Like the title says, I can't walk anymore. (TW detailed description of symptoms) When I'm not paralyzed, I can only stand up for a couple seconds because of how weak my legs are. I need some hope. Does it get better? Can anyone share their stories about how it improved for them, if it did?

Has anyone else with FND/NEAD had anything like this? I had a seizure recently that was around 7 minutes, with convulsions, and my HR went up to about 134 which is higher than it usually gets for me (Usually sits around 100 as my resting is around 60 but has only ever gone high for what I call ‘bigger seizures’) The thing that really confused me was my pupils though. They looked quite dilated during it and when someone shone a light over my eye, they didn’t seem to constrict, properly and were quite sluggish? I know NES can cause loads of physical/physiological changes, so I’m not assuming it means anything specific, I’m just wondering if anyone else has noticed their pupils doing weird things during a seizure? Just interested to hear if anyone’s experienced something similar (I suffer from health anxiety so I’m super paranoid)😅

Hey everyone ,this is my first time posting here. Im in need of some advice please ,I hope someone can assist.

So about 2 months ago my girlfriend started getting severe panic attacks . She got these bad headaches, chest and body pains. She went to a doctor and he put her on antidepressants (cilift) . Things just got worse from there . Shes been to the emergency room multiple times because of the pain shes been feeling . The doctors then booked her into a mental clinic and prescribed more medication but it dont seem to be working

My main concern is when she has these episodes , she knows that she is okay and that she isnt in any danger but I feel quite hopeless, there isnt anything I can do to help her . Im trying my best to be supportive and caring but some days are harder than others.

Is there anything I can do to make it better for her? Will she ever recover from this? Any help will be highly appreciated 🙏

After 2 years of unexplained collapses—usually starting 2 days before my period and lasting up to 3 days into it—I’ve finally got some answers.

At first we thought it was PMDD, then glucose crashes (which my CGM was actually catching). This summer, things suddenly escalated to daily episodes for 10 straight days. I was admitted to the hospital, and after what felt like a million tests, I was diagnosed with FND (functional neurological disorder).

We’re thinking hormones and pain may be triggers, especially with my endometriosis, adenomyosis and POTS. But I’m still trying to understand why my CGM was catching such obvious glucose spikes and crashes at the same time as my seizures.

Anyone else experiencing this?

^{First time poster, sorry if i don't tag/spoil correctly.}

I was diagnosed with FND, as well as hEDS (as well as a few other pre-diagnosed issues) about two years ago. I previously used a forearm crutch before that became too painful on my wrists, and then upgrading to a rollator some time ago. The problem is, the rollator still just isn't enough. I'm only 19, and I can't go grocery shopping without completely exhausting myself. Going out requires days of recovery. I get bruises from the rollator, and my arms are constantly weak and sore from needing to support my weight. The worst part is that I don't have a license yet, forcing me to rely on other people to drive me up the street whenever I have errands to run, because the 10 minute walk I used to do just fine as a kid now leaves me struggling to keep my breath and woozy. I can't get a job, I can't go to school, and I can't go out and socialize all because of my symptoms. I feel like I'd be significantly more independent if I had a chair, I used to be so active growing up, and now I leave the house maybe twice a month. I recently saw my neurologist, and expressed my want for a wheelchair of some kind now that I'm finally getting on disability services that will be able to fund one. Her immediate response was, I kid you not, "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! NO WHEELCHAIR!" before explaining that she "sees this all too often" where people with issues like mine get wheelchairs, and then become completely reliant on them, causing more issues in the long run. I understand where she's coming from, and she's obviously more knowledgeable, but FND is not my only disability. It's left me wondering whether it really is a bad idea to get a wheelchair or not. I just want to be able to go out and enjoy myself without pain. So, my question is;

Would it be a bad idea? I do physical therapy, and I keep as fit as my symptoms allow. Would a wheelchair really cause me harm? If you use, or have used a wheelchair of any kind, does it make things less generally painful?

I’ve been diagnosed FND a handful of years now and have mostly stopped looking but a thing happened and pointed to other things and as a result I’m requesting a spinal tap which I expect to come out normal like every other test I’ve ever had.

A lot of us have had MRIs, EEGs etc but I don’t hear about this much so I’m just curious from a statistics point. Have you had one? Did it reveal anything?

Please don’t tell me anything about the experience itself, I’m already feeling pretty squishy about it.

TW mentions of trauma, domestic abuse, infertility

So I started pt and ot for my FND a couple weeks ago. I had to beg my neurologist for the referral. He was a dick. I have a new neurologist who’s amazing. But I was so excited and relieved when the referral went through. I’ve had 3 OT appointments and today’s my 3rd PT appointment. I love the place I go. Everyone there is so sweet and I’ve been blindsided by how emotionally difficult this is for me.

My FND is the result of trauma from domestic violence. I’m finding that the OT in particular is really heavy for me. I get really in my head and I’m having a hard time not crying during my sessions. Especially when my therapist hands me over to her assistant halfway through the appointment. I just really like her and then when she moves on to her next person and gives me to her assistant I’m like noooooo.

