Blog

Personal stories, practical reflections and honest notes about living with Functional Neurological Disorder. New guides now cover sleep, symptom hangovers, heat and seizure thresholds, driving rules, sensory overload, neurodivergence, hypermobility, hormone tracking, emergency symptoms, PIP, work adjustments, pacing, relationships and diagnosis.

FND Connect graphic reading Travel Insurance With FND, beside a traveller reviewing a blank policy sheet with a suitcase and walking stick
By FND Connect Travel and insurance

Travel Insurance With FND: What to Declare and Check

Having Functional Neurological Disorder does not automatically stop you getting travel insurance. The important part is to answer the insurer’s medical questions accurately, make sure FND-related problems are not silently excluded, and keep written proof of what the policy will cover.

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FND Connect graphic reading FND and Attendance Allowance, beside an older adult reviewing blank paperwork with a relative
By FND Connect Benefits after State Pension age

FND and Attendance Allowance: Help After State Pension Age

If FND means you need help with personal care or someone nearby for safety, you may be able to claim a pension-age disability benefit. The diagnosis is not the deciding factor: the form needs to show what help or supervision you reasonably need, how often and whether that need happens by day, at night or both.

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Can Stress Worsen FND Symptoms? What Helps
By FND Connect FND living

Can Stress Worsen FND Symptoms? What Helps

Can stress worsen FND symptoms? Learn why symptoms may flare, how to spot patterns, and gentle, practical ways to support yourself safely with care, too.

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FND Causes: Why Symptoms Are Real and Variable
By FND Connect FND living

FND Causes: Why Symptoms Are Real and Variable

Understanding FND causes: why symptoms are real, why there is rarely one explanation, and how to make sense of diagnosis, triggers and next steps today.

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Every Gift Gives — a gift that gives twice, by FND Connect
By FND Connect Inside FND Connect

Why We Created Every Gift Gives — and Why the FND Shop Is Staying

We wanted to create a dependable new way to fund FND support without asking people to make an extra donation every time. The answer began with something millions of us already do: choosing gifts for people we care about.

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FND Connect graphic reading FND and Jury Service, Your UK Options, with an adult carrying a walking stick in a courthouse
By FND Connect Rights and daily life

FND and Jury Service: Adjustments, Deferral and Excusal

A jury summons can feel daunting when FND affects movement, awareness, speech, concentration, fatigue or recovery. This guide explains how to reply, what help to ask about and when a different date or excusal may be the more realistic request.

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FND Memory Problems and Everyday Support
By FND Connect FND living

FND Memory Problems and Everyday Support

FND memory problems can be frightening and disruptive. Learn why they happen, practical ways to cope, and when to seek medical advice and support locally.

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FND Pain Management When Every Day Changes
By FND Connect FND living

FND Pain Management When Every Day Changes

FND pain management: practical, compassionate ways to track pain, protect your energy and prepare for NHS appointments as symptoms change day to day.

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FND Connect graphic asking if FND treatment is a postcode lottery, with a colour-coded UK map of uneven access
Research and care pathways

FND Treatment Postcode Lottery: National Pathways, Local Gaps

Why FND care still depends on where you live in the UK. National pathways exist, but many ICBs and health boards have not funded them. Explore the live map and what to do next.

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FND Connect graphic reading FND and exam access arrangements, with a student taking a supervised rest break at an exam desk
By FND Connect Education and exams

FND and Exam Access Arrangements: GCSEs, A Levels and What to Ask For

FND can make an exam harder to access without changing what you know. The useful question is not “Does this diagnosis get extra time?” but “What barrier happens in exams, and which arrangement lets this student show their knowledge fairly?”

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FND Connect graphic reading Carer's Allowance and FND, beside two adults reviewing paperwork together at a kitchen table
By FND Connect Benefits and unpaid carers

Carer's Allowance and FND: A Practical UK Guide for Unpaid Carers

If you regularly help someone with FND, you may be doing the work of an unpaid carer even if neither of you uses that word. Carer's Allowance is not awarded because of the diagnosis itself: the deciding rules are the care you provide, the disability benefit the person receives and your own circumstances.

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FND Connect social graphic asking Do stem cells work for FND, with the honest evidence and what actually helps
By FND Connect Updated 19 July 2026

Does Stem Cell Treatment Work for FND?

It is a fair and hopeful question. Stem cells are often talked about as a repair kit for the body, so it makes sense to ask whether they could fix FND too. The short answer is no — and the reason why is actually one of the more hopeful things about FND.

