Normal everything

[Criseida12]

May 27,2015 I went to the ER because of right sided weakness. I thought that this was an effect of a new med I was put on called Latuda. After taking this med I had 3 days of pounding headaches. After those 3 days I had an episode of vomiting and went to lie down because I was dizzy. 20 minutes after lying down I felt my right arm and leg was feeling heavy and went to the hospital because I thought I was having a stroke.

The doctor heard my story and I had an cat scan to rule out stroke. I was told I was having a complicated migraine. I've had 2 MRI one with contrast and one without. all it showed was a T2 flair in my genu of corpus callosum and was told it was insignificant. My EMG was normal. My EEG was positive for headaches. Now here's the problem... I have tremors in my hand non-stop and my muscle twitch in my upper arm and my calves. If I get the urge to pee and if I don't get to a bathroom ASAP I get the worst pain when starting to pee and also get the runs. I'm tired all the times but will get a day or two when I feel ok. I lost my balance and continue having right-sided weakness. My index and my thumb continue twitching all he time. I feel numbness to my cheeks fingers and toes and sometimes talk slurring my words like if my tongue was numb. I get double vision but after blinking a few times my eyes will focus to normal.

I asked to have a spinal tap but the neurologist tells me that she's positive this isn't MS. She believes this is conversion disorder. REALLY??? My question is this, Could this be CONVERSION DISORDER or should I get a second option?  

[Jjewelz1987]

Conversion disorder sounds like a cop out diagnosis.  The doctors just don't know what you have and so they're just slapping that diagnosis on you. Don't buy it. You know you are experiencing these symptoms FOR REAL and that it's not in your head.

I went through a similar situation where I had all kinds of aweful symptoms and all my doctors said I was fine and thought I wad crazy. Turns out I had undiagnosed and untreated Lyme disease that was causing all my symptoms.  Lyme disease is very overlooked by the medical community and the testing for it us extremely inaccurate.  50 percent of people that have Lyme disease test negative.  So they ended up being told that their symptoms are all in their head. Which is insane.

There's a great Lyme disease section on this MedHelp website. Check it out and post in it! There's many helpful people there.

Good luck!

[aspen2]

I would say a referral to a psychiatrist is in order.  Having a psych rule out makes the whole diagnostic process much more bearable.  Future (or current) specialists can't then even go there.  Get your gp/pcp to refer you :).

I am in limbo also, and experienced a couple of pretty demeaning appointments early on.  Also had stroke like events during first episode, and was also told initially migraines.  We have some things in common.

In my case, no one is calling mine migraine any more.  I wish they were ... ;).

thinking of you!

[essdipity]

We have had members here, and I'm thinking of one in particular, who on many occasions got one-sided paralysis along with other very serious symptoms mimicking MS. She saw a lot of doctors and had several MRIs, all essentially normal. Her diagnosis, which she ultimately had to accept, was a rare kind of migraine.

Although I recall that some doctors suggested she look into mental health issues, none came close to telling her she had conversion disorder. A lot of people here would have been furious if they had. I for one got to know her very well over a few years, and I assure you this was NOT what was happening with her.

It enrages me when some doctor, not a psychiatrist, labels and dismisses someone he barely knows in this way. Conversion Disorder is actually extremely rare, and is a diagnosis to be arrived at only after careful analysis over a period of time, and only by a psychiatrist. Yes, neurology and psychiatry are allied in many ways, but if someone practicing psychiatry suddenly hung out a shingle and declared himself a neurologist (or the reverse), the medical community would have a lot to say about this, none of it good.

I don't know the poster here at all, but I'm angered on her behalf. I would urge her to keep pursuing a solution, while bearing in mind that migraines can and do (if rarely) cause the problems she describes.

ess

[supermum_ms]

Hi and welcome,

Q: "could this be Conversion disorder or should i get a second opinion?"
A: I'd say yes to both, but also think you should consider getting a second migraine related opinion and second conversion disorder related opinion.

Keep in mind that you do have an abnormal EEG, and apart from the unary issue (which actually sounds like you could have a unary track infection and would be a good idea to see your GP about), your other symptoms wouldn't be inconsistent with migraines, so 'may be' what you are experiencing are actually migraines and not consistent with a neurological condition like MS...    

As confusing and as frustrating as it might seem, migraine and conversion disorder are both diagnostic alternative possibilities......that's not saying that what you are dealing with is definitely mental health! BUT some mental health conditions like conversion disorder, health anxiety etc definitely do mimic similar 'symptoms' associated with neurological conditions like MS.

Mental health causation more typically causes a rapid development over a very short time frame, there is an absence of the corroborating hard evidence ie abnormal neurological clinical signs, diagnostically consistent or suggestive test evidence MRI's, VEP, LP etc etc

In regards to MS being the focused condition, the individuals symptoms will continue to develop rapidly in the coming weeks and months. Reading about the symptoms of MS is typically involved with the rapid development of symptoms, escalation of their fears and anxiety level etc.  

Physiological conditions such as conversion and health anxiety, are not uncommonly triggered after experiencing a genuine health scare.....you will know more about your personal mental health situation and if it's a possible issue but I strongly believe that once mental health is mentioned, it is always going to be in your best interest to get your mental health appropriately assessed as well!

Cheers.......JJ

[HVAC]

You can always get a second opinion.

Alex