Hi everyone,
Update on what's going on, since it's been about 21 days since my last update and I still kinda have no idea what is going on with me. Nothing has really gotten better, only worse.
Sleep apnea has seemed to progress to the point where I can't sleep more than an hour or so without waking, had a sleep study done and they told me my AHlo was 5.6/hr (mild sleep apnea). This combined with increased difficulty breathing when lying down, increased frequency of headaches and yawning, and exertional dyspnea had me scared of onset of respiratory symptoms, so I scheduled an appointment at Forbes Norris ALS clinic to have pulmonlogy work done as well as an EMG on the right leg that has been bothering me as noted from the previous post.
Got to see Dr. Miller yesterday and he was fantastic. Went through a pretty thorough clinical examination. Found all reflexes normal, no visible atrophy or signs of weakness. Told him all my complaints, had a pulmonologist come in and do the spirometry test on me as well as measure my MIP. Results were 82% for sitting FVC and 77% supine FVC. FEV1/FVC was normal, around 80%. However, this sat on the low end of normal for me, and since my breathing has seemingly deteriorated over time, has caused a major concern for me. Pulmonologist didn't seem too concerned however, and told me that I was still in the normal range. Hard to shake off that worry still, since I don't know what's been causing the change in my breathing.
Had a right leg EMG/NCS done by Dr. Miller and his assistant. They were pretty thorough, tested the entire leg and even part of my spine. NCS came out completely normal. EMG was MUCH louder than the EMG done on my left leg, but at the end of it, Dr. Miller told me that it was nothing to worry about and he was "99.9% sure" I didn't have ALS. So cool, I don't have ALS, I probably shouldn't even be making this update. However, I still don't understand what's going on with my body. Haven't had a good night of sleep in months.
Not sure how much of this is caused by anxiety, but I know anxiety is not helping. I've seen a psychiatrist and am going to start scheduling regular visits over the next couple months.
Aside: I told Dr. Miller about the fact that I was waking up with numbness, tingling, and cramping along my fourth and fifth fingers bilaterally, He pretty much dismissed it but I'm still not sure why it's happening to me. Probably sleeping in a weird position, but it's definitely happening consistently at this rate. Can't sleep on my side or back without waking up feeling like this. Not sure if I should be asking for a BiPAP or a CPAP for my sleep apnea (CPAP is what they prescribed me).
EDIT: Forgot to mention that apparently MIP test was exceptional. 152 was the highest (lowest?) value.
