I think many people experience some forms of somatization due to stress, especially prolonged stress...your symptoms sound really extreme though. I occasionally have chest pains caused by stress. It took my doctor a while to understand my condition too. I think it’s hard for doctors to put a finger on it when it’s not organic. They were not trained to deal with these things. So I think your doctor is right that you need therapy.
I’m glad your condition has somewhat improved. If it’s worth something, try to focus on the small victories every day. It's easy to get bogged down by negative thoughts about what’s wrong with you… but a positive mindset can go a long way in helping you navigate tough times. Hope you’ll get well soon!
Isn’t conversion disorder now called functional neurological disorder?
CBT was not helpful for me either. I almost lost hope in therapy due to it. I have a “rare condition” too, when my therapist suggested my pains in the low back and joints were of a psychological nature, I could not believe her, even though I trust her in all other matters. The one thing that helped me was a modified form of EMDR. I also think that such conditions as ours require the treatment of the underlying symptoms as well (like anxiety, depression). Stress may be the trigger, but the underlying things are much more insidious...
@saint777 Thank you, I’m trying not to focus on anything at all.. I find that when my mind is calm, my symptoms lessen, on some days they’re almost non-existent. But then they come back. So I try not to think too much, especially about how things used to be before this happened to me.
@somebody Sorry, I don’t know. I’ve only read about my diagnosis but now I’ve googled functional neurological disorder, and it seems to be another disorder that’s psychological in nature. I’m not very educated in this, I’ve only begun gathering information.
@ShanChun1964 Thanks for your comment. I can relate to your feelings of distrust, I felt the same way for almost a year! When my doctor first suggested that I should go to a psychiatrist and start therapy, I only thought he wanted to get rid of me. I was absolutely sure my symptoms were entirely physical, and so they must be treated with non-psychiatric medication. To me his words sounded more like I was not actually ill, I only felt that I was. It’s both frightening and amazing what our brains can do to our bodies. I’m beginning to accept it only now, after dozens of stories from other people.
@Amanda No matter, I was only meaning to say that hypnosis may be ineffective against functional neurological disorder (and thus, I suppose, for conversion disorder). You’d better explore intense relaxation therapy. I also recommend you to read the books From Paralysis to Fatigue by Edward Shorter, and All in Your Head by Suzanne Sullivan. Both will give you more insights into psychosomatic illnesses.
@somebody Very helpful, thank you very much! 🙏 I’ll order both books tomorrow evening when my husband is back home.
If you go to a neurologist, I’m pretty sure their recommendation will be to try non-invasive brain stimulation methods (like TMS or ECT). I’ve heard much positive feedback about both, especially TMS. It’s been used to treat depression and various somatic conditions, including fibromyalgia.
@SOguilty I’ve already read about TMS, it sounds very experimental to me. I’m a coward when it comes to “new methods”, that’s why I need to read about them in detail before making any decisions. I think I’ll try to find a therapist who specializes in stress-related disorders (if they even exist?). I’m a bit tired of taking antianxiety medications, and I’d really like to finally try something else, perhaps EMDR, as someone suggested in the comments.
We all react to stressful situations in different way. When we are frightened we may feel our heart racing, sweaty. When we are sad we sometimes cry. So every emotion we feel can sometimes cause a physical reaction. Siezure can happen when a person dissociates herself from such feelings because it is difficult to cope with. This emotional reaction because of series of event in your life can cause physical effect. it is an unconscious reaction.
Now i would only say for each person a particular treatment could work and for few it would not. so when you say CBT its highly recommended because it will help you to look at how you think, how your thoughts affect you physically and emotionally. it will help you in changing the way you think about things, situations, about people around you. This will help you looking at the current situation more positively and cope with stressful events like you thinking in the mind it will happen unexpectedly. Your therapist would be the right person to decide this. Remember if one treatment doesn't work then there are other set of treatments like bio-feedback or hypnotherapy which can be effective but you need to have patience and trust in it. It is good to research and know about the therapy but instead of googling meet a therapist and ask in details about what therapy she would start with. Knowing in details will give you also a confidence to deal with the fear.
Your therapist would also teach you various mindfulness and relaxation exercises.
Practise stress relieving techniques like think about a activity which you enjoy the most and do it like gardening or cooking or art anything which makes you happy or just yoga or meditation.