Incoherent speech

[Stanleyleonard12]

Hi Everyone,

I’ve had FND for about 7 years now. I’ve been managing it really well. I recently got a spinal cord stimulator for neuropathy pain. Does anyone else have experience with spinal cord stimulators and FND? However, over the last week I’ve developed a new and scary symptom. My speech becomes completely incoherent for hours. I can’t find a trigger and it just happens all of a sudden. Has anyone experienced this or something similar. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. It’s making me afraid to leave my house.

[Prosaic_One]

I’ve never had spinal cord stimulation (never even heard of it) but I did lose the ability to speak clearly for almost a year. When my speech became confused, I also loss the ability to read. No one could explain why this was happening. I got through it on my own. I’m not sure what turned it around. I had no support or compassion so I did my own speech therapy with what I could find online. During this period, I often had what I called “brain storms” where I’d see flashing lights, my vision would go black, and I would seize for almost an hour. I had severe vertigo for 9 months.

When I finally got bloodwork done, I had 3 vitamin deficiencies and electrolyte deficiencies. They kept telling me it looked like I was going to have a stroke. I changed my diet substantially and started to develop more of a tolerance to stimuli.

If I’d had doctors who actually listened to me, I might be able to tell u today what was happening with my body but none of them cared to dig for answers. This diagnosis has been a curse. I’m soon moving to a new state and I’m hoping seeing new doctors will give me a new experience, though I have no reason to believe this. Good luck to you. Be patient with yourself and know that it could take many months for you to overcome this situation. Try not to overwhelm your senses and keep your mind & body calm. Eat well! Hugs!!!

[Prosaic_One]

How could I forget?!? The speech issues—>

SING! Sing to your heart’s content and do it frequently! I was a singer so this came naturally to me but I remember reading that singing is used in speech therapy so I leaned into that. It did help a lot. If you don’t have a great singing voice, who cares! It seems to bypass the normal mechanics used for speaking and for some reason, helps the problem. I hear it’s been used effectively for people with stutters.

I used to wait until no one was around and just sing about my movements: “I’m going to the bathroom nooow! Afterwards, I’ll wash my haaands!” 😂 You’ll feel absolutely ridiculous but that only made me laugh at myself which lifted my spirits. It’s been about 5 years since my speech went crazy but I continue to sing my day through my apartment when I’m not conscious of it.