Common Co-occurring Conditions

This collection starts with nine topic pages, each explaining the problem, its interaction with FND and the recovery or management options currently available. It concentrates on conditions where altered processing, sensitivity or regulation offers a useful connection with FND principles. It is not a claim that every listed problem is a form of FND, equally common in FND, or caused by one mechanism. Fatigue and autonomic symptoms are symptom groups, not single diagnoses.

Where the principles meet

The nervous system does more than receive signals: it selects, interprets and regulates responses to them. Sensitization means increased responsiveness; attention influences which signals stand out; arousal describes changes in alertness and bodily readiness. These processes are not under simple voluntary control. Their importance differs between conditions, and some proposed connections remain hypotheses.

The practical interaction can be easier to establish than a shared biological cause: pain can disturb sleep; poor sleep can leave less capacity for thinking and rehabilitation; dizziness or bowel urgency can make leaving home difficult. A coordinated plan treats those barriers directly. Improvement in one condition may help daily life without automatically resolving the others. The linked pages distinguish established findings, clinical guidance and proposed mechanisms, with their own sources.

Choose a page

Page	Focus	Recovery and management options introduced
Migraine Alongside FND	Migraine, including chronic migraine	Attack and preventive medicines, medication-overuse review, routine, behavioural treatment and selected procedures
Persistent Headache Alongside FND	Persistent headache patterns	Phenotype-directed care, prevention, acute-relief review, acupuncture and pain rehabilitation
Tinnitus Alongside FND	Persistent subjective tinnitus	Audiology, hearing aids where indicated, tinnitus CBT, comfortable sound and sleep care
Persistent Pain Alongside FND	Chronic primary and nociplastic pain	Adapted movement, occupational therapy, CBT/ACT, selected medication and acupuncture
Fibromyalgia Alongside FND	Fibromyalgia	Adapted activity, task planning, CBT, selected medicines and coordinated rehabilitation
Fatigue and Post-Activity Worsening Alongside FND	Fatigue and post-activity worsening	Contributor care, energy management, practical supports and PEM-aware activity planning
Insomnia and Sleep Difficulties Alongside FND	Insomnia	CBT-I, bed–sleep associations, guided sleep timing and supportive routines
Autonomic Symptoms Alongside FND	Autonomic symptoms	Pattern-based assessment, upright-tolerance support and selected POTS treatments
Irritable Bowel Syndrome Alongside FND	Irritable bowel syndrome	Subtype-directed care, nutrition, medicines, IBS CBT and gut-directed hypnotherapy

Already covered elsewhere: Persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD) has its own overview and thirteen detailed recovery and care pages. It belongs in this discussion of interactions, but those pages are not duplicated here.

Using the options

Start with the problem that most gets in the way of your day. Choose with your care team what is worth trying, what benefit would matter, and when to review it. These lists are starting maps, not instructions to attempt every treatment. They include condition-specific medical treatment as well as rehabilitation; neither needs to wait for success with the other.

Alternative-cause and reassessment guidance is deliberately brief on each page. Shared features or normal tests alone do not diagnose FND. Necessary supports remain available while treatment is tried, and limited improvement is not a measure of effort.