MS hug............or not!

Everyday living
1

This may sound daft, but how far can it extend & does it always include ‘bust’ height!

I am woken at night with tight pain around my body & when I get up I am very stiff with pain everywhere, even in my hip area.

I know from past experience that other problems can be mistaken for the hug, but how the heck can you be sure.

I can’t take anti-inflams, so that’s a no-no.

Any insight welcomed.

H

xxx

2
  • To start with it’s more of a burning pain than a crushing one which begins in the back. Some are lucky and catch it in time so there it stays. However it can sometimes move around to the front, and if it travels all the way around then it does indeed feel like being hugged by a boa constrictor! Some rarely get it as high as the chest and usually stays confined to the midriff area. At its worst, it can last for several days.
  • It feels as if I’m wearing a very tight rubber band which stretches from under my arms to below the waistline; the band gets tighter and tighter until it becomes difficult to breath. It feels very constricting and although not all that painful, is very uncomfortable. I don’t feel hungry because of the perceived pressure on my stomach.
  • I find myself holding my arm folded across my abdomen in order to ease the discomfort and find I can’t breathe deeply enough to get my breath. I tried taking my asthma inhalers thinking these would help but because it’s a skeleto-muscular thing, they gave no relief.
  • I have excruciating chest pains which take my breath away, however heart tests have shown that my heart is healthy but because of the recurrent nature of this, I was told it was the MS Hug or ‘Girdle’.

hiya

how some describe it from the msrc-hope it helps…

ellie x

3

Yes Bellsie it does, thank you.

I am feeling pain, it is worse when I move, so much so that it wakes me every time I try to turn over during the night…that’s if i’m not awake already because of my left leg ‘toothache’…grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

xxx xxx

4

that site gives some good tips in dealing with the pain…this one prob does too if i look!

ellie xxx

5

Hi I get the hug everyday. It’s probably the symptom I hated the most, even when I couldn’t write or move my hand. It’s also one of the symptoms thats decided to hang around for now, although not as severe as it was last February. I have heard some people describe it as being on one side but for me it varies from wrapping around my whole middle to mainly effecting my front rib area. It usually happens when I have stood for to long or done to much sitting down. I find it helps when my back and neck are fully supported. I am on gabapentine which my neuro said would help with that but I’m not sure that it does. Before I was dx and had meds prescribed i found that a heat pad helped the most. I still find heat pads helpful but not when walking about. It’s a difficult symptom to solve I think. Mish x

6

I get the ‘lovely’ (sarcasticly) ms hug and boy does it hurt, I dont get it everyday like I used to before I started on my copaxone, I still get it but not to the extent I used to, it feels like my bra is on too tight so I take it off to get some relief which helps but ive found taking some pks and brufen helps, they at least knock me out so I sleep through the pain, but each of us is different with our symptoms and what works for one will not work for the next.

7

I ‘think’ I’ve had it a couple of times and for me I find it very difficult to get a deep breath and sometimes feel like someone is jabbing a finger under my ribs (very painful). Not sure if muscle relaxants (Baclofen, Buscopan etc.) may help?