Hi Im new and I have Conversion Disorder

Hi im 22 and was diagnosed last year. Im from the UK and im trying to talk to people who have the same condition. I also just wondered if the treatment is different in the US and if you get more support. or if like here people shy away from you.

Hi mariehenderson007,

Unfortunately, this is a little-known disorder both here and in the US. Your doctor should have given you advice about it and where to go looking for info, didn't? I think that you will find more worth addressing each of the symptoms of your disorder individually, as you will then find more relation to others. Symptoms across all disorders cross-over, you see, and this is where you can find some hope.

This part of this website has never been too active.

Kevin

Thanks Kevin. I do have information and statistics but Im trying to make friends with people who actually have the condition or can at least understand. As there are not many people who surround who have the faintist idea how it feels.

Hmm, well - again - as you can see from the other posts here, it's never really that active. This is only the third topic to be created this year I think. I think you should send a Private Message to other users here though, and hopefully that will allow you to get in touch with others who have the condition. If you send a PM, it should automatically result in an email being sent to their email address (which t hey provided at registration) and this might trigger them to come back. It's worth a try.

Kevin

I just read some articles about conversion disorder and I'm still not sure exactly what it is...

I have various strange bodily sensations that I'm pretty sure are psychosomatic, but that I more or less experience in a physical, localized way in places around my body. These sensations are hard to describe... they don't map neatly onto typical English words like "pain" or "tingling"... they are what they are, kind of like a sense of "tightness" inside my left foot, for example, accompanied by feeling a little like vibrating electricity coursing from this spot and up my leg. The feeling waxes and wanes with my overall mood, I typically feel it the most if I've having a extra-crappy depression day, and I also feel it the most when I'm lying in bed doing nothing except paying attention to myself.

Could this be related to conversion disorder? I was recently diagnosed with NPD and I'm pretty sure that's connected somehow. Is conversion disorder only a label used when there's nothing else? In other words, would having NPD automatically preclude a conversion disorder diagnosis?

I'm asking these questions to try and learn something about my strange psychosomatic experiences that I've been having for a number of years, and I'd also like to know where is the best place to discuss them if not here?

sfguy75x, I have never been too sure about it either, and I am yet to meet someone here who knows much about it. As suxh, I amen't confidant that you'll ever get the reply here that you're looking for. I'd like to think that simply going onto Google would help, but I've tried that and Im still unsure about it. It musn't be diagnosed too often in a clinical environment.

Kevin

Hello
I suffered for years with weakness on left side and balance disorder. I was diagnosed with Vertigo and given some medication for this, that made it worse. As the years went on I suffered more and ended up buying a wheelchair myself to get about. It was only when I went for a check up when I was having a baby that the doctor in the maternity hospital asked why I was in a wheelchair, and when I told her she made an appointment with a friend of hers in neurology. This made me feel better as I then might have a name for the thing I was suffering. The meeting went well and he arranged an MRI scan I thought this meant he thought there was a physical problem which at least they could treat. Although he did say there was no physical signs of disability or weakness even though i could hardly move out of my wheelchair.
I had to wait 14 months for the MRI scan and as time went by the symptoms got worse, and I had now nearly lost all power on my left side.I had read about people suffering with MS and had convinced myself that this was the cause, this was helped when my GP had mentioned that my symptoms matched MS. The time came for my MRI and although it was really uncomfortable to get through I was glad as it may lead to diagnosis and treatment. After the MRI I was in hospital A&E twice, once for just not feeling good in my left side and total weakness which they checked with ECG and blood tests which they said came back negative. The next time I actually collapsed and had to go to hospital in an ambulance. They did other tests and found nothing, this was all very disappointing as it was not helping to even give what I had a name. The meeting came round for the results for the MRI and I met the chief neurologist. It was he who said I had nothing physical wrong with me and that he thought I had Somataform disorder. This was the first time I had heard of this and was bitterly disappointed, I should have been glad I had nothing wrong with me, but I still had no control over my left side and couldn't walk and was going deaf and blind by now. He was nice but so adamant that there was nothing there for him to treat. I had to accept this too. He said it was usually due to a traumatic experience in childhood or after-wards and although it is not known why, the body can create physical disabilities because of these. I had suffered the tragic lose of a very close sister, and had also suffered sexual abuse as a child and young adult. I can see that this must be the cause of my suffering, although why I don't know. I just have to accept this and try to get better. The Neurologist said that accepting this was the first big step but the rest would be very hard work and small steps at a time. I am working on this now and hope to come back and let you know my progress. I hoped this has helped in some way, I am just accepting that each day is the first day of the rest of my life, and getting on with it.
Wendy.

