conversion disorder - has anything helped you?

[Graceelsie]

Hello, my daughter in her twenties has Conversion Disorder and PTSD. Has anybody been offered any treatment for the Conversion Disorder that has helped them? My daughter had her physio discontinued as they say they don't really deal with mental health issues and now nobody seems interested in doing anything for her or able to offer anything to help. She has been out of her wheelchair since March and walking with a rollator but seems to have hit a glass ceiling in her recovery now - she still has bouts of her right leg being very weak and painful and dragging behind her as if paralysed, and some bouts of urinary incontinence. She gets a lot of pain in her back, which again they say has no physical cause. I still don't get the mechanism of how her grief over losing her two boys (stolen by social services) actually causes her legs not to function properly and nobody seems able to explain it to me - they say the brain converts mental pain into physical symptoms but when I ask how they just waffle about it not being really understood. So how do they know that's what in fact is happening? I am so scared that something like MS might be being missed, even though they say the scans/tests show nothing.

 

[mcintyre]

Hi there, it is easy to miss MS because in some cases MS doesn't show up on scans. I still believe my problems have MS at their root but all tests/scans are so far negative.

Having said that MS isn't something to be scared of so much - my partner has been dx'd with MS and manages to live a full life, albeit with the odd bit of disruption. We are more than aware this could change and become worse but we'll cross that bridgeif/when it comes to it.

As for the waffle about the condition not really being fully understood many doctors seem to see it as a bit of a catch all for something that can't be explained - they are reluctant to be seen as being human and admitting that they just don't know.

And to answer your question - the only thing I have found that has really helped me is my wheelchair and plenty of rest whenever possible...

 

[Graceelsie]

Hi there, it is easy to miss MS because in some cases MS doesn't show up on scans. I still believe my problems have MS at their root but all tests/scans are so far negative.

Having said that MS isn't something to be scared of so much - my partner has been dx'd with MS and manages to live a full life, albeit with the odd bit of disruption. We are more than aware this could change and become worse but we'll cross that bridgeif/when it comes to it.

As for the waffle about the condition not really being fully understood many doctors seem to see it as a bit of a catch all for something that can't be explained - they are reluctant to be seen as being human and admitting that they just don't know.

And to answer your question - the only thing I have found that has really helped me is my wheelchair and plenty of rest whenever possible...

Thanks for your reply. The Day Centre she attends keep trying to get her walking with just a stick and then she has a fall and comes home with bruises or mild concussion. Whether or not it is due to physical or mental causes the effect is the same and there ought to be treatment out there to help with it! Agh! At the minute it just seems they put any symptom she suffers down to the trauma of the loss of her boys. I am sure if her head fell off they would do the same!

 

[mcintyre]

Thanks for your reply. The Day Centre she attends keep trying to get her walking with just a stick and then she has a fall and comes home with bruises or mild concussion. Whether or not it is due to physical or mental causes the effect is the same and there ought to be treatment out there to help with it! Agh! At the minute it just seems they put any symptom she suffers down to the trauma of the loss of her boys. I am sure if her head fell off they would do the same!

Hi there - I know where you're coming from with that. Back in 2006 I spent 2 weeks on a Neuro ward during which time 3 physio workers were despatched to me daily to try and "teach me to walk again" as they put it. This involved being made to drag myself up and down a long corridor using crutches day in and day out, which was slow, painful and embarrassing.

Nowadays if I get any pain/strangeness etc or if I end up at hospital they put whatever the reason down to psychosomatic reasons and dismiss me. This has included being taken by Ambulance from work twice with absence attacks.

 

[Blame]

Unbiased treatment

Last time I needed treatment for a minor medical problem I went to a hospital outside my area. I refused to give my correct name and address told them i didnt have a GP.

I received treatment that was appropriate for the problem. I was sure that if I gave over my details the problem would be dismissed. This has happened before for treatable conditions.

 

[mcintyre]

I so know where you're coming from with that!!