Is this fnd????

[Legbrace74]

Hi I have been unable to feel my right side from my twelfth rib all the way down to my toes inside and out eg can't feel my internal organs it has been like that for 5 years no change in all that time I have seen everyone you can think of even the Psychologist says I'm not suffering with stress or anxiety my neurologist says something has switched off in my brain and they don't know how to turn it back on. Since Christmas my left leg has gone numb from the knee down any help or anything you can think of would help

[pickleweed]

I'm not sure of how to test for functional sensory disorders. If you can get your symptoms to show up as movement disorders, then it would be easier to diagnose FND. You say that your left leg has gone numb from the knee down. Have you had movement problems such as accidentally walking on the side of your foot, or injuring your foot or lower leg? Do you have problems with urinary or fecal incontinence? If you answer "No" to those previous questions, it is possible that part of your brain is receiving sensory input from your lower body, but your consciousness is not receiving that information. I don't know if that would mean that you have FND, though. One would also wonder if you have something wrong with your spinal cord below your 12th thoracic vertebra.

[Legbrace74 in reply to pickleweed]

Yes I do have problems with urinary and fecal incontinence I am always going over on my ankles. It's like walking on false legs. Had a MRI on spine doctor says it's fine but I did break my back when I was 16 have to use a leg brace on my right leg and ankle supports on both ankles

[pickleweed in reply to Legbrace74]

For urinary and fecal incontinence, you could try Interstim or sacral nerve stimulation. Expensive transcranial magnetic stimulation, costing about $13,000, could be tried.

[pickleweed]

Another thing you could try is the drug gabapentin (an inexpensive generic drug with a crazy dosing schedule) or the drug Lyrica (an expensive "scheduled" but fairly safe brand-name drug). You may say to yourself, "But aren't Lyrica and gabapentin pain relievers?" They often are prescribed as pain relievers, but some people, including myself, paradoxically have more pain (and therefore more sensation) on them. So you may gain sensation back by taking one of these drugs. Gabapentin causes diarrhea. Lyrica tends to cause constipation. You could try taking over-the-counter pain meds to see if they paradoxically increase sensation below your ribs, but you probably have already tried those medications inadvertently for something else. One thing to check for is whether you have more sensation below the ribs at certain times of the day/night (which may point towards FND).

[Legbrace74]

I'm on 600mil of Gabapentin a day already

[pickleweed]

I just read in Handbook of Clinical Neurology, volume 139, that using a TENS unit (transcutaneous electrical stimulation) on a high setting (so that you see the muscle twitching) can help bring sensation back.