What the **** is FND
I had just started the mammoth task of writing my autobiography My Beautiful Trauma. I had suffered a lonely and abusive childhood, and writing about it was as traumatic. I started experiencing nightmares, flashbacks as though the abuse was happening to me all over again. My Psychiatrist thought that my brain was being over-stimulated by the flashbacks and he stated, “the brain either has a fight, flight or freeze response to stress.” Other symptoms include oversensitivity to stress, such as panic attacks.
He went on to state that in most cases those suffering Functional Neurological Disorders (FND), my brain’s response to stress is to ‘freeze’, as though the brain processes need to ‘start over’ to continue functioning. Once I suffered a very big ‘brain freeze’ that prevented me from walking for at least a month, therefore I needed rehab to teach my brain how to walk again. I ended up in and out of the hospital, till they were able to diagnose me.
I am fortunate that this one time has been my most debilitating ‘episode’ so far that only lasted about 3 months, and I had to go to rehab. At the time FND was unknown to New Zealand doctors. I had just about every neurological test, and still, doctors were scratching their heads. However, when I had my massive episode, which looked exactly like a stroke, the neurologist was able to finally diagnose me with FND. I was now finally able to do my own research about NFD, which has been an eye-opener and enabled me to understand what triggers the episode, which is usually when I push myself, going hard with work and life.
“A Neurological Functional disorder (FND) is a condition in which patients experience neurological symptoms such as weakness, movement disorders, sensory symptoms, and blackouts. The brain of a patient with functional neurological symptom disorder is structurally normal, but functions incorrectly.” There are also some readings about it being more common among those who have had trauma during their childhoods Neurosciencenews.com
There is no exact cause of FND. However, there are many different factors that can make people more susceptible to FND such as having other neurological conditions. I’m recovering from a stroke I suffered, in 2012. My brain can be over-stimulated more frequently than before suffering the stroke. It’s more common among us who are experiencing chronic pain, fatigue or stress.
FND patients can experience a wide range and combination of symptoms that are physical, sensory and/or cognitive. The most common include: retrieved from FND symptoms
Motor dysfunction
• Functional limb weakness/paralysis
• Functional movement disorders; including tremor, spasms (dystonia), jerky movements (myoclonus) and problems walking (gait disorder)
• Functional speech symptoms; including whispering speech (dysphonia), slurred or stuttering speech
Sensory dysfunction
• Functional sensory disturbance includes altered sensation; e.g. numbness, tingling or pain in the face, torso or limbs. This often occurs on one side of the body
• Functional visual symptoms; including loss of vision or double vision
Episodes of altered awareness
• Dissociative (non-epileptic) seizures, blackouts and faints: these symptoms can overlap and can look like epileptic seizures or faints (syncope)
Symptoms often fluctuate and may vary from day to day or be present all the time. Some patients with FND may experience substantial or even complete remission followed by sudden relapses of symptoms.
Other physical and psychological symptoms are commonly experienced. Such as, chronic pain, fatigue, sleep problems, memory symptoms, bowel and bladder symptoms, anxiety, and depression.
Treatment- management
Medication. Anti-anxiety drugs or antidepressants may help to treat the stress or anxiety that contributed to the onset of FND. Knowing what triggers an ‘episode’ can help manage how frequently you have ‘episodes’.