What can I ask my doctor
May 7, 2022 9:37 AM Subscribe
YANMD, actually right now, no-one is. What do you suggest I ask my doctor to look at when I do get one? Breathing and muscle issues, what more needs to be checked?
My quality of life has been worsening for a year. Starting a year ago with breathing difficulties, progressing to tiredness also, progressing to difficulties with bracing inkl. pee/reflux on normally manageable lifts at the gym, 30+ pound weight gain over the year, and during the last six months increasing exhaustion as well as difficulty moving due to back pain.
We've checked and it's not pollen allergies, asthma (well it is, but treatment hasn't improved me), sleep apnea, lung problems (did a chest CT and spirometry), heart (did ultrasound and exercise test), regular bloodwork is normal, thyroid, white cells etc. My old doctor has decided I'm fat and that's it, which doesn't explain why these issues started and continued when I wasn't and when I could still train high-impact 4 times a week. Thus changing doctors.
My back has been a real problem, but it's very odd. My osteopath could move me in every direction without problems, but when I myself had to get off the table it took me forever, I locked up badly, and had the same difficulty I've previously had. Physio who checked said no particular disk involvement, but muscular. Any movements I make it seems like my entire core tries to fully engage, like leaning forward slightly or raising an arm. Similarly sitting up or rolling over, it seems like everything fires at once which obviously doesn't move you. I can sometimes do glute raises for example and sometimes I literally can't lift my butt an inch, can't even shift my weight to move but have to like push myself to the side with my hand to roll over. It's like my body has forgotten how to use its muscles.
After a year of this I'm getting pretty worn out chasing, so does this sort of issue ring any bells with y'all and what should I ask my new doctor to check me for.
PS - If I've had Covid I didn't notice it, but an OTC antibody test (which said it doesn't trigger on vaccine) says I had it and so did my wife (again, asymptomatic in that case).
My quality of life has been worsening for a year. Starting a year ago with breathing difficulties, progressing to tiredness also, progressing to difficulties with bracing inkl. pee/reflux on normally manageable lifts at the gym, 30+ pound weight gain over the year, and during the last six months increasing exhaustion as well as difficulty moving due to back pain.
We've checked and it's not pollen allergies, asthma (well it is, but treatment hasn't improved me), sleep apnea, lung problems (did a chest CT and spirometry), heart (did ultrasound and exercise test), regular bloodwork is normal, thyroid, white cells etc. My old doctor has decided I'm fat and that's it, which doesn't explain why these issues started and continued when I wasn't and when I could still train high-impact 4 times a week. Thus changing doctors.
My back has been a real problem, but it's very odd. My osteopath could move me in every direction without problems, but when I myself had to get off the table it took me forever, I locked up badly, and had the same difficulty I've previously had. Physio who checked said no particular disk involvement, but muscular. Any movements I make it seems like my entire core tries to fully engage, like leaning forward slightly or raising an arm. Similarly sitting up or rolling over, it seems like everything fires at once which obviously doesn't move you. I can sometimes do glute raises for example and sometimes I literally can't lift my butt an inch, can't even shift my weight to move but have to like push myself to the side with my hand to roll over. It's like my body has forgotten how to use its muscles.
After a year of this I'm getting pretty worn out chasing, so does this sort of issue ring any bells with y'all and what should I ask my new doctor to check me for.
PS - If I've had Covid I didn't notice it, but an OTC antibody test (which said it doesn't trigger on vaccine) says I had it and so did my wife (again, asymptomatic in that case).
Since you have a positive antibody test, this sounds very much like Long Covid, which has a very wide range of symptoms and definitely affects those with very mild or asymptomatic infections. Fatigue and breathing problems appear to be some of the most common symptoms of Long Covid. Weight gain and back pain are also symptoms that people experience.
Unfortunately, there are no real treatments for Long Covid at this point. Do you feel worse after exertion, after exercising or otherwise using a significant amount of energy (even mentally)? This is known as PEM or PESE (Post-Exertional Malaise or Post-Exertional Symptom Exacerbation). Many with Long Covid find this happens to them and they can be more functional in the long term if they limit exertion to stay within their limits.
Certainly one place to start with your new doctor would be to discuss a lab antibody test for Covid, though I think a false positive at this point on your OTC test is not that likely.
posted by ssg at 10:36 AM on May 7, 2022
Unfortunately, there are no real treatments for Long Covid at this point. Do you feel worse after exertion, after exercising or otherwise using a significant amount of energy (even mentally)? This is known as PEM or PESE (Post-Exertional Malaise or Post-Exertional Symptom Exacerbation). Many with Long Covid find this happens to them and they can be more functional in the long term if they limit exertion to stay within their limits.
Certainly one place to start with your new doctor would be to discuss a lab antibody test for Covid, though I think a false positive at this point on your OTC test is not that likely.
posted by ssg at 10:36 AM on May 7, 2022
Response by poster: I'm in the local long-covid treatment group in case it's that, so I'd love to concentrate on other things I can ask my new doctor, for example are there like nerve tests or neurology tests or is there something else that can be imaged, etc.
posted by Iteki at 10:40 AM on May 7, 2022
posted by Iteki at 10:40 AM on May 7, 2022
I feel like I suggest this too much on AskMeFi, but Could Your Chronic Back Pain Be Caused by Ankylosing Spondylitis?
posted by hydropsyche at 12:38 PM on May 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by hydropsyche at 12:38 PM on May 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
I should have said, although it's not mentioned on the quiz, AS also has chronic fatigue as a common symptom.
posted by hydropsyche at 12:39 PM on May 7, 2022
posted by hydropsyche at 12:39 PM on May 7, 2022
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They might be unrelated to your back issues, or it might be that the exhaustion/breathlessness have made you exercise less which has made you more prone to injury? People do also report a pretty wild range of symptoms post-covid, including muscular/nerve issues.
Which is no help to you really, because if that is the problem, there’s not much they can do for you except tell you to wait, hope for the best, and treat the symptoms as best you can in the short term.
posted by penguin pie at 10:19 AM on May 7, 2022 [1 favorite]