gseaborn (@gseaborn) - Sounds scary... have you had an MRI done yet? that's how they found my compressed spinal cord, which caused numbness, muscle atrophy, and was leading to paralysis.
You might have a completely different thing going on,though, since you have intermittent attacks of paralysis. what does your doc tell you? Has he or she referred you to a Neurologist yet?
hoping and praying for total healing and restoration for you.