Anyone have sleep apnea and/ or find symptoms worse when have a cold

Hi everyone,

I’m starting a new thread as I asked my question at the end of a long forum and had no replies. I am new to this site and really like the way you share information with each other. I’m trying to recognize myself in others as I prep to the long wait for answers. My favourite coping technique is the head in sand.

Im not diagnosed with MS but will go for my second brain MRI in January. The last scan was four years ago and showed non diagnostic subcortical changes. I was relieved as the neurologist said to wait and see and so I dismissed it. Shortly after that I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had four surgeries no radiation or chemotherapy and assumed all my symptoms were attributed to the cancer. My last surgery involved discovering in the recovery room from the doctor that I likely had sleep apnea. My GP was surprised due to being under 50 and not overweight. Couple years go by and life is back on track. I work hard, enjoy my family and life. So all’s manageable until recently when I’m so exhausted again worse than before I got the sleep apnea machine. So due to various symptoms and previous cancer they X-ray left hip CT scan brain head neck and MRI chest for tumors. All the test results were clear but the waiting this June sucked!! This is when my GP asked if I’d had a MRI of my brain and I reminded him of the previous one four years ago and the neurology consult. He suggested another one.

So here are my symptoms mainly over the past four years:

1.Constant mainly-change in bowel health, inability to empty my bladder fully, urinary incontinence mainly when I had a cold, mixing up my words, not feeling like I could hold a good conversation as I’d lose vocabulary, fatigue, tense neck, choke on food if talk or think about responding to a question, left hip pain.

2.Progressively worsening- left foot cramps(now right foot also and can threaten more often), crawling scalp,itching, dropping things as can’t seem to gauge grasp/ pinch needed to hang on as I walk,some shots of pain or stinging in my legs and arms ( like insect bites) can wake me, fatigue worse.

  1. Occasional- tired holding my arms to fold laundry or tired hips to waltz with my husband, tired jaw to chew, dizziness, mildly off balance, go to step one way and lunge another, tired of talking/ thinking

  2. Happened once- sensation of water dripping down back of leg with horrible back and leg pain that went away too fast to be discogenic, stutter slightly by end of work day as tire for a period of about three weeks, went for hearing loss in one ear( audiologist said was just stress)

  3. Childhood symptoms ??- double vision clearing before surgery was required, electric shocks through whole body when I jumped one summer ( just thought I hadn’t been bending my knees), numb patch on left thigh(saw neurologist but cleared after going to chiropractor). I’ve since lead an eventful and physically active life.

Has anyone else had sleep apnea as a symptom of MS?

Does anyone find their symptoms worsen when they have a cold?

These symptoms led me usually so super healthy and strong to the GP who found the cancer thankfully at a really early stage. Now four years later I’m wondering if it wasn’t MS that caused the wheels to start to fall off my wagon.

Does this sound similar to anyone else?

Thanks for reading this.