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Illustration representing functional seizures and the need for clearer FND care pathways
By FND Connect Research & care pathways

Functional Seizures in Wales: What New Research Means for Care

A major meeting in Wales brought together patients, families, neurologists, researchers and patient organisations to examine new population research on functional seizures — and what needs to change in the care pathway. The medical detail was dense, so FND Connect has produced a free plain-English report anyone can open and understand.

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FND Connect graphic reading Disabled Students' Allowance for FND, beside a student using a laptop at an accessible study desk
By FND Connect Education and student support

Disabled Students' Allowance for FND: A Practical UK Guide

If FND makes studying harder or more expensive, you may be able to get Disabled Students' Allowance. The useful evidence is not simply the diagnosis: it is how your symptoms create barriers to learning, travel, communication and completing your course.

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FND Connect graphic: 2 wheelchairs funded this week, with two black wheelchairs and a thank-you message to the community
By Matthew G. Community impact

This Is What Community Looks Like: Two Wheelchairs Funded This Week

This week FND Connect issued grants for two wheelchairs — practical mobility support for real people living with Functional Neurological Disorder. That is your kindness in action.

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FND Connect graphic asking Can FND cause pain, with a woman holding her shoulder and the words chronic pain, flare-ups and what can help
By Matthew G. Pain and daily living

Can FND Cause Pain? Chronic Pain, Flare-Ups and What Can Help

Pain is common alongside Functional Neurological Disorder, and it can be every bit as real and disabling as weakness, tremor or seizures. But that does not mean every new pain should be labelled “just FND”.

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A couple sitting close together on a sofa, holding hands gently in a calm home setting
Relationships

FND and Intimacy: Sex, Relationships and Feeling Close Again

When symptoms change, closeness can change too. That does not mean connection has to disappear.

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An illustrated speech bubble filled with mysterious ancient symbols, with scattered alphabet letters tumbling out below
By Matthew G. Speech and communication

The Strange Language So Many of Us Speak During an Episode

Broken words, sudden stutters, total silence or fluent, unrepeatable "ancient languages from the land before time". Why FND episode speech happens, why it's not faking, and why so many of us sound weirdly alike.

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An empty manual wheelchair with a walking stick leaning against it, beside a potted plant in soft daylight
By Matthew G. Mobility and daily living

"But You Walked Yesterday": Using a Wheelchair or Walking Stick Part-Time With FND

FND mobility can change from one day, or even one hour, to the next. This is a practical, judgement-free guide to using a wheelchair or walking stick part-time, choosing the right aid, and handling the comments that come with fluctuating ability.

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A parent and child sitting together at a kitchen table with a notebook, headphones, water bottle and mobility aid nearby
By Matthew G. Children and family support

Parenting a Child With FND: Calm, Clarity and What Actually Helps

Functional Neurological Disorder is hard for adults and clinicians to understand. For a child, it can be even more confusing. Parents are left trying to learn the condition, steady their own fear and help their child feel safe at the same time.

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A tired person at a home rehabilitation table with a resistance band, diary, water and walking stick while a supportive professional sits nearby
By Matthew G. Recovery and identity

"You Can Recover" — Hopeful, or Another Pressure on People With FND?

Hope matters. But when recovery is presented as an expectation rather than a possibility, people whose FND symptoms persist can be left feeling blamed, judged or as though they have failed treatment.

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A thoughtful person sitting alone at a café table surrounded by empty chairs with a phone, headphones, symptom diary and folded walking stick nearby
By Matthew G. Relationships and isolation

"Where Did Everyone Go?" — The Friendships FND Changes or Ends

FND does not only change bodies and routines. It can change who calls, who keeps inviting you, who believes you and which friendships are able to adapt when life becomes unpredictable.

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A calm person sitting in a dental chair holding a stress ball, with a supportive dentist in the background and noise-canceling headphones nearby.
By Matthew G. Practical health guidance

FND and the Dentist: Navigating Dental Care with Functional Neurological Disorder

Dental care can be particularly daunting when managing FND symptoms. Bright lights, loud drills, and vibrations can act as significant triggers. A practical guide to navigating dental appointments, fostering better communication, and advocating for reasonable adjustments for a safer and more comfortable experience.

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A person with a symptom diary and medical alert card sitting calmly at an airport gate near a window showing a parked aircraft, with a supportive companion nearby
By Matthew G. Travel and mobility

Can I Fly With FND? Air Travel, Pressure Triggers and Cabin Crew Letters

Flying with Functional Neurological Disorder is not a simple yes or no. The useful question is whether your current symptom pattern, pressure sensitivity, airport load and recovery plan make this journey manageable today.

