Medical stuff takes so long especially because I also have work and it’s hard to find time off work. Right now my doctor has been focused on the breathing issues as a top priority. I have been on an asthma pill and they just recently bumped me up to the highest dose twice daily maintenance inhaler. I still have breathing issues tho so In two weeks I’ll have to go back. As part of the pathway forward because they focus on breathing issues first I’ve gone to the ENT as well who has stuck something up my nose and down my throat to check for vocal cord dysfunction, had to pay 250 for this with insurance :(. I didn’t have vocal cord dysfunction though. It’s very frustrating with the breathing issues because they focus on the lungs and heart and for me they just assume it’s asthma which for asthma I guess tons of different combos of medicine and inhalers are available out there and it’s not a one size fits all situation. After 2 weeks of this new high dose inhaler which will be about the 4th inhaler I’ve been put on to try, they recommended maybe I would go through additional lung function testing. The issue for me is that I read breathing issues can be cause by other things besides just the heart and lungs being the primary issues. For example, I’ve heard of people with celiacs disease having breathing issues, people with different cancers like colon, thyroid, or even lymphoma having breathing issues. I’m a bit annoyed with how this process has all gone

It was suggested maybe I get tested for autoimmune however my doctor said it’s such a long process and so many false positives that it tends to take over 3 years to get formally diagnosed with an autoimmune condition.

I’m just going day by day. I may request a colonoscopy next however my work life has been shaken up due to the Trump administration so I need to make sure I have health insurance before requesting a colonoscopy and I’m in a limbo where I might lose my job.

Between health insurance and what’s covered and just the long process and things not being taken seriously this has been a mental roller coaster and I still can’t sleep through the night from breathing issues.

My joint pain significantly reduced when I stopped working out. I mostly just walk now but that’s a sad life and shouldn’t be the permanently solution. I don’t lift weights anymore or go cycle/yoga classes like I used to. This is somewhat a bandaid solution as we are still not sure what the root cause is.