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My sister has conversion disorder
My sister has been diagnosed with conversion disorder. She passes out easily and has a hard time breathing and her body postures why she is unconcious. Is there help for her? Everyone we've seen passes her off and says there is nothing they can do. We need help.
""Eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tough"" I meant touch..sorry.. Between conversion, ADD, and chemo, my brain doesn't work as good.
Yes, I would like to know how old she is. Here is some things she can do to help.
Okay, the thing with Conversion Disorder is that it is usually motor sensory involved. That means, all of her senses come in to play. Eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tough. It is all a part of it. With conversion, there is alot of stimulus that needs to be stifled. Get her in a quiet room for starters. No tv, music, nothing. You need to get rid of as much noise as possible.
Avoid stressfull situations
Diazepam when having seizures or if you feel it coming on. You can have alot of internal damage from siezures like having your stomach shoved up into your chest.
Retraining the brain. Usually done by a physical medicine specialists. Dr. John Speed in Salt Lake City University Hospital is known nationally for his work in this area. I was treated under his care. THere are several things you can do to retrain the brain.
Distraction is a wonderful tool. With conversion, basically your brain is scrambing and sending the wrong messages to the wrong parts of the body. That is why body does weird stuff. so you can distract it by stomping your foot, or slapping the table, other distractions in the enrironment may pull you out of a seizure or episode.
Lately my seizures have been taking on a more serious form where I have breathing problems, and losing consciousness. also amnesia
The doctor has put me on Lyrica. I can't believe the difference in how I feel. I have still had a few seizures but now the are not so intense. Breathing not so bad. Lyrica calms down the electrical stimulus. It is a wonder drug. It took my 6 years to find something. I tried it all.
Part of what is happening with the breathing is that Conversion is also a muscular skeletal spasm problem. It is sqeezing your lungs. Then it will let a bit, and you can catch your breath but when you do you breath really fast to compensate and then you end up in a hyperventilation situation.
And the only thing predictable about conversion is that it is unpredictible. the symptoms change from time to time. Some symptoms will disappear for good and new ones can arise.
There really is no good cure however, if you can retrain the brain like Dr. John Speed does, his success rate is very good. However, there is a certain percentage who will not be able to succeed. I fell into that catagory.
On my doctors report it said I tested postive for conversion at 99.6% which is greater than anything studied in clinics. That is practically word for word. So I guess I have it pretty bad. possible one of the worst cases in the country.
There is also something that helps when my hands curl up. my husband massages the top of my left wrist. It will even stop my seizures. Its weird how it works but it works.
also, use an ipod and take it everywhere you go. You will need to block out bad stimulus byt using your own. I never go anywhere without it. Really take note of how sounds are effecting her.
Next, get a good neuropsych doctor, psychiartrist, and neurologist and insist that they all work closely. very important.
lAlso know, there is a lot of discrimination against people with this disorder because the doctors don't know what to do with it and it is considered a mental health issue. Regular doctors willl really give you the brush off. Your feelings will get hurt from time to time. so I am warning you right now. It's going to be really hard working with doctors. Its very frustrating. Just stay strong and don't give up. she needs to stand up for herself.
Also knw that 25% on conversion cases end up being false diagnosis and she may have an underlying illness or disease after all. Make sure she has an EEG, blood work, MRI.
But mostly, watch the stimulus. quiet room, stressful situations, meds to calm down the system.
I also have to wear industrial earphones to block out noises. I have to wear them to church also becase of the organ and the microphone, and even babies crying is a really bad one for me.
Don''t give up and just try someof these things. She just has to keep calmed down.
I can't handle phone stress so I have to have my husband make many of my calls. Eventually, you will find the right things that will help. It will take time but don't give up. This conditon is rare so not much research. It's getting better though. They are making progress. If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask.
Take care and give her a big hug.
sammie
Okay, the thing with Conversion Disorder is that it is usually motor sensory involved. That means, all of her senses come in to play. Eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tough. It is all a part of it. With conversion, there is alot of stimulus that needs to be stifled. Get her in a quiet room for starters. No tv, music, nothing. You need to get rid of as much noise as possible.
Avoid stressfull situations
Diazepam when having seizures or if you feel it coming on. You can have alot of internal damage from siezures like having your stomach shoved up into your chest.
Retraining the brain. Usually done by a physical medicine specialists. Dr. John Speed in Salt Lake City University Hospital is known nationally for his work in this area. I was treated under his care. THere are several things you can do to retrain the brain.
Distraction is a wonderful tool. With conversion, basically your brain is scrambing and sending the wrong messages to the wrong parts of the body. That is why body does weird stuff. so you can distract it by stomping your foot, or slapping the table, other distractions in the enrironment may pull you out of a seizure or episode.
Lately my seizures have been taking on a more serious form where I have breathing problems, and losing consciousness. also amnesia
The doctor has put me on Lyrica. I can't believe the difference in how I feel. I have still had a few seizures but now the are not so intense. Breathing not so bad. Lyrica calms down the electrical stimulus. It is a wonder drug. It took my 6 years to find something. I tried it all.
Part of what is happening with the breathing is that Conversion is also a muscular skeletal spasm problem. It is sqeezing your lungs. Then it will let a bit, and you can catch your breath but when you do you breath really fast to compensate and then you end up in a hyperventilation situation.
And the only thing predictable about conversion is that it is unpredictible. the symptoms change from time to time. Some symptoms will disappear for good and new ones can arise.
There really is no good cure however, if you can retrain the brain like Dr. John Speed does, his success rate is very good. However, there is a certain percentage who will not be able to succeed. I fell into that catagory.
On my doctors report it said I tested postive for conversion at 99.6% which is greater than anything studied in clinics. That is practically word for word. So I guess I have it pretty bad. possible one of the worst cases in the country.
There is also something that helps when my hands curl up. my husband massages the top of my left wrist. It will even stop my seizures. Its weird how it works but it works.
also, use an ipod and take it everywhere you go. You will need to block out bad stimulus byt using your own. I never go anywhere without it. Really take note of how sounds are effecting her.
Next, get a good neuropsych doctor, psychiartrist, and neurologist and insist that they all work closely. very important.
lAlso know, there is a lot of discrimination against people with this disorder because the doctors don't know what to do with it and it is considered a mental health issue. Regular doctors willl really give you the brush off. Your feelings will get hurt from time to time. so I am warning you right now. It's going to be really hard working with doctors. Its very frustrating. Just stay strong and don't give up. she needs to stand up for herself.
Also knw that 25% on conversion cases end up being false diagnosis and she may have an underlying illness or disease after all. Make sure she has an EEG, blood work, MRI.
But mostly, watch the stimulus. quiet room, stressful situations, meds to calm down the system.
I also have to wear industrial earphones to block out noises. I have to wear them to church also becase of the organ and the microphone, and even babies crying is a really bad one for me.
Don''t give up and just try someof these things. She just has to keep calmed down.
I can't handle phone stress so I have to have my husband make many of my calls. Eventually, you will find the right things that will help. It will take time but don't give up. This conditon is rare so not much research. It's getting better though. They are making progress. If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask.
Take care and give her a big hug.
sammie
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