. The loss of sensation typically follows the patient's notion of their anatomy, rather than known characteristics of the human nervous system.
Pseudoseizures. These are the most difficult symptoms of conversion disorder to distinguish from their organic equivalents. Between 5% and 35% of patients with pseudoseizures also have epilepsy. Electroencephalograms (EEGs) or measurement of serum prolactin levels, are useful in distinguishing pseudoseizures from epileptic seizures.
Pseudocoma. Pseudocoma is also difficult to diagnose. Because true coma may indicate a life-threatening condition, patients must be given standard treatments for coma until the diagnosis can be established.
Psychogenic movement disorders. These can mimic myoclonus, parkinsonism, dystonia, dyskinesia, and tremor. Doctors sometimes give patients with suspected psychogenic movement disorders a placebo medication to determine whether the movements are psychogenic or the result of an organic disorder.
Pseudoblindness. Pseudoblindness is one of the most common forms of conversion disorder related to vision. Placing a mirror in front of the patient and tilting it from side to side can often be used to determine pseudoblindness, because humans tend to follow the reflection of their eyes.
Pseudodiplopia. Pseudodiplopia, or seeing double, can usually be diagnosed by examining the patient's eyes.
Pseudoptosis. Ptosis, or drooping of the upper eyelid, is a common symptom of myasthenia gravis and a few other disorders. Some people can cause their eyelids to droop voluntarily with practice. The diagnosis can be made on the basis of the eyebrow; in true ptosis, the eyebrows are lifted, whereas in pseudoptosis they are lowered.
Hysterical aphonia. Aphonia refers to loss of the ability to produce sounds. In hysterical aphonia, the patient's cough and whisper are normal, and examination of the throat reveals normal movement of the vocal cords.

hhhhmmmmmmmmm

[Jim091866]

My recent neurologist also suspects a conversion disorder. Although he didn't state it in quite those terms. His comments were that my DBS was a waste of resources and told me he doesn't want to treat me any more. Pretty nice huh?

[rosebud]

My PD is so weird that I have wondered if it's all just smoke and mirrors. This is certainly interesting to me.

I have always been intrigued by multiple personality disorder. It is not uncommon for one personality to have some chronic disorder like diabetes, while another personality sharing the same body does not.

It is after all....dis ease.

[reverett123]

But don't you just love the implications that it is the patient's fault or weakness rather than a problem with a system that provides so little support or a society that demands that you go until you drop? And then there is the hint that you aren't dealing with a real disease and if you would just get your head screwed on straight then you wouldn't be using up their precious resources. Hey, guys, you can't cure it. Why would you think that we can?

The facts are that our endocrine system, which is far closer to being the master control center than anything else we have, is based on a series of "set points" or thresholds that determine how we function. Stressors can move those set points and that allows us to adapt to our environments. Unfortunately for us, once moved it is darned hard to move them back - especially if we are trying to do it in the same environment which caused them to move in the first place.

A good source for exploring these ideas is the work of Rhawn Joseph at http://brainmind.com/

[Jaye]

Rick, I don't read it that way at all.
J.

[Jomar]

Hope you don't mind if I jump in with some thoughts.

One of the RSI {repetitive strain injury} places I read on - some mention a book by Sarno.
About the mind & body connection.
{his books are in libraries}
Some of the posters there did have success with using Sarno's methods for their RSI injury.

[Most people begin with “Healing Back Pain” which gives the basics of Dr. Sarno’s theories, diagnosis and treatment strategies. The next book, “The Mindbody Prescription” gives greater detail about TMS equivalents: symptoms other than musculoskeletal pain that are caused by the same Mindbody condition. Dr. Sarno’s most recent book, “The Divided Mind” reveals the doctor’s latest thinking about psychosomatic disorders and how the brain and emotions are the source of the most of the misunderstood symptoms which people experience today.]
http://www.healingbackpain.com/books.html

I read some of one of the books for my RSI injury, but it didn't really apply for me.


I don't recall if any of those posters mentioned having a traumatic or dramatic childhood or life, maybe they just didn't mention that.

I do think there could be some mind /body connection for some people.
Not in a bad way or negative either.. not the it's all in your head way -- but our mind is a very strong influence on our bodies.

I'm not saying it is or isn't the cause for any condition , but maybe just something to look into and with an open mind.

[reverett123]

Or maybe I'm just touchy. But anything that accounts for as much as 72% of GP visits should be labeled "major scourge" rather than "hysteria" etc. However, that being said, I must admit that they are getting much closer.

Originally Posted by Jaye

Rick, I don't read it that way at all.
J.

[Jim091866]

There are for me many factors that are in play here. I do not deny or dispute the incredible mind/body connection. I just wish they were connected right 'cause my mind says yes but my body says no! I WAS abused as a child, sexually and otherwise aside from violent abuse. I had a mother who was present but non existant. Ya wanna talk about what kind of baggage that brings to someone who meets the love of their life and what kind of hell that can cause in light of resentment and the female role model, we don't have enough couch!! When I was diagnosed with PD we had one of the worst years of our marriage so far. I lost my 2nd job, my wife was on antidepressants and laid in bed for days at a time, we were losing our house to foreclosure. I was over 400 on the "life events scale" if any of you have heard that is a supposed scale that psychologists have said scores significant life events. Over 300, significant risk of serious illness in the immediate future due to stressors. Then years later we were back at it again, getting divorced after years of trying to make it work. I got testicular cancer 1 month later. It was so significant it spread to my lung. I had 3 surgeries and chemotherapy. Do ya think they may be related? I don't know. I may have survived the abuse but years later I am still paying the price. I did file charges but after I was grown and now, at 41 y/o with that being years ago they didn't pursue it very aggressively although this went on for some 9-10 years. Many red flags, signs and many, many tears.

[reverett123]

You are not alone. A few years back we did a survey amongst ourselves and of the twenty or so taking part, every darned one of us had been through hell as children. Everything from my drunken father to the Blitz to who knows what and then for many life just got more interesting. I won't go into the problems a ten year old boy has protecting his Mom from his drunken dad nor what its like to step between him and his younger brother. Or about his mother being enthrall to a pill pushing doctor until it got so bad that I went in and physically threatened the good doc (helped that I looked like Sonny Barger by then). Wasn't long after that that I let the old man kill himself. Got married to a wonderful woman who carried a similar load. Hers came out in her own health and there were times of months in a wheel chair. The two house fires didn't help any. And when the grandparents needed help she and I stepped up to the plate. Didn't know it was an eight year commitment, of course.

Lot more, but that's enough. There are several others with worse stories and some slightly better, but the point I am trying to make is that you really are among family. We have all been kicked around by life and, like the guy in Monty Python's the Holy Grail, just keep on ticking.

That realization was when I first began to understand that there was a lot more to PD than I had been told. Stress doesn't just make our symptoms worse. Stress causes PD and the process starts from Day One. Either that or we are the unluckiest bunch of so-and-so's on the planet.