Symptoms of conversion

THANK YOU GILLY FOR GETTING BACK TO ME I GUESS NONE OF US HAS THE ANSWERS JUST WHEN I THINK IM GETTING BETTER IT SEEMS I GO TO THE WORSE EVERYTIME THIS IS REALLY HARD TO FACE THIS DISORDER AND HOW YOU CAN BE FINE ONE DAY AND THIS THING THAT IS BIGGER THAN WE ARE THAT WE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER EEFECTS OUR DAILY LIVING LIKE I CANT BE LEFT ALONE AT ANYTIME I HAVE TO COME TO WORK WITH MY HUSBAND EVERYDAY OR TO FAMILYS HOUSE IM NOT ABLE TO DRIVE OR WORK I JUST SIT HERE IN THE OFFICE IN FRONT OF THE COMPUTER HOPING TO HER FROM SOMEONE THAT IS FACING WHAT IM GOING THROUGH IM 37 YEARS OLD ITS HARD WHEN YOU CANT TELL YOUR KIDS YOU LOVE THEM CAUSE YOU CANT TALK THE SEZZIERS LIKE THEY ARE REALLY SCARY I LOST MY SITE FOR A WHOLE DAY THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS I DIDNT KNOW WHAT TO DO WHEN THESE SPELLS START ITS LIKE I GET A AWFUL HEADACHE LIKE SOME ONE IS SQEEZING MY HEAD ALOT OF PREASURE I DONT UNDERSTAND SO NO ONE KNOWS HOW LONG THIS WILL LAST I JUST WANT MY LIFE BACK I WANT TO BE NORMAL AGAIN I CANT TALK BUT I STILL CAN SING SONGS AND PRAISE THE lORD I TRULEY LOVE MY LORD AND I KNOW WITH OUR FAITH HE WILL SEE US THROUGH WHEN THE DOCTORS TOLD ME AND MY FAMILY THAT I HAD THIS DISORDER I HAD NO IDEA WHAT MYSELF AND MY FAMILY WOULD BE FACING ITS A NIGHT MARE I WENT THROUGH ANXITY AND PANTACK ATTACKS BUT NOTHING LIKE WHAT I FACE EACH DAY ITS 10 TIMES WORSE I GO TO A THEPTIST BUT I DONT KNOW IF THAT IS HELPING IM TRYING EVERYTHING I KNOW TO MAKE THIS GO AWAY DOCTORS DONT SEEM TO HELP THEY JUST WANT TO LOCK YOU UP AND GIVE YOU DRUGS I WILL KEEP YOU IN MY PRAYERS AND THANK YOU FOR WRITTING BACK TO ME IM NOT SURE IF IM DOING THIS RIGHT I HOPE I AM AND IT GETS TO YOU KEEP INTOUCH DORIS

labs4kerri wrote:Hi, I was diagnosed with conversion disorder in October of 2004. I have difficulties swallowing amoung other issues. I have noticed that psychogenic seizrues are a comon symptom. I have those too. I also have difficulty walking which requires use of a wheel chair for long distances and a mtal frame walker for short distances. I also have difficulties swallowing, as I said above. I am not able to swallow enough food to get adequate calories, so I have a feeding tube, (PEG tube) I am curious as to whether there are other people with similar issues swallowing, or anyone else with a feeding tube for the same reason I have one? Thanks. Kerri

hi kerri,

when i have episodes, i cant swallow at all, not even my saliva, so i just have a drip and have all medication injected. when im out of episodes, i can generally swallow ok, just occasionally choke if im not careful!

I have read your postings and now i hope someone can help me to understand what is going on with my body. I am 44 years old and six months ago i started waking up at night having upper body "seizures" so i was informed by the doctors. Make sure you come to the hospital if they last any more than half an hour. Since that night i have had one of these episodes every night. I have been to the local hospital on several occasions and have now been told not to go back because there is nothing to be done for me. My family doctor has come to the conclusion that i have CD, but the only test i have ever had is a CT scan and a neurologist that says there is nothing wrong with me. The family doctor took me off medication of diazepam and now i shake 24/7. I have lost the ability to speak in organized sentences and sometimes will be in a conversation where i can't remember a word that would normally be easy for anyone to remember. An example of this is i was having a conversation with my son and daughter in law and we were just talking and then i just couldn't think of the word that i wanted to use. They just said mom, the word is "symptom", so it is really confusing to me as to why this is happening. I believe that my doctor doesn't know what is wrong with me so is sending me to Mental Health to be determined, but has explained to me that i will be put at the bottom of the list because CD is not considered a very serious condition. From what i have researched, it is a very serious condition and i don't think that am i being taken seriously. I am a somewhat petite person, but in 6 months i have lots enormous amounts of weight. Which i could not afford to lose. I am unable to work, because who will hire someone who shakes constantly or will even take them seriously when they apply for a position. I have three college diplomas, am well educated, but am not able to get a job due to my condition. I have worked all my life, but now am not able to get out of bed most days, let alone cook a meal for my family, because of the shaking. I cannot drive any longer because i shake so bad i am scared that i may do something and hurt someone else, and i can not chance that. I have to have someone do my banking, my grocery shopping and chauffeur, where as a year ago i was the one who did it all. On the go, never stopping, now my life is like a roller coaster that has come to a complete stop. I have no idea what to do from here, or where to go or what kind of medical treatment to go for. IF someone, anyone has been in my position, i would appreciate hearing about how you cope with life when you go from where i was to what i am today. Any response would be greatly appreciated, if it were not for a close friend of mine i would never have found this forum and i hope that i can find the help and support that i need to be able to continue on with some kind of normalcy in my life.


