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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 18 of 18. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by jono_in_adelaide on January 28, 2014, at 0:03:31
He was in hospital last week, under another neuro, had CT, MRI, PET, complete blood picture and a spinal, all of which showed nothing.
The doc managed to get his records from the other hospitals/doctors, and told him and his wife that he had conversion disorder and that he was in urgent need of intense psychiatric treatment.
He has compeltely disregarded the advice, and is now talking about going to see a neurologist in another capital city.......
Posted by jono_in_adelaide on January 28, 2014, at 0:07:32
In reply to My friend and conversion disorder, posted by jono_in_adelaide on January 28, 2014, at 0:03:31
The doctor actualy used the term "functional neurological syndrome" but from what I can gather, it means the same thing - neurological symptoms with a psychosomatic cause
Not sure howe I can help him except to urge him to get psychiatric advice
Posted by alexandra_k on January 28, 2014, at 2:36:30
In reply to My friend and conversion disorder, posted by jono_in_adelaide on January 28, 2014, at 0:03:31
lets say he goes to see a p-doc and gets some psychiatric advise...
what do you think the psychiatrist will advise him?
shake him a bit and tell him to snap out of it? or what?
Posted by alexandra_k on January 28, 2014, at 2:37:02
In reply to Re: My friend and conversion disorder, posted by alexandra_k on January 28, 2014, at 2:36:30
i mean... how would that help?
how could seeing a psychiatrist help him?
Posted by jono_in_adelaide on January 28, 2014, at 4:17:25
In reply to Re: My friend and conversion disorder, posted by alexandra_k on January 28, 2014, at 2:37:02
I'm not sure what the treatment is for conversion disorder - I would guess antianxiety and antidepressant meds and trying to find whats at the root of it all
I guess a shrink is going to do him more good than continually visiting different neurologists and having huge batteries of massively expensive tests, only to be told after some months there is nothing physically wrong with him, and then starting the whole process again.
Some prolonged work with a psychiatrist or psychologist would obviously be involved in getting to the bottom of it
Posted by jono_in_adelaide on January 28, 2014, at 4:20:28
In reply to Re: My friend and conversion disorder, posted by alexandra_k on January 28, 2014, at 2:37:02
Basicly, he has wasted 20+ years of his life convinced he is seriously ill, and nobody has ever found anything wrong with him - I'd like him to get better and start living his life again.
Given that people with this disorder are usually highly suggestible, hypnosis could play a role - I don't know, however, I do know that psychiatry/psychology is his only hope of ever leading a normal life
Posted by SLS on January 28, 2014, at 7:31:40
In reply to My friend and conversion disorder, posted by jono_in_adelaide on January 28, 2014, at 0:03:31
> He was in hospital last week, under another neuro, had CT, MRI, PET, complete blood picture and a spinal, all of which showed nothing.
>
> The doc managed to get his records from the other hospitals/doctors, and told him and his wife that he had conversion disorder and that he was in urgent need of intense psychiatric treatment.
>
> He has compeltely disregarded the advice, and is now talking about going to see a neurologist in another capital city.......Has he been screened for any other somatoform conditions such as somatization?
Perhaps it would be helpful for your friend to understand that his somatic complaints are genuinely biological, but that the site of dysfunction is the brain, not the body. We know that manipulating certain areas of the brain can produce pain and sensory alterations. Somatoform disorders often are the result of psychosocial stresses. The stress can be either acute or chronic, although acute attacks have a better prognosis. It may be that somatoform illnesses settle in different regions of the brain than those affected by PTSD or depression.
Stress on the brain can produce myriad effects that will present differently in each individual. Somatoform is just one of these presentations. It is a brain disorder. There are no universal biological treatments that act as a cure yet. Psychiatrists who specialize in psychosomatic medicine, including somatoform, can be very helpful to catalog the symptoms and work on ways to cope with them as if they were true pathologies - which, of course, they are. The pathology lies in the brain. However, it is through psychological interventions that the magnitude of dysfunction can be reduced.
There is a whole medical journal dedicated to psychosomatics. It has been around for 30 years:
http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/
Helpful information from Mayo Clinic:http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/conversion-disorder/basics/definition/con-20029533
- Scott
Posted by Phillipa on January 28, 2014, at 8:56:20
In reply to Re: My friend and conversion disorder » jono_in_adelaide, posted by SLS on January 28, 2014, at 7:31:40
I do wish xiybow Jay were still here. He was amazing at describing his own conversion disorder. I do wish I still had contact with him. He found luvox at high doses worked somewhat for him and I forgot what other meds. Phillipa
Posted by phidippus on January 28, 2014, at 15:48:35
In reply to My friend and conversion disorder, posted by jono_in_adelaide on January 28, 2014, at 0:03:31
Typical of hypochondriasis.
Eric
Posted by jono_in_adelaide on January 28, 2014, at 16:47:14
In reply to Re: My friend and conversion disorder » jono_in_adelaide, posted by phidippus on January 28, 2014, at 15:48:35
Thanks guys for the info and advice
All i want is for my friend to be better
Posted by baseball55 on January 28, 2014, at 20:28:13
In reply to Re: My friend and conversion disorder, posted by jono_in_adelaide on January 28, 2014, at 4:17:25
The sad thing about psychiatric/psychological treatment is that you have to admit you have a problem and want to change. If you don't feel that, then all the therapy in the world will not help you.
