Carlin & Evan 11: Scary Health Situation

[Bobology]

I tend to think Carlin and Evan would both try treatment for PNES if she ends up with that Dx. Evan and his family truly seem to be taking this seriously and would likely extend their full support for Carlin. Evan and Carlin know for a fact how scary and dangerous it is. It's Carlin's parents and some siblings... especially the ones who are not helping her out (unless they are doing it secretly without photos and SM) who I believe would deny the Dx and not support Carlin. But even without a Dx yet her parents and maybe some sibs do not appear to be taking this seriously anyway, and they haven't from the beginning (that we see.)

 

[displayname]

Helping in secret is not the Bates style. They live for the accolades lol.

[clueliss]

just saw this on Twitter and couldn’t help but think of Carlin.

[zygote373]

I agree PNES is possible, but it's hard to say for sure since she's still never had any episodes when hooked up to an EEG. I really hope for her sake that they finally manage to monitor an episode.

I still think it had something to do with her birth and epidural, whether it triggered a physical neurological issue or a conversion disorder from the trauma.

[WatchingTheTireFireBurn]

Today's vlog was so sad. It was liking watching a prisoner video. Carlin crying and saying she doesn't want to talk about it with Evan filming away getting good angles.  How horrible that she feels compelled to put this "content" out. Too bad Evan doesn't prioritize her over social media clicks.

[BeccaGrim]

1 hour ago, WatchingTheTireFireBurn said:

Today's vlog was so sad. It was liking watching a prisoner video. Carlin crying and saying she doesn't want to talk about it with Evan filming away getting good angles.  How horrible that she feels compelled to put this "content" out. Too bad Evan doesn't prioritize her over social media clicks.

I 100% agree with you. I think that they do get paid from their social media. Maybe that's why? The whole thing is awful. 

[luv2laugh]

I cried watching Carlin fight her tears and struggle talking about it.

[WatchingTheTireFireBurn]

I've struggled with health issues and accepting that I can't do what I used to...I can't imagine being a brand new mom and having that weight.  I'm usually happy to "hate" watch things but today I felt uncomfortable. Turn the camera off Evan! Clearly you were raised in a family that cares about each other...poor Carlin only knows value in her "testimony"

[Keys]

13 hours ago, zygote373 said:

I agree PNES is possible, but it's hard to say for sure since she's still never had any episodes when hooked up to an EEG. I really hope for her sake that they finally manage to monitor an episode.

I still think it had something to do with her birth and epidural, whether it triggered a physical neurological issue or a conversion disorder from the trauma.

If I recall correctly from their birth video, her first episode was shortly after they arrived at the hospital (I wanna say when she was getting her IV or still in the triage room), so would have been before the epidural. 

They went to a bridal shower today and she had another seizure. I haven’t been paying super close attention recently, but the majority seem to happen when they’re out and about somewhere?

[Melissa1977]

I know they just bough a house and life is very difficult with 2 little children, but I wonder if she would improve moving into a new town. Maybe near Evan's parents and far from Bates. His kind of job can be done everywhere. No youtube, no boutique, living frugal, getting a lot of family-of-4 time, in a few years children go to school and she finds a job too. Therapy would help a lot, too, of course!

The lack of privacy and the "obligation" of showing her life in YT is obviously putting her under stress. The business and social gatherings are damaging her, because every time she travels (or comes back home) she is sick. Her family is not helping, which is not a surprise but may her feel worse than ever. That's why I think she could improve leaving.

I know leaving her business sounds like a bad idea. But she can't work and I don't see her able to work in a long time.

[llucie]

12 hours ago, Keys said:

If I recall correctly from their birth video, her first episode was shortly after they arrived at the hospital (I wanna say when she was getting her IV or still in the triage room), so would have been before the epidural. 

They went to a bridal shower today and she had another seizure. I haven’t been paying super close attention recently, but the majority seem to happen when they’re out and about somewhere?

She does seem to have more when outside, or maybe they just talk more about those ones IDK. She did have a few while at the house, the one they recorded in the heart monitor pretty sure was at house, and i also remember the first time they thought she had a concussion was because she had felt in her house while doing laundry.

[AussieKrissy]

On 8/19/2022 at 5:08 PM, indianabones said:

Several users on Reddit have posted that they believe Carlin has PNES, and I'm starting to agree with them.