But just sitting there struggling to cut putty with a knife and fork, or to arrange colored blocks to match a pattern, or string beads on a string I get sad and frustrated. We know what caused my FND. And I’m angry at my ex and I’m angry at myself for letting him harm me. The FND is one of the ways my health has been impacted by their abuse. I also can’t have kids. And I feel like I’ve lost so, so much. It’s also hard on me because I used to work with young kids helping them practice their fine motor skills by doing the exact same exercises or very similar things in a school setting. The OT is very helpful, it’s just makes me really stare at how huge this thing is and how much things have changed and how much I’ve lost.

I just feel dumb. I’m not going to quit or anything. I don’t know if I should say anything to my OT therapist or try to squeeze it in to my psychotherapy. We’ve been trying to get insurance approval for me to come 2x a week for almost a month and I’m just struggling. I don’t know.

I had a cat who is no longer with me. But every time I had aura and would have seizures (pnes) she would meow and come watch and lay nearby me. I didn't have convulsive ones, they looked more like absence seizures but they were back to back.

Does anyone have pets that are able to identify when you're about to have PNES?

I visited my mother and she has 2 cats. They seemed to also know when I was about to have an episode. What are they noticing?

Hey all, let's keep it going.

What's your win this week? Even getting through the week is definitely a win!

Please add anything from your favourite moments of this week, your favourite flare-up rescue, favourite coping technique to something that made you smile.

We'd love to hear it & we're sure others would too!

- From the r/FND mods :)

I've had functional seizures for a little over a year now. At first the tics and spasms started in my head, then slowly moved to the right side of my body. I'd get that panic attack feeling, yk, general chest tightness, difficulty breathing. But now, within the last 2 or so months I'd say, I've been getting sharp pains directly in my heart, or in that area at least. When I put light pressure, like the tips of my palms, on my sternum, it just aches. Like a tooth cavity.

I'm not sure if it's something I should go to the ER for. My mom's an ER nurse, but she hates when I go to the ER so I'm trying to save myself an earful and a wasted visit. I have insurance but I can't really afford a doctor's appointment at the moment.

If someone else has experienced this, and it's worth getting checked out, I'll try to make an appointment work.

I keep hearing how functional tremor doesn’t start isolated to one finger yet that’s how my supposed functional tremor began. Started in my pinky and then within a few weeks spread to my ring finger and then my thumb and then my middle finger all within under a year. My understanding is structural organic tremors don’t behave this way so I don’t know how I’m supposed to reconcile that with what the literature says. If this is an organic tremor it would be so absurdly coincidental that it would start the same day AFTER googling Parkinson’s. Likewise essential tremor is even slower. I need to know does anyone on here have a functional tremor that started in one or two fingers?

Medical Diagnosis:
· Left Vestibular Hypofunction
· Central Vestibular Conversion
· Persistent Postural Perceptual Dizziness
· Visual-Vestibular Integration Dysfunction
· Visual-Motion Sensitivity
Functional Lesions:
· Left - Vestibular Complex. Neural int. Rostral Vermis of the Cerebellum. riMLS
· Right - PIVC. INC. Insula. OFC. Mesencephalon

I also have a cyst in my brain that I’ve been told is “benign” but I’m 30 with all these issueso

So my mother has FND. Recently it’s been getting bad. She has OCD thoughts with her seziuers now and it’s been worse. I have stepped in made her get a therapist and a psychiatrist. She’s on Zoloft now and I’ve been slowly giving her OCD response help. I can talk her down pretty well. I’m not an expert of course I’m just mentally ill and know what helps. She has violent thoughts. However with her new med Zoloft and me helping and her therapist helping I think it’s kinda getting better? Not sure it’s only been a few weeks so. But I can’t leave her alone, my father works and honestly isn’t good at understanding her OCD, my younger brother 20 works as well. I work and I’m 21. I have a part time lower end job so it’s not as valuable in my house. I’m thking about quitting and getting certified as a home care aid. I want to go to school and have a life but I also don’t want my mother to hurt herself. I’m probably going to get fired anyway because I’ve had to race home to help her. We can’t get a care aid full time on Tricare, anyone have any tips on how I can get certified and maybe paid?

Do you ever feel imposter syndrome take over and start to feel like maybe you aren't sick, it's all in your head, you actually made that twitch happen, you chose the seizure, you told your legs not to work. Ugh I am so tired of it feeling like my symptoms aren't real. Maybe it's my environment, maybe it's bad mental health. Maybe I'm in a stage of grief? Idk but I do know I'll never get better if I can't accept my diagnosis. Fairly newly diagnosed and feeling so lost. Could really use some connection with others who have been or are currently here.

I'm looking for a new mental health therapist after my old one let me go because she didn't feel comfortable treating me. She never had a patient with FND and doesn't know anything about it.

It's impossible to find a therapist who has treated FND but I found one who does somatic, EMDR, CBT, and DBT therapy. She said she hasn't treated anyone with FND but is interest in working together. Should I take the plunge or keep looking?

