MS turns out to be OSA?

[jen4700]

Totally weird question... I don't know much about MS. A friend has been diagnosed with MS, but it's not a definitive diagnosis. It was like, ok we don't know what this is. It's probably MS. (Do they really diagnos MS like this???)

I know he's got untreated OSA. Could OSA cause the same symptoms as MS?

[chunkyfrog]

No idea; but an even better reason to face the apnea with new focus.
Good luck getting them to face the hose.
Not every diagnosis is definitive--some are wrong. (my son is grateful for that)
It depends on the symptoms used to get the MS diagnosis.

[MaxDarkside]

Not every diagnosis is definitive--some are wrong. (my son is grateful for that)

That sure is true. Doctors are still "practicing" after all. With all the technological advances, much of medicine is still art and some doctors don't "draw" very well.

[jab1972]

Could OSA cause the same symptoms as MS?

There are some overlapping symptoms between OSA & MS, despite their vastly different root causes (MS is caused by a degradation of the material that covers nerves). Fatigue is one of the most common MS symptoms, and of course we feel it too when dealing with untreated OSA. But the vast majority of MS symptoms differ from OSA (numbness, problems with gait, vision changes, stiffness and involuntary muscle spasms).

Definitively diagnosing MS is pretty difficult. There is no single laboratory method that can be used. Instead, the doctor has to rely on neurological exams, medical histories, MRIs, and ruling out other illnesses which can cause the sheath of nerve fibers to degenerate.

I'd guess that treating the OSA will likely help with some of the fatigue, but if the MS diagnosis holds up, it won't help all of the symptoms.

Best of luck to your friend.

[MaxDarkside]

My wife has Hyperadrenergic Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome with Mast Cell Activation. Its symptoms exactly overlap with heart failure (and she is suspected of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, which results in heart failure), so, we thought she was in heart failure, but it took a week's testing at Mayo to determine the correct diagnosis. Point is: Just looking at symptoms can be deceiving and lead you to false conclusions and getting a proper diagnosis can be very difficult in many situations.

[chunkyfrog]

A co-worker's wife has MS.
Fatigue exacerbates her other MS symptoms.
Treating the OSA is a MUST, regardless of the MS.

[jen4700]

Thanks everyone!!

[archangle]

Treat the OSA because that's a really good idea anyway.

If the MS symptoms improve or disappear, sing Hallelujah!

If the MS symptoms don't go away, the symptoms caused by OSA should improve.

[GumbyCT]

How many people with MS wouldn't love to "just breathe" for a cure... alright then for some relief. IF only it were that simple

[portiemom]

That's what they were looking for when I started falling down for no reason, after all tests were negative, they said well, I doubt you have sleep apnea but let's check anyway. And severe apnea, that was in 2006.

[MaxDarkside]

While I don't have MS, I do have a demyelinating neuropathy, peripheral rather than central. It is progressing, constant not episodic, untreatable, no cure and eventually I will not be able to walk. I am thankful I have no pain as yet. In my case, and for demyelinating neuropathies in general, I don't think the conditions are correlated to sleep apnea other than getting a good night's rest sure helps ya feel better.

[lullaby]

I was sent to a neurologist about 12 years ago as i was showing some symptoms of MS - pins and needles and numbness in my left leg and arms. After MRI and other tests, neurologist determined that i didn't have MS but probably had restless leg syndrome. This was long before i was diagnosed with OSA. The irony is that i didn't bother treating the rls as it was more annoying than anything else. Now that i have OSA and CPAP isn't really helping that much, looks like the rls/plmd symptoms may be affecting my sleep more than i thought.

[MaxDarkside]

I was sent to a neurologist about 12 years ago as i was showing some symptoms of MS - pins and needles and numbness in my left leg and arms.

I find it circumstantially interesting that people with neuropathy and back issues *seem* (to me) to develop symptoms first in the left feet/legs, more so it seems than right. That is where my peripheral neuropathy first manifested, tho now it's in both (sigh). You would think our physiology is symmetrical enuf that it would be random.

Anyway, I have RLS, sometimes quite bad... I have to get out of bed and jump around... and when I went in for my sleep study, I was SURE they would see that. Nope! "No RLS" What?! I figured out later that due to a spinal / disc injury, if I lay at a certain angle... zingo! heavy duty RLS. The disc is impinging, and in both legs. I got this in a work related injury in the 70's, back when I was a young buck.

[DreamLady]

I have both OSA and MS, diagnosed with both in the same year. Lucky me. While many of my symptoms improved with cPAP therapy, my walking has not, and continues to deteriorate.

[kteague]

The irony is that i didn't bother treating the rls as it was more annoying than anything else. Now that i have OSA and CPAP isn't really helping that much, looks like the rls/plmd symptoms may be affecting my sleep more than i thought.

In the past we've talked on here about the interactions between PLMD and OSA. A person with true PLMD (not limb movements from struggling to breathe) might find their PLMD symptoms more pronounced after using CPAP. Both OSA and PLMD can cause arousals, and whichever is most pronounced during a sleep study will reign in the report. Treat either one on its own and the environment is set for the other to more fully manifest. Maybe that's what you're experiencing.