Diaphragmatic paralysis

[Mackerdoodle]

Hi, I'm new to the board. I seem to be experiencing partial DP...my doctor, a spinal surgeon, feels I must have some nerve damage due to my fall over two years ago from a horse, where I suffered a jefferson Fracture (4 place) of the C1 and a brain injury. I've had episodes where I wake up needing to take a breath, I feel a tightness in my belly somewhere, it hurts to start breathing again, and my feet are tingly, which I've been told is due to hypoxia.

With the injury to my craniocervical junction, one specialist theorizes I have craniocervical instability, and I'm about to start non invasive traction to diagnose or rule out.

Does anyone here have any knowledge of DP and can give me any information?

thanks,
mackerdoodle

[K*L*D]

Have you had a sleep apnea study?
Have you had a phrenic nerve EMG?
Have you had inspiratory/expiratory Xrays to assess your diaphragm position on either side of your chest during breathing?
Has central (brain) apnea been ruled out?

You may want to post on a forum for people with spinal cord injury (not spine disorders). Since they have failed to open such a forum here (unlike the original BT) you may want to post over at the www.CareCure.org website which is specifically for those with spinal cord injuries (SCI).

[Bobbi]

K*L*D has offered an excellent suggestion; I'd ask at CareCure . You'll likely receive more responses.

I am sorry to read about your fall and its effects.

[DiMarie]

Any possiability that the phernic nerve can be injured? In this case the pheric nerves make the diaphragm move to take the breaths. It lies in the cervical spine area and can be injured in a fall but I know more often in surgery. This makes it imppossible for the diaphragm to breat its motion to give the lings air.
Just a thought,
Dianne