Unfortunately, if she does have it and is diagnosed, I doubt that she and Evan would accept the diagnosis or the recommended treatment (psychiatric medication and therapy).

ohhhhh that is going to open a whole can of worms (IMO) if she gets diagnosed with that. 

To put myself in her shoes, I even with an open mind and a trust of the medical system (aka not pray it away attitude) Would not like or find that diagnoses comforting, correct, validating or "final" I would be like nahhhhh there has to be something more there. (I don't know if I am explaining myself well). I would be sure that I would like them to keep testing etc to find out what is "reallly" going on. I would be scared there was something there they are missing. 

If these episodes are caused by some previous trauma I can see her digging her feet in even further into denying it. 

Do you guys think this would be a hard diagnosis for many to accept or is it just me?

 

[luv2laugh]

1 hour ago, AussieKrissy said:

ohhhhh that is going to open a whole can of worms (IMO) if she gets diagnosed with that. 

To put myself in her shoes, I even with an open mind and a trust of the medical system (aka not pray it away attitude) Would not like or find that diagnoses comforting, correct, validating or "final" I would be like nahhhhh there has to be something more there. (I don't know if I am explaining myself well). I would be sure that I would like them to keep testing etc to find out what is "reallly" going on. I would be scared there was something there they are missing. 

If these episodes are caused by some previous trauma I can see her digging her feet in even further into denying it. 

Do you guys think this would be a hard diagnosis for many to accept or is it just me?

 

I think some are biased to “go there” given that she grew up IBLP which has been traumatic for other people. 
 

Everything else should be ruled out first. There’s a lot of disorders, organic in nature (not functional like PNES) that should be ruled out. I don’t see the rush to call it PNES… 

Edited August 22, 2022 by luv2laugh

[Keys]

3 hours ago, luv2laugh said:

I think some are biased to “go there” given that she grew up IBLP which has been traumatic for other people. 
 

Everything else should be ruled out first. There’s a lot of disorders, organic in nature (not functional like PNES) that should be ruled out. I don’t see the rush to call it PNES… 

Yes and thankfully, the way we work people up/diagnose them in medicine, is that we rule everything else out first, before a diagnosis of a functional disorder can be made (another example is IBS - it might look like IBS and smell like IBS, but everything else needs to be ruled out first, like Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis, cancers, etc). It would be horrible medicine and a likely lawsuit if you diagnosed someone off the bat with a functional or psychosomatic condition without ruling out organic things, like you said!

[Tatar-tot]

I really think that she either has long COVID or POTS.  
 

I was surprised when they did the EEG (the head thing) that they had her stay home.  It seems like results would be stilted. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

PNES is an unfortunate abbreviation. I just want to pronounce it P-Ness. Which sounds exactly like penis. Sorry for this juvenile side note 🤷🏻‍♀️

[noseybutt]

11 hours ago, AussieKrissy said:

ohhhhh that is going to open a whole can of worms (IMO) if she gets diagnosed with that. 

To put myself in her shoes, I even with an open mind and a trust of the medical system (aka not pray it away attitude) Would not like or find that diagnoses comforting, correct, validating or "final" I would be like nahhhhh there has to be something more there. (I don't know if I am explaining myself well). I would be sure that I would like them to keep testing etc to find out what is "reallly" going on. I would be scared there was something there they are missing. 

If these episodes are caused by some previous trauma I can see her digging her feet in even further into denying it. 

Do you guys think this would be a hard diagnosis for many to accept or is it just me?

 

Conversion disorders are notoriously difficult to treat.

I have seen some cases of people already in treatment for trauma who notice improvement in co-occurring medical conditions. 

It is rare though for it to work the other direction: to be told that a medical condition is psychogenic and then the patient actively seek treatment to resolve the psychological issues.

I think that's partly because of our cultural ideas around mind/body duality. And it's also due to bias and stigma around mental health. And control:  it's one thing to recognize your own trauma and seek healing on your own terms, and another thing entirely to be told by the medical profession that treatment for a very serious and scary medical condition is psychological. It is often feels like victim blaming. 

 

6 hours ago, Keys said:

Yes and thankfully, the way we work people up/diagnose them in medicine, is that we rule everything else out first, before a diagnosis of a functional disorder can be made (another example is IBS - it might look like IBS and smell like IBS, but everything else needs to be ruled out first, like Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis, cancers, etc). It would be horrible medicine and a likely lawsuit if you diagnosed someone off the bat with a functional or psychosomatic condition without ruling out organic things, like you said!

Yet, unless a person has really top quality health insurance, this standard of care is often not followed. 

