Some years ago I suffered from a severe intermittant pain (and it was 10/10 pain) in the left of my abdomen. It would start slowly and build to a level of = I am going to pass out/die/please kill me now. At first they thought it was gynea. No - try constipation. No - try bladder. No - try kidney. No - try gastric. No. NO. NO!! And the pain just kept getting more intense every time it struck. Everywhere they sent me - No. I was given pain clinic support and eventually the pain just went away. Yeay! Happy me - no more pain in the region described by medics as the left illiac fossa. Woohoo. Until… 3 nights ago, I felt the same crawling, biting, stabbing, building of that pain again. Last night was worse, now it is coming and going all day long. Yes I’ve made a GP appt. But - no one had a clue last time and I am so scared of how bad the pain got (at one point emergency ambulance to A&E followed by 7 days observation - result/diagnosis = this woman is in pain!!! We don’t know why, so just send her home). Just wondering if this rings any bells with team MS? I havn’t told my OH yet; the last time it freaked him out so much I’m sort of hiding from him as I don’t want him to see me when the pain hits again. So any ideas brains trust? Clarexxx
Sorry Clare, Not one I recognise. The worst pain I ever had with MS was what I now presume to be trigeminal neuralgia (facial nerve pain). That was before I was diagnosed. I would describe it as a “bad” pain - about 8/10. But I only ever had it the once - and not for very long, luckily. The second worst is spasms. But I find those very obvious in what they are. I can usually feel, or even see, the muscle that’s doing it, so there’s no mystery about what’s causing the pain. But that doesn’t mean yours couldn’t be MS. The trouble with MS is the experience is so individual. You could have almost any kind of pain, anywhere, and very hard to say it’s NOT MS, because where the CNS is involved, who knows what kind of random, bizarre signals might be flying about, and what your brain might make of them? It seems that if the brain encounters something it can’t make sense of, it’s likely to tell you it’s pain, just to be on the safe side, because pain is the alarm system. Unfortunately, though, that doesn’t mean every pain is a false alarm caused by MS, even though it might be. I can only say you’re doing the right thing seeing the doctor, just in case. Knowing they never found anything the last time, and that you do have a neurological disorder that can cause pain, it does seem likely it’s neurological. But it needs checking. And apart from that, needs treating. Are you on anything specifically for nerve pain, at the moment? It would be interesting to know whether that helps. Sometimes you can deduce more about what kind of pain something is, simply by what works and what doesn’t. When it happens, does anything help at all? Tina x
Anitra wrote:
Are you on anything specifically for nerve pain, at the moment? It would be interesting to know whether that helps. Sometimes you can deduce more about what kind of pain something is, simply by what works and what doesn’t. When it happens, does anything help at all? Tina x
Thanks for your reply Tina I am on a (low) level of pregabalin (150bd); my gp is reluctant to increase that as I might get used to the higher level and then won’t be able to have more if the neuropain increases. It doesn’t seem to have any effect on the side pain anyway, nor does cocodamol (30/500). The only thing that ever really helped quell the pain in my side was voltarol suppositories which I hope my GP will prescribe again - they were very potent and would take the pain away and put me under quite quickly! You never know; maybe it has come back because someone at the QEH knows what it is this time!! Clarexxx :?
Hi Clare, I sometimes get MS Hug on lower left abdomen… so I’m thinking you’re getting the same possibly… only other side. Hug can be incredibly painful. Yes, 10 our of 10 type pain. If no other cause can be found (and seems they’ve tested everything), I think that’s what it is. I recently saw my neuro and one of my concerns was hug and the fact that I’m getting it more frequently. He wants me to go on Pregabalin and says it should help. I can understand GP wanting to keep you on lower dose, but now seems to be the time to increase it. Maybe when you see him/her you should take printout about hug… not something that average GP would know about. A few tips for hug that I find useful: ditch your bra! Hug, as you probably know, is a spasm of the small muscles between the ribs. Although yours seems to be below rib cage (is that right?) it still might be worth ditching your bra to see if it helps. Seems that wearing a bra irritates those muscles. Much easier going without bra in winter as you can hide the effect under layers of clothes :lol: . Avoid large meals. Rest as much as possible. Look at what in your life might be causing stress and see if you can lower those stress level. Sounds awful for you Clare and hope it doesn’t come back… and think about telling OH. Only adding to your stress by not telling him. Take care hun, Pat xx
Patb wrote:
Hi . Maybe when you see him/her you should take printout about hug… Hug, as you probably know, is a spasm of the small muscles between the ribs. Although yours seems to be below rib cage (is that right?) Take care hun, Pat xx
Hi Pat I am not so sure aout the hug as it is supposed to be in the upper part of the body - I do get something I call ‘hug’; just below my ribs above the diaphram, it is like someone is tightening an overtight belt; it makes breathing deeply jolly hard! The pain I have been worrying about happens much lower down, in the pelvic regeon :oops: It is very localised to an area on the left below ovary area and to the side of womb. I think I should do some more reading on the hug before I go see my gp. Thanks for your help Clarexxx
I’ve got a sneaky feeling that it might be coming from a spasm of something inside in which case what you need is a muscle relaxant not a painkiller. Have you tried having a couple of glasses of wine when it’s bad? If it helps, then it’s probably muscular in which case you should ask for something like baclofen, or maybe an anti-spasmodic for involuntary muscles might be more effective - hopefully a neuro would know. I get spasms of all my “down below” areas and they hurt like hell! If something in there is cramping too (i.e. a long lasting spasm), it would be like you describe. Karen x
I agree with karen, it sounds to me like a spasm which is holding rigid. I get them on my oesophagus and they dont half hurt. Not only that when they do release they leave a bruise like sensation which is just as painful. Is your side painful to touch, hard, rigid? Baclofen should sort that out, and a warm shower on that area to try ease off the pain. MS can indeed play awful tricks with us, anywhere on the body. I do hope a solution can be found to give you some peace of mind and NO PAIN. Try asking for meds such as Baclofen or Pregablin and see what happens. Luv bren xxxx
Thank you Karen Bren & W You have all given me things to think over and take to my GP as possibles. Here’s hoping it just goes away again without putting me through too many attacks of the illiac fossa monster! Clarexxx
Hi Clare Agree with what the others have posted that it is a spasm - sounds like it may be from the bowel or even a IBS type problem, in which case co codamol not helping as pain is muscular and also co codamol can contribute to bowel problems, might be an idea to see if GP would give you an antispasmodic. Some things over the counter can help too - such as mebeverine hydrochloride (eg Colofac) or peppermint oil capsules. I dont have IBS but do have IBS type episodes every now and again often linked to my menstrual cycle. Also drink lots of water. The fact that voltarol worked before in my opinion suggests that it is inflammatory/muscular in origin. Hope it passes soon and you get some answers/help from your GP Roisin xo