Hello and ''Functional'' symptoms
 

Hi everyone,

I'm glad to have found this forum after a couple of years of ill health and then being hit with the dubious diagnosis of Functional Neurological Disorder.
Unlike most of people in the forums that people are sent to after receiving this mysterious diagnosis, I am very much struggling to come to terms with this label. Its' sinister, sexist medical history, its implications, plus the lack of treatment, science and prognosis.

According to my scans, have 2 small brain aneurysms, one thrombosed aneurysm and a bulge in the wall of another artery. Spinally, I have a bulging disc at L4/5 and some lumbar foraminal stenosis.

My symptoms which have led to the FND diagnosis include an inability to raise my legs when laying down (only in one position) and gait disturbance. Also fatigue, brain fog, the usual...

I can see how these inconsistencies are at odds with other neurological disease and also how the brain/signals are misfiring. It's just that I am more inclined to believe this is as a result of a yet to be discovered illness, rather than repressed trauma or something like that. I am the first to put my hands up and say I havent had the easiest of lives but who has?!

To put it short, I am struggling to accept that these medically unexplained symptoms are a 'disorder'.

Anyway, just an introduction, any threads/comments/experiences welcomed and thanks for reading!
Mic :winky:

Hi Mic

Welcome to NeuroTalk :).

If you haven't come across it already, the information in this site may help you Functional Neurological Disorder - NORD (National Organization for Rare Disorders) .

My take on it is that FND seems to be a "diagnosis by exclusion".

Best wishes.

Hi Kiwi and thanks for the welcome,

Thanks for the link too, yes, I have read a lot about it, just struggling to accept it. Seems more like a Dustbin diagnosis to me. :confused:

Hi Mic.

FND is very real for those that deal with it. I know someone who was diagnosed with FND quite some years ago. Her parents as well as myself did not believe that she had FND. Her parents spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in testing, repeat testing and a wide range of different specialties.

The final outcome was, yes it is truly FND.

From the Movement Disorder Forum:
https://www.neurotalk.org/movement-d...-disorder.html

Take care...

Hi Snoopy,

Thanks for the reply, and the thread. Some very helpful comments there. It's just taking me a while to accept, I guess and the medical neglect doesn't help!

M :o