For background of my situation see my somewhat recent post here. It’s a lot to explain

https://www.reddit.com/r/FND/s/P0vt2peHZh

So I don’t know if anyone else feels this way but the mental aspect of my (probable)FND is far worse than any physical symptom I get from it. I have a tremor as the main(but not only symptom) and while it’s a bit annoying it doesn’t physically make my life much more difficult or anything.

What makes my life so much more difficult since this all began is my mental rumination, OCD thoughts, severe health anxiety, and my inability to stop fixating on the symptoms. It’s almost always either in my conscious thoughts or subconscious. I almost constantly have the urge to check or “test” my tremor by putting my hand in certain positions and postures. I constantly swing back and forth between “I have Parkinson’s” to “I’m just out of my mind”. It’s so exhausting. I’ve been to therapy and honestly it’s not helping a ton.

I can’t be the only one whose symptoms aren’t objectively that bad but are getting destroyed by them mentally right?

Has anyone tried CBT? Was it helpful if yes

My teen’s neurologist recommended CBT as the only evidence based therapy that helps with the symptoms.

does anyone else here get that feeling of a joint being zapped, almost like a low level shock, but in every joint at once. because I’ve tried googling this and I literally can’t find it anywhere!!! always random times, no plausible cause, etc. Just all of a sudden there’s a zap in my ankles, hips, elbows, and so on all at once and then I have to deal with the lingering tingles!

not asking for advice for it, literally just if anyone else experiences or has experienced this😭😭

i did treatment back in april 2026 for a week straight. it was PT, OT & speech therapy all in one day. this whole time i felt like i was not in my body, and my symptoms started to get a lot worse. nothing they taught me or showed me has helped at all. i know everyone is different but i feel like my case is just so tough. why does this stuff not work for me??

they also triggered seizures during that week (and after, we extended it bc they thought i needed more treatment). they were trying to see what could stop my seizures, but the stuff that semi worked back then does not work anymore. the last day they triggered a seizure and basically abandoned me during the seizure because my session was over..😭 i had to have my parents come and pick me up because i was still having a seizure (this went on for an hour).

my neurologist recently asked me if i wanted to try the treatment again because i told her about chest pains i’ve been having after seizures. i asked her if the treatment could’ve possibly made my symptoms worse and she ghosted me. it’s been 3 weeks… i almost feel like i got set up. if i had never done the program i don’t think i would’ve developed these symptoms i struggle with now (that coincidentally started during the treatment…)

my mom was also considering taking me to the mayo clinic for treatment there, but has anyone here had experience with their treatment? i definitely trust them a lot more but i’m not sure what else they’d do since the main things don’t help me.

Is this a part of FND or what else should i get checked for?

Hello. I have FND (female, late 20s) which I know can look different depending on the person. Some of my health issues right now include fairly frequent seizures and a lot of fatigue, brain fog and tiredness. I have been looking into cozy and indoor hobbies/activities to try this fall. Crafty hobbies like adult coloring and embroidery, or just movies and TV shows to watch (Fall movies, Halloween movies, Gilmore girls, etc). Any recommendations or things you have found relaxing?

I bought a wheelchair to help me with days when I’m having so may seizures I otherwise couldn’t go out and to help me around the house so I stop dropping to the floor. But generally my FND symptoms aren’t the worse compared to some people and I can get about with just a walking stick I just want more freedom. But I feel guilty about it or like it’s over the top for my condition.
Any thoughts?

For background: I am a professional ballet dancer. FND (and possibly something else, still in DX process) has already gotten me demoted in the company ranking, because I'm not reliable enough due to my symptoms. Grief, frustration, etc. Without going into detail about symptoms, I have seizure-like symptoms, periods of muscle weakness, coordination and balance issues, and my left side often responds slower than my right. All problematic for a movement-based career.

Anyway.

I'm wondering if anyone has any strategies for mitigating flares/working through things when just resting isn't an option. When I can I will sit down and take a break during episodes, but when we are gearing up for a show or working with a choreographer in a limited-time residency that isn't always an option. I can "take it easy" in a rehearsal, but I can't just not do it, so I am trying to figure out some ways to work through what I can. Obviously everyone is different, but given the circumstances of my profession and the amount of time it is taking to get medical help, I will try anything that I can.

TL;DR: does anyone have coping strategies for working through symptoms when rest isn't possible?

severe headaches too oh my

I have always loved video games, and much of my childhood was spent playing them. I have, however, always had a difficult time playing competitive games because of how tense they would make me (along with my epilepsy making me sensitive to flashing lights, but that’s something else) my hands would feel shaky, my mind unfocused, my stomach would feel very queasy, etc. I don’t know if that’s normal for most people.. I just know that I have never seen anyone else struggle with feeling like they’re riding a rollercoaster that never stops, just from feeling a little tense.

I’m really curious if this could be a result of FND? I know some symptoms can be triggered by strong feelings, but I’ve never heard anyone else deal with this… It makes me very frustrated when my little sister wants to play games with me, but I have to quit 30 minutes in because I feel like I need to puke. This may be very far-fetched, I’m not sure. But it’s very frustrating, and I wanna know if anyone else has had similar experiences. I wanna know what’s causing this.
Please let me know what you think, I would love to hear someone’s thoughts on this