Hi Wendy,

I hope that things improve for you. What's the conversion disorder 'scene' like in America by the way? I virtually here nothing about it her in the British Isles.

Kevin

Hi
I can't believe what I've just read, especially from Wendy. It's kind of nice to know it's not just me.

I was recently diagnosed with a functional disorder - apparently otherwise known as "conversion disorder". Only diagnosed yesterday!! I felt a bit like a psycho freak to be honest, like it was all in my head when they told me. Felt better knowing that nothing was physically wrong though strangely. I had complete paralysis of my right side - couldn't walk or move my right arm and had no control at all - my speech was very slow and slurred and my eye sight was very blurred. I've been diagnosed with migraine in the past which has affected my speech and made me extremely dizzy and unbelievably forgetful. Initially I thought it was migraine again but worse with the paralysis.
I ended up in an ambulance on Sunday evening being rushed into hospital for scans, blood tests, ECG's etc. All of which came back completely normal and negative! I was discharged with the advice to "take things easy" and "alter my lifestyle".
I'm on the list to see a Neuropsychologist and am being followed up by the Neurologist who saw me in the A&E Department.

A nurse came to see me whilst I was on the ward who had recently transferred from the Neurology ward. He told me how common this "disorder" is. There are patients all the time, who come into hospital with the condition and no apparent cause other than the brain not being able to take any more and trying to warn you to slow down.

I'm trying to take things a little easier - three kids at home and a partner (4 kids ) and a part-time job and all the usual household things that apparently a woman's meant to do. I've decided to take a break next week and go away on my own for a few days - leave my partner to see exactly how hard it really is! - and take things from there.

I hope I've helped in some way and I hope I can stay in touch.
H x

Hi, I was diagnosed with CD in 2001. The consultant psychiatrist I had had seen three cases in his career, including mine and was in charge of the department I was seen in, no one else had heard of it so I know what it's like when you get told and you can't find any info on it.

My symptoms manifested firstly as a dragging left foot and head aches, associated with Migraines. The dragging got worse until I couldn't use the left leg. It progressed with time into my left arm and the left side of my face so it appeared that I had had a stroke or TIA (mini stroke)but tests showed no brain bleeds or damage to explain the symptoms.
Migrainal paralysis was considered but when I stopped getting headaches but still had 'episodes' that was dismissed. Epilepsy was tested for but all E.E.G's were negative even when I had an 'episode' during one of the tests.
Later I was told that CD is an 'Exclusion' diagnosis, meaning they have to test for all organic possibilities (disease/infection or genetic predisposition) before they can call it Conversion Disorder.
A second opinion from Addenbrooks' Neuropsychiatric department agreed that it was most likely CD.
I was told that the condition was the brains way of telling you that there was a problem that you either couldn't deal with for what ever reason or was not consciously aware of and this was your 'wake up call'. The physical symptoms of paralysis/weakness and general mobility issues were dealt with as if they were real ( which they were, even if they was no underlying pathology) and the mental health side of things was dealt with CBT sessions, understanding friends and family (even if they didn't really understand what the condition was their support was greatly needed) and time, with the right support time does actually help.
All this time I couldn't work and had lost my job from the onset of CD as I couldn't drive ( or walk properly for that matter) to work and the mobility problems in my arm and face meant most work was out of the question and it is only within the past year that I have returned to work at a few hours a week on permitted work scheme.

From what I've read on here I seem to have been lucky in the treatment I have had, Occupational and physiotherapies to help with social and physical recovery, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy has helped with thought patterns that made the condition worse and although I still occasionally get problems they are no where near as bad as they were.

I don't know if anyone else has seen this book; The Cycle Path: Conversion Syndrome Disorder by Fiona Whelpton from Chipmunka publishing, but it can help those on the out side get an inkling of what can be like. A bit Mills and Boony in places for me but it's an account of what she went through so it is what it is.
All though everyone experiences CD differently and symptoms can look like any neurological condition going it helped as a starting point for others to try and get a handle on what we go through.

Don't know if my rambling will shed any more light on the subject but although it is a rare disorder, if you can find out what the triggers are for you and learn how to deal with them, you can move on and live with it.

Darryl