[Keys]

1 hour ago, noseybutt said:

 

Yet, unless a person has really top quality health insurance, this standard of care is often not followed. 

Scary and unfortunate. I’m grateful to live in a country with public healthcare, so no costs out of pocket to the patient or dealing with insurance companies. Often wait times are barriers, and of course the quality of care may sometimes be influenced by the provider, but at least costs/payments are not barriers here. 

[seraaa]

On 8/19/2022 at 7:25 PM, Bobology said:

I tend to think Carlin and Evan would both try treatment for PNES if she ends up with that Dx. Evan and his family truly seem to be taking this seriously and would likely extend their full support for Carlin. Evan and Carlin know for a fact how scary and dangerous it is. It's Carlin's parents and some siblings... especially the ones who are not helping her out (unless they are doing it secretly without photos and SM) who I believe would deny the Dx and not support Carlin. But even without a Dx yet her parents and maybe some sibs do not appear to be taking this seriously anyway, and they haven't from the beginning (that we see.)

 

The also have not ruled out epilepsy or some other neurological disorder yet - when she had the EEG she did not experience an episode, so they didn't get a reading on it.

I agree that they seem to want to want to get to the bottom of it all and would probably try any recommended treatment

On 8/20/2022 at 3:43 PM, zygote373 said:

I agree PNES is possible, but it's hard to say for sure since she's still never had any episodes when hooked up to an EEG. I really hope for her sake that they finally manage to monitor an episode.

I still think it had something to do with her birth and epidural, whether it triggered a physical neurological issue or a conversion disorder from the trauma.

I think she mentioned this in passing in one of the video updates, so it seems the docs have discussed the possibility of it being triggered by birth with her

[zygote373]

5 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

PNES is an unfortunate abbreviation. I just want to pronounce it P-Ness. Which sounds exactly like penis. Sorry for this juvenile side note 🤷🏻‍♀️

Even worse, there is a very prestigious scientific journal with the abbreviation PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences). A lot of people say each letter individually, but many also say pee-nahs. 

[Smash!]

5 hours ago, noseybutt said:

It is rare though for it to work the other direction: to be told that a medical condition is psychogenic and then the patient actively seek treatment to resolve the psychological issues.

I think that's partly because of our cultural ideas around mind/body duality. And it's also due to bias and stigma around mental health. And control:  it's one thing to recognize your own trauma and seek healing on your own terms, and another thing entirely to be told by the medical profession that treatment for a very serious and scary medical condition is psychological. It is often feels like victim blaming. 

Exactly. Saying „it’s all in your head“ is also an excuse for some medical professionals to  avoid admitting they don‘t know what‘s going on or to investigate further (even refer to other specialists).

I‘ve been dealing with chronic pain for a while now and my primary care physician told me it‘s not tissue damage and psychogenic. It took me two appointments, the 2nd one accompanied by my boyfriend to convince  my physician to refer me to an orthopedic clinic. The specialists there finally found the root cause of my pain. Funny enough, I learned there that whether the sensation of pain is felt is solely decided by the brain based on many factors, regardless of how badly the tissue is damaged or how much a muscle is sore. So yes, pain is so to speak psychogenic but nonetheless most often has a root cause.

Everyone deserves understanding medical professionals who will investigate a problem until the patient knows what she/he is dealing with. This shouldn’t be a battle but it‘s very often one.

Edited August 22, 2022 by Smash!

[IReallyAmHopewell]

When Carlin's problems started I thought "He beat the sh__ out of her" The COVID thing though. Glad I was wrong. I've never liked the vibe with him though. Maybe its just me.

[SoSoNosy]

I have a cousin who started fainting every time she stood up quickly when she was a junior in high school.  After multiple tests, the diagnosis was POTS.  Two other people I know have been diagnosed with that as adults.  

[CanadianMamam]

On 8/22/2022 at 7:36 AM, Tatar-tot said:

I really think that she either has long COVID or POTS.  
 

I was surprised when they did the EEG (the head thing) that they had her stay home.  It seems like results would be stilted. 

I believe it was because she was being recorded the whole time, so they were taping her as well as the sensors and that was she was home-bound. 

[SassyPants]

Per IG…the Stews are out on birthday outing for Evan. They visited the Tesla dealership. I know they are not buying a car, but just having a fun outing. Am I the only one who finds this odd? Who would drag 2 little kids to a car dealership for shits and giggles? Sounds like torture to me.