FND: The lazy-doc diagnosis...and a travesty for suffering people.

[skeetbeet]

FND (formerly known as "Conversion Disorder," "Hysteria," etc.) is unfortunately, being slapped on patients by docs that are too lazy to figure out what actually going on with patients.Likewise, modern medicine still knows very little about the human body & thus does not have tests to identify everything that goes wrong with it. But docs MUST appear to have answers (and be able to bill insurance companies) so they claim that unexplained symptoms are mental in origin. It's a travesty. So many friends of mine nearly died or were left with permanent injuries/disability because doctors assumed they're symptoms were "mental" & presribed psychiatric/psychological interventions instead of real medical treatment.

Please be aware...Xanax is only approved for short term treatment (few weeks max). Sadly, docs write scripts for years or decades, never bothering to tell patients that it's benefits/calming effects are short lived (due to neuroadaptation) yet adverve effects worsen the longer a patient is on it (as with any psych drug or med that alters neurotransmission/neuroreceptors).

Benzodiazapines can actually cause a paradoxical worsening of anxiety (frequent panic attacks, or even akathesia--which can be deadly), along with a host of other psychiatric symptoms (iatrogenic med-induced psych disorders), and physical symptoms & health problems.

Additionally, withdrawal syndromes can be severe & prolonged & virtually no doctor is properly trained in slow, safe, tapering regimens, nor are they trained to identify withdrawal effects, thus leading to patients receiving addtional unnecessary & harmful psychiatric disorder labels.

[Sparklingsunshine]

Its not just FND labels, many people ( women especially) end up getting fobbed off with Fibro, CFS, depression, anxiety or Menopause. And those labels follow you around like a bad smell. And everything that ever ails you is blamed on that. You are right its lazy, cant be arsed, patient blaming.

[skeetbeet in reply to Sparklingsunshine]

Spot on.

[GreenCottage in reply to Sparklingsunshine]

The breathe work practitioner I see suffers from pain in his limbs. His doctor diagnosed Fibromyalgia, when pressed the doctor said if we can't identify the source of pain we tend to call it Fibromyalgia!

[Sparklingsunshine in reply to GreenCottage]

They pluck a diagnosis out of their a**e like some sort of rabbit from a hat. I was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos around the same time as Fibro. EDS is a genetic connective tisssue disease causing a myriad of symptoms, most of which are the same as Fibro.

Chronic pain, fatigue, migraines, digestive problems, sleeping issues. I dont think I have Fibro at all. I have EDS for sure. But that Fibro " diagnosis" has followed me around since 2008.

I would have far more respect for a doctor who admitted they dont know what is causing your symptoms. At least its honest. But coming up with names like CFS, CPRS, FND, CD ( aka hysteria) and blaming depression, anxiety, unresolved trauma or the fact you didnt get a pony for your 11th birthday, its just crap.

Millions of people suffer from depression, anxiety, abuse, neglect, horrible childhoods, wars, famine, PTSD. They dont end up with FND though. Yet we get people who have had normal lives, with happy upbringings, no major upsets or issues, who get FND symptoms.

The answer is out there, doctors are either not looking or dont care. They used to believe MS was hysteria as well. They know better now. Whether the cause of FND is found, I hope so. Whether in my lifetime or yours, well that's the million dollar question.

[Melstarz in reply to GreenCottage]

Yes! I was also told by my Rheumatologist that Fibromyalgia is not a diagnosis. Its a term that describes the symptoms being experienced but its a syndrome not a disease. Super helpful right? 😑

[GreenCottage in reply to Melstarz]

I think that the least patients should expect is honesty. As far as the professionals are concerned they need to be honest with themselves.....' we don't know what causes this' creates space for learning.

[Melstarz]

I can no longer count on my hands the amount of times I actually needed antibiotics and walked around for months with active bacteria infections that worsened to the degree of hospitalization still only to be sent away and told "we dont know" and ending up back at the hospital needing to be admitted. They cannot tell you about your illnesses because the ignorance in medicine is probably the cause. Patients should not need to educate themselves about their illness. The doctor should be doing that, yet they tend not to even listen let alone teach patients. Its unfortunately a major healthcare crisis when it comes to quality of care. Especially if you are considering the cost to quality value!

[Beanybean]

I couldn't agree with you all more. FND is just a bin to gas light people (usually women) that bad doctors cant be bothered investigating. Some people probably do genuinely have this problem but it is far too convenient to throw patients into this category without proper diagnosis.

I have had symptoms of vasculitis/CTD for over 10 years. It has been progressing slowly to start and now it has got much worse. Each flare up (swelling>petechial rash>raynauds/necrosis>muscle&nerve pain) is worse than the last and often targets an organ as well. I saw a rheumatologist after a multi year wait (they lost my referral after 2 years and needed re-referred) who palmed me off because ANA/ANCA negative, inflammatory marker normal despite all the classic symptoms of lupus. He wrote down that he thought I had FND and referred me to neuro as routine.

A few months later I collapsed twice and went unconscious for 10 minutes+ with serious confusion and memory loss after. In the emergency department they treated me like dirt and did no tests because they said I cant have vasculitis or CTD so it must be FND. The rash I had at the time was biopsied that week by dermatology. I have vasculitis, a rare type usually only secondary to CTDs like lupus. It typically attacks the brain/CNS, isn't associated with antibodies and doesnt raise inflammatory markers because it is cell-mediated. Now Im being investigated for CTD but my GP wont update my referrals because he also thinks its all in my head based on the ED report.

It is infuriating. It also means I cant go to my GP for any mental health issue ever or I will become a target for more gaslighting.

[Melstarz in reply to Beanybean]

Gosh this is so disheartening and yet we are all going through this and you are certainly not alone. Your experience is not only valid but also nearly identical to so many of us. You should be so grateful you got the vasculitis result that is major progress. I'm finding that I get better care and treatments at urgent care facilities than with primary care providers. I am also only scheduling with Drs that have patient advocates and whom I discuss my symptoms with first and they agree to truly find the causes of my symptoms not just treat them because I know all the bandaids over the years have only compounded, delayed and caused addition illness.