I had a psychosomatic pain that lasted for several months. I had test after test. Some doctors I saw cautiously suggested I might want to see a therapist, but I became indignant at the suggestion. And, if I had seen a therapist, I would have lied about my past and not even have thought of it as lying. I didn't acknowledge it. It was past. Had nothing to do with me. The past me was another person. I didn't talk about it and didn't think of it as something relevant to the present.
What eventually got me into treatment (five years later), is that my primary care prescribed opiates for the pain and I became a complete addict. When I detoxed, I fell apart. The psychiatrist I saw asked me -- what if you had seen someone at the beginning? I mean any psychiatrist, when they heard your story, would think something was wrong. And I replied -- if I had seen a therapist, and I would never willingly have done that, I would not have told them my story. It was none of their business and had nothing to do with what was going on.
That's the problem with conversion disorder. Your friend is still externalizing his emotional problems, hasn't felt them or owned them yet. The only solution is for the neurologists he keeps contacting to read his records and refuse to treat or test him.
Posted by Phillipa on January 28, 2014, at 20:31:58
In reply to Re: My friend and conversion disorder » jono_in_adelaide, posted by baseball55 on January 28, 2014, at 20:28:13
But what if the problem is buried so deep and too painful to see. I don't know? Phillipa
Posted by alexandra_k on January 28, 2014, at 21:25:15
In reply to Re: My friend and conversion disorder » baseball55, posted by Phillipa on January 28, 2014, at 20:31:58
sounds like your friend doesn't want to be better.
Posted by SLS on January 28, 2014, at 21:33:01
In reply to Re: My friend and conversion disorder » jono_in_adelaide, posted by baseball55 on January 28, 2014, at 20:28:13
> That's the problem with conversion disorder. Your friend is still externalizing his emotional problems, hasn't felt them or owned them yet.
Nice post. I neglected to stress the importance of psychotherapy in the treatment of somatoform disorders. Thanks for sharing your personal story.
- Scott
Posted by jono_in_adelaide on January 29, 2014, at 21:57:30
In reply to Re: My friend and conversion disorder » baseball55, posted by SLS on January 28, 2014, at 21:33:01
Not sure if this is relevent, but he told me that his father was a transvestite, and once dressed him up as a girl when he was a child - he then clammed up and didnt say any more, and I didnt feel it was appropriate to ask, but I suspect there was more than a single episode - poor guy, I feel so sorry for him, and want to help him, and I dont know how.
He tried to make an appointment with the professor of neurology at the states other medical school, but after reviewing his notes, the guy said nuurology had nothing more to offer him, and that he needs psychiatric treatment/help, but he has disregarded that advice as well and is looking for another neuro, and another round of CT's, MRI's PET scans, lumbar taps etc
Posted by SLS on January 29, 2014, at 22:52:59
In reply to Re: My friend and conversion disorder, posted by jono_in_adelaide on January 29, 2014, at 21:57:30
> Not sure if this is relevent, but he told me that his father was a transvestite, and once dressed him up as a girl when he was a child - he then clammed up and didnt say any more, and I didnt feel it was appropriate to ask, but I suspect there was more than a single episode - poor guy, I feel so sorry for him, and want to help him, and I dont know how.
>
> He tried to make an appointment with the professor of neurology at the states other medical school, but after reviewing his notes, the guy said nuurology had nothing more to offer him, and that he needs psychiatric treatment/help, but he has disregarded that advice as well and is looking for another neuro, and another round of CT's, MRI's PET scans, lumbar taps etcHow very frustrating it must be to watch this happen.
- Scott
Posted by jane d on January 30, 2014, at 3:13:35
In reply to Re: My friend and conversion disorder, posted by jono_in_adelaide on January 29, 2014, at 21:57:30
> I feel so sorry for him, and want to help him, and I dont know how.
...
> professor of neurology at the states other medical school, but after reviewing his notes, the guy said nuurology had nothing more to offer him,
Perhaps you could stress that. Not that there is nothing wrong with him but that neurology, as it is practiced today, doesn't have the answers for him and that he should try another disclipline. You could point out that psychiatry is used to trying to help even when they don't understand the cause and that it can be helpful even if you have something "real" wrong with you. This even has the advantage of being true. Think antidepressants and neuropathy. Good luck. It's very frustrating when you can't help a friend.
Posted by SLS on January 30, 2014, at 4:55:49
In reply to Re: My friend and conversion disorder » jono_in_adelaide, posted by jane d on January 30, 2014, at 3:13:35
> > I feel so sorry for him, and want to help him, and I dont know how.
> > professor of neurology at the states other medical school, but after reviewing his notes, the guy said nuurology had nothing more to offer him,
>
> Perhaps you could stress that. Not that there is nothing wrong with him but that neurology, as it is practiced today, doesn't have the answers for him and that he should try another disclipline. You could point out that psychiatry is used to trying to help even when they don't understand the cause and that it can be helpful even if you have something "real" wrong with you. This even has the advantage of being true. Think antidepressants and neuropathy. Good luck. It's very frustrating when you can't help a friend.Wow. Good advice.
- Scott
This is the end of the thread.
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