FND: Movement
Posts involving functional movement presentations, including tremor, dystonia, jerks, abnormal movements, and cases where movement findings were interpreted as functional.
Two Women Diagnosed With FND Actually Had POTS — One Was Misdiagnosed Again When She Developed Paralysis
FND Nope
Moderator
A 2025 case series documents two young women whose involuntary movements were attributed to functional neurological disorder before testing confirmed POTS. One was later diagnosed with FND again after developing paralysis, only for further investigation to reveal hypokalemic periodic paralysis.
Diagnosed With FND After Negative Genetic Tests. The Patient Actually Had Spinocerebellar Ataxia.
FND Nope
Moderator
A patient spent years with neurological symptoms, repeated falls and fractures while doctors attributed his condition to FND and other functional diagnoses. New genetic testing eventually identified SCA27B. A published three-patient case series exposes the dangers of negative investigations, diagnostic confirmation bias and assuming neurological presentations must fit existing expectations.
Diagnosed With Functional Seizures After Bereavement. It Was Autoimmune Encephalitis.
FND Nope
Moderator
A woman in her 40s was treated for functional neurological disorder and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures after a family bereavement. Her worsening symptoms were eventually traced to anti-LGI1 autoimmune encephalitis, a treatable neurological disease confirmed through MRI and antibody testing.
FND Treatment Trials Failed Their Primary Outcomes. Researchers Shifted the Goalposts.
FND Nope
Moderator
The CODES and Physio4FMD trials failed to demonstrate significant benefits on their primary outcomes. David Tuller exposes how FND researchers subsequently promoted secondary findings, questioned their original measures and misrepresented consensus recommendations.
Diagnosed With MS, Then Misdiagnosed With FND. It Was Parkinson’s.
FND Nope
Moderator
Emma Tinkler already had multiple sclerosis when worsening neurological symptoms were labelled FND. After two years of deteriorating mobility, a second neurologist diagnosed Parkinson’s disease. Six weeks after starting medication, she was walking normally again.
Four Years Diagnosed With FND Before a DaTscan and Parkinson's Diagnosis
Reddit Stories
Social media
A Reddit user reports spending four years diagnosed with FND before receiving a Parkinson's disease diagnosis following a DaTscan. They say appropriate medication improved their condition, raising questions about the original diagnosis and the consequences of delayed investigation.
FND, Until It Was Inoperable Tongue Cancer
FND Nope
Moderator
A 58-year-old woman with progressive swallowing and speech problems was diagnosed with functional movement disorder. Eleven months after onset, repeat imaging found advanced squamous-cell carcinoma. The authors say diagnostic bias from the FMD diagnosis even caused abnormal swallowing findings to be misinterpreted.
From PNES and Suspected FND to C1 Paralysis: Amy Wang-Hiller's Story
Facebook Stories
Social media
Violinist Amy Wang-Hiller describes how suspected FND, a PNES diagnosis and repeated psychological attribution allegedly delayed recognition of tethered spinal cord, cervical instability and progressive paralysis.
FND Diagnostic Pitfalls: When Positive Signs Point Elsewhere
FND Nope
Moderator
A 2023 review by FND researchers acknowledges that Hoover's sign, distractibility, sensory abnormalities and other supposedly characteristic findings can occur in recognised neurological diseases. What does that mean for diagnostic certainty?
Four Years of Dystonia: Meige Syndrome Misdiagnosed as FND
FND Nope
Moderator
A 2024 case report describes a 42-year-old woman diagnosed and treated for FND despite persistent facial, oral and cervical movements. After treatment failed, neurology diagnosed Meige syndrome. The authors explicitly describe the original FND diagnosis as a misdiagnosis.