Peg

STOP TALKING IN ALL CAPS PLEASE, KTHXBYE.
STOP TALKING IN ALL CAPS PLEASE, KTHXBYE.
STOP TALKING IN ALL CAPS PLEASE, KTHXBYE.
STOP TALKING IN ALL CAPS PLEASE, KTHXBYE.
STOP TALKING IN ALL CAPS PLEASE, KTHXBYE.

Gilly, I find your post very interesting.
I was rear ended in an RTA and have some terrible symptoms from it.
I have had negative MRI and MRA tests. The Neuros now think I am either malingering or possibly conversion disorder or factitious disorder and say my symptoms are clearly non organic.
I can be in mid sentence and my voice stops and my body just goes limp.
I have no psychological problems, I am happily married, have no hang ups and have a very positive attitude. (except now to Doctors) They make me feel like a fraud and this is just as bad as all the symptoms I am suffering.
I have posted some links with some of the symptoms I sufferhere for you to have a little look at. (I don't mean the full video as some are quite long)
I would appreciate any comments on this.

If the link doesn't work by clicking on it, it should work if you copy and paste into your browser.
I think I will also post these links to a separate topic too as I am keen to find out what is wrong with me.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 0609186913

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 4645597805

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 1789002772

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 6185912427

I would say that the first thing is to be true to yourself because that's who you are. If you feel that you at some point changed or let things slip, that's not permanent. I know how physical things can avalanche and disrupt things. I don't think what you have is a permanent situation. I was chemically injured by a very powerful disinfectant at work which damaged the tendons of my feet and elbows and to a lesser extent my knees, which is what first caused me to think that I was somehow less physically than I was before. However, I don't think these things are going to be permanent but they will improve over time, as my tendons are improving. What I have found critical to maintaining the function of my tendons is avoiding oversleeping. I wake up at the same time or earlier every day and never sleep past 7:30, even if you think you can't function or that things seem hopeless. I would say it is important to tell others that you are doing well, that you are functioning completely normally. Existing injuries can make you think that minor setbacks will hurt you, but you just have to push on, as they will improve through function and that doesn't mean to continue walking in an improper fashion to cause injury. You do walk good and you have to tell others at some point that you are walking good. One thing that I would do is camp outside for a night or a coujple of nights and walk barefoot or with mocassins in the woods. Bring some lighter fluid and gather up some wood and burn a fire. The next day call up your mom and tell her that you are walking good or tell her right now that you are walking good.

On another note, if you blamed somebody else, which is really not their fault, it is important to tell them that you felt trapped, that you really didn't have problems of the magnitude, that you are doing good, and that you have been doing good.

Hi all. I'm 16 and for the past year and a half I've been dealing with waht my doctors say is CD.

My attacks are periods where I'm compleatly unable to move. I can't talk or open my eyes, but i can still hear and feel pain.

I have about one attack a day that lasts about 10 min. When they started I was having 1-2 a month that would last for 2-3 hours, and my parents thought i was just taking a nap. There was apoint where I was having 3-5 a day at 45 min apiece, and then in January I was hospitalized because they were so frequent I wasn't gaining awareness between the attacks. That's when the CD diagnoses was made. Reacently I was having Psychogenic seizures as well, but haven't had one in almost a week.

For treatment I take 10mg oral of Celexa once a day, and I also see a Pschologist.

Hi, Gilly
My name is Karen I am a 46 year old black female. I've been having all the symptoms you have, but I have seizures also. I've actually have had these symptoms off and on all my life. They returned in 2004 after 20 years of no symptoms. I went through all the neurological testing and nothing showed up. I was diagnose with Conversion Disorder in 2007 by a Psychiatrist/Neurologist in Dallas, Texas. I live in Fort Worth, Texas and he referred me to a psychiatrist here in Fort Worth. My new psychiatrist enrolled me in an Intensive Outpatient Program for psychological behavior at a local hospital. I was there for 2 months I attended 5 days a week for 3 hours a day. It was helpful and helping me to cope and learning what causes the onset of the episodes. But unlike you I was place on medications. I can't tell if the medications helps are not because I'm still having all the symptoms almost every day. I go to a psychiatrist every 2 months for medication management and see a therapist twice a month for therapy in coping skills.

I'm now unable to work because of frequency of the seizures, paralysis in my legs off and on, not able to talk at times, and my vision is worse. My doctors has suggested Medical Retirement from my job. I'm in the process of doing that now.

But you are right about the positive thinking and staying away from negative situations and people do make this disorder more tolerable. When I feel weak I rest and some days I can go to the gym and do mild to moderate exercise. That's weird how this disorder can take you down for the count some days and some days you feel normal. It's hard to explain the disorder to some people. Some doctors has never heard of it. It's so nice to find this website with people like me. It's especially nice to hear from you, a person with such a positive outlook on how to cope with conversion disorder. It make me feel such a relief and my mind and heart. Thank you Gilly.