MS Hug

Everyday living
1

Hi, I’m new to here… I was diagnosed in 2013 with Relapsing and Remitting MS. I’m very lucky and have not suffered with many symptoms, however lately I’ve been getting an awful tightness around the bottom of my ribs. It feels like I’m being squeezed. It happens most days at the minute but not every day and it starts in the evening and into the night. Not totally sure if this is MS but I’ve read some stuff about the MS hug and it sounds similar but not sure if it would be happening in the daytime too if it was the hug!

Any advice appreciated x

2

the hug is caused by the tiny inter costal muscles between the ribs going into spasm.

it’s difficult to compare your experience to mine because as you know we are all different.

however my experience is that it’s a worse pain than childbirth, even a breech!

(the side effects aren’t as long lasting!)

muscle relaxants are the only thing that touches it, so if you have any diazepam or baclofen, try them.

let your ms nurse know.

try a hot (warm) pad and then a cool pad because it confuses the ms (revenge is sweet)

it looked very dramatic to anyone who sees you being hugged.

my husband and sister were present at my first hug and were about to phone for an ambulance and i was frantically waving no.

good luck and i hope you find some relief.

carole x

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3

fungirlfrankie,

Sounds like an MS hug to me and in my experience they can happen anytime but mainly at night. If I sense one starting SOMETIMES I can reduce/slow/stop the worst by not panicing but by breathing slow but deep which can re-establish control of my dodgy signalling system.

Good luck

Mick

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4

I’ve just came out off a spell off it I can sort it at night with clonazepam but it gets me through the day

I take tramadol and pregabilen for other pains and stuff but they don’t touch this .

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5

Hiya,

This only ratifies the other great answers you have The MS Hug: Understanding Girdle-Band Pain

There is a strