r/SurvivingFND

I'm 21 years old Male and I think I may have symptoms of FND ( Functional Neurological Disorder) ?? 

I know people in here aren't qualified doctors, and maybe some are. But obviously can't diagnose anything. But I'm just curious if anyone in here has FND ? If so could you please tell me what your symptoms were before you were diagnosed.

My symptoms are as follows :

1. Sudden on & off dead left leg - Almost everyday on & off I could get this very very numb feeling in my left leg. It's almost like a bad pins and needles feeling, and sometimes I could find it hard to keep my weight on that leg. And I could then get a sharp pain on my knee joint that travels to the hip that lasts for a few minutes.

2. Non epileptic seizures - I have been getting seizures about once or twice a month since 2024. It all started with a sudden collapse at home in February 2024. I've been in hospital more times and to different neurologists and nobody seems to know what's going on with me as every test has come back clear including brain / head scans were normal.

3. Severe brain fog / Memory problems - This has to be my most worst symptom I have. I have this every single day. I find it almost so hard everyday to function. I can't concentrate properly, I find it hard to find the right words sometimes, I could forget what I just did a few minutes ago, I could forget appointments and totally forget about them if I don't write them down on paper. I sometimes also have problems with recognising even my own family - e.g. ( My parents, my best friends for years and even more family members), I could look at them like I don't even know them like they are strangers. I FEAR THAT IT'S EARLY ONSET DEMENTIA OR SOMETHING 

4. Severe problems sleeping - Every night for 2 years going on 3 : I cannot be able to sleep until about 3 or 4am every morning. And I am never tired during the day but when it hits early evening that's when it severely impacts my mood and everything.

5. Sleep apnea symptoms - When I feel I am falling into a deep sleep eventually in bed, I feel as if I wake up straight away gasping for breath, feeling all lightheaded - Almost like the feeling like I'm about to pass out or die

6. Severe mood swings everyday - I could get mood swings almost everyday for no absolute reason whatsoever. One second I could be fine in a happy & good mood, and then all of a sudden I could just snap and get very angry for no reason at all at anybody or anything I see. I could say very mean stuff to the person that I honestly do not mean at all and then that upsets them. And then I could get more angry again and more upset at myself because I know myself that I did not mean what I said bad to the person and then I try to explain to them what's going on and that I didn't mean it at all and they still don't believe me. It really upsets me because I never ever mean to hurt anybody's feelings because that is really not the person I really am behind all of these problems 

7. Sudden random crying outbursts - This happens sometimes but not all the time. When it happens one second I'm all smiles, laughing and joking around with my friends, and the next thing for absolutely no reason at all I could suddenly start crying even though I don't actually feel sad at all. But I think myself that the sudden crying could be from all the frustrations inside from all these problems.

8. Sometimes trouble walking / losing my balance - My balance somedays is good, I can walk no problem at all. And I could suddenly lose my balance or feel I am about to lose my balance and fall which I don't  And I'm not even fat at all. I go to the gym everyday and watch my diet and everything.

There is a few more symptoms but I'm not going to add. Like I said I'm not overweight or obese. I go to the gym every single day, and I watch what I eat. I rarely eat fatty foods. My blood checks are always good no problems in the bloods. Maybe once before but a few years ago. My blood pressure is sometimes high, other times normal, and once before it was low.

I am currently waiting now for more hospital checkups and they are going to do an overnight sleep study for me to check for untreated sleep apnea etc. But none of the doctors or neurologists I went to know what's going on. But hopefully eventually sometime soon I will eventually get a diagnosis and get treatment for whatever is going on with me 

I wish you all good health 

16F, history of chronic malignant refractory hypertension ~200/120 or more, polycystic kidney, an autoimmune disease resembling lupus, and a bunch more comorbidities. I was in the ED 2ish weeks ago for neurological symptoms that put me on a stroke alert until it was ruled out. The neuro team at the hospital suspected FND and sent me to a clinic. All of my neuro symptoms are 99.9 percent correlation and causation with my blood pressure. Today, my new neurologist ruled out FND and attributed my symptoms to severe iron deficiency anemia and hypertensive encephalopathy.

Just a vent: I'm stuck with an FND diagnosis but continue to suffer slow yet persistent muscle weakness, atrophy noted by doctors, and muscle twitching daily. The full list of my symptoms is long enough to anchor a ship, but it boils down to this. I'm fortunate in that progression is very slow but it still affects my life.

What frustrates me is how FND seems to be being used as a 'catch all' by doctors too lazy or incompetent to properly test for more understood and diagnosible diseases. It's as though they just slap it on as a label to get rid of you. I find it hard, based on lived experience, to believe stats that claim FND is rarely diagnosed. I know so many people it has happened to and there is a vested interest from doctors to shrink those figures.

And all the while, where I am in the UK, they're going out and banging drums shouting about payrises. It makes my blood boil.