COVID vaccine paralysis and FND

[Revel]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...alk-getting-Covid-vaccine-NOT-result-jab.html

I had the AstraZeneca vaccine back in March, after which I experienced a severe reaction that caused temporary limb paralysis.

Since then, both my gait and overall stamina have continued to be badly affected. My GP believes it to have been a Guillain-Barre type episode brought on as a direct result of the vaccine.

However, according to this article, it seems my reaction would be viewed by some doctors as being "all in my head" and I have "FND" due to "vaccine anxiety".

Sound familiar, anyone? How broad an umbrella are we going to need to cover the ever-growing scope of "FND"?

 

[lenora]

Hello @Revel.....It does sound like you have Guillain-Barre which affects very few people, but does happen. This has been know about for many years.

I have autoimmune encephalitis, in addition to many other diagnoses, and can only tell you that not a lot is known about this particular illness at this time. It can cause psychiatric difficulties b/c of the part of the brain affected. Thus a psychiatrist is involved daily for at least a week to see which part of the brain has been affected; it's just part of the illness. In my case, I was fortunate, although my memory isn't what it was. I'm telling you this so understand that G-B does not stand alone, there are other illnesses that also aren't fully understood at this time.

It's highly possible in both cases that brain chemicals are affected. To the best of my knowledge, most patients with G-B do recover, although physical therapy is often needed. Full recovery of even the worst cases is often within a year.

Have you asked your doctor how to handle this matter in the future? I don't know, and don't even know for my own case. Still, I feel better with having the vaccine (Pfizer in my case) than not. COVID is a very hard thing for anyone to go through, let alone those already ill.

Just go into this as a fight. You will improve, but it may take time. I'm sorry that it occurred and do hope that with PT you'll do much better. (But not too intense PT, but then you know that.) Just practice walking yourself, especially if you have a frame. Better health. Yours, Lenora.

 

[Pyrrhus]

However, according to this article, it seems my reaction would be viewed by some doctors as being "all in my head" and I have "FND" due to "vaccine anxiety".

Sound familiar, anyone? How broad an umbrella are we going to need to cover the ever-growing scope of "FND"?

The ever-growing scope and popularity of the "Functional Neurological Disorder" (FND) diagnosis is indeed concerning. It represents a real danger to science.

Possibly related discussions:
https://forums.phoenixrising.me/thr...is-of-functional-neurological-disorder.81962/
https://forums.phoenixrising.me/thr...nosed-a-surprising-statistical-anomaly.79074/

 

[Viala]

With this rhetoric anything can be conveniently explained as "stress induced" or "all in your head", just like some do with CFS. Someone tries hard to hide these side effects.

 

[hapl808]

Yep. I have had difficulties walking for a number of years that doctors just shrug off, which is kind of amazing. Not triggered by a vaccine, but after a virus. Most doctors think it's all in your head - hence CFS, Guillain Barre, lyme, EBV, mold, etc. Basically anything they don't understand is in the patient's head because they are the Gods of Medicine. Rarely I get a smart doctor who acknowledges that there's probably a physical disorder and they just don't understand it. Those doctors are rare, though, so mostly it's the 'traditional' doctors who tell you to get a psychiatrist, or the 'alternative' doctors who want you to treat lyme or random protocols (possibly with their names on it) with little basis or results.

Glad we don't have to worry about Long Covid because apparently all those people were just stressed. (Which of course is what they told them initially.)

 

[Countrygirl]

Here is a paper where familiar names such as Jon Stone and Alan Carson claim that vaccine side effects are a case of FND aka conversion disorder aka hysteria and therefore do not need to be reported.

https://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.neuropsych.21050116

Functional Neurological Disorder After SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines: Two Case Reports and Discussion of Potential Public Health Implications
Matthew Butler
, M.D.,
Jan Coebergh
, M.D.,
Farinaz Safavi
, Ph.D.,
Alan Carson
, Ph.D.,
Mark Hallett
, M.D.,
Benedict Michael
, Ph.D.,
Thomas A. Pollak
, Ph.D.,
Tom Solomon
, Ph.D.,
Jon Stone
, Ph.D.,
Timothy R. Nicholson
, Ph.D.;
on behalf of the Coronerve Studies Group
Published Online:15 Jul 2021https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.neuropsych.21050116