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A tired person sitting by a mirror with headphones, a symptom diary, medication organiser, paperwork and a folded walking stick nearby
By Matthew G. FND stigma and self-doubt

FND and the "Am I Faking It?" Spiral

FND can make you doubt your own reality. Not because the symptoms are fake, but because fluctuating symptoms, normal tests, stigma and disbelief can teach you to question yourself before anyone else gets the chance.

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A parent sitting at a kitchen table with headphones, notebook, blanket and walking stick nearby while two teenagers are in the background
By Matthew G. Parenting and sensory overload

Parenting Teenagers With FND: Guilt, Overstimulation and Boundaries

When you have Functional Neurological Disorder, parenting can become a sensory and emotional balancing act. You can love your children deeply and still need distance from the noise, arguments and intensity that teenagers sometimes bring.

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A person sitting at a home table with a drink, notebook, phone, medication organiser, blanket and folded walking stick nearby
By Matthew G. Living with FND

The FND Good-Day Problem: Why Looking Better Doesn't Mean You're Better

A good day with Functional Neurological Disorder can still be a carefully managed day. It can mean planning, pacing, masking, aids, recovery time and a cost that other people do not see.

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A tired person sitting on a bed at dawn with water, a notebook and a bedside sleep routine
By Matthew G. Sleep and symptom threshold

FND and Sleep: Why a Bad Night Can Lower Your Symptom Threshold

Poor sleep can reduce the spare capacity your nervous system has to stay regulated. Here is how to plan the next day with FND.

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A person resting at a kitchen table with a blanket, tea, planner and recovery notes after a busy day
By Matthew G. Pacing and recovery debt

The FND Symptom Hangover: Why One Busy Day Can Cost Three Days

One busy day can create a delayed FND flare. Learn how recovery debt works and how to plan activity without feeding boom-and-bust cycles.

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A person planning hot weather pacing with water, a fan, a cooling towel and a symptom tracking notebook
By Matthew G. Heat, pacing and seizure tracking

FND and Heat: Hot Weather, Functional Seizures and Staying Cool

Heat is not just uncomfortable for many people with FND. SeizeControl evidence shows that rising environmental temperature can lower the nervous-system threshold for functional seizures, tics, tremor and overload, making forward planning essential when the forecast climbs.

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A person reviewing driving and medical paperwork with a clinician outside a health clinic, with a parked car nearby
By Matthew G. Driving and safety

Can You Drive With FND? DVLA Rules and Functional Seizures

FND symptoms vary hugely, so UK driving rules are not applied by the diagnosis label alone. They are applied by the symptom, the risk, the licence group and whether you can drive safely today.

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A calm home workspace with sensory supports, tinted glasses, a joint brace and a symptom tracking phone
By Matthew G. Sensory overload and overlap

FND, Sensory Overload, Neurodivergence and Hypermobility

Why autism, ADHD, hEDS, HSD, sensory overload and functional neurological symptoms keep coming up in the same conversations - and how to make the overlap useful without over-claiming it.

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Two people reviewing a safety plan and phone at a kitchen table during a calm support conversation
By Matthew G. Safety planning

FND Flare or Medical Emergency? A Safety-First Guide

A practical guide to deciding when symptoms fit a familiar FND flare and when they need urgent medical help because they are new, sudden, severe or different.

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A person reviewing a seizure tracking app beside a symptom notebook, medicine organiser and period calendar
By Matthew G. Hormones and seizure tracking

FND, Periods, Perimenopause and Seizure Tracking

A practical guide to noticing patterns around periods, perimenopause, menopause and functional seizures without turning every symptom into a hormone explanation.

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A worker and manager reviewing a workplace adjustment plan at a desk
By Matthew G. Work and rights

Can You Work with FND: Reasonable Adjustments, Sick Leave and Access to Work

What to ask for, what your employer should consider, how sick leave works, and where to get help when FND starts affecting your job.

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A person planning benefits evidence at a kitchen table with a wheelchair in the background
By Matthew G. Benefits and mobility

FND and PIP Benefits: UK Support, Evidence and Mobility Help

A practical guide to PIP, Adult Disability Payment, benefits checks, Blue Badge, Motability and mobility support when Functional Neurological Disorder affects everyday life.

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A woman sitting on a sofa holding a mug in a calm living room
By Emma W. Personal story

Finding Out I Had FND

"I knew something was wrong... but nobody could explain it."

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A tired couple holding hands at home while supporting each other
By Matthew G. Relationships and caregiving

Loving Someone With FND: The Partner No One Sees

The emotional reality of being a partner, not just a caregiver.

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FND Connect Pacing Not Racing social post about rethinking productivity with FND
By Matthew G. Pacing and daily life

Pacing Guide: Pacing Not Racing With FND

A practical guide to finding your pacing sweet spot: doing what matters while protecting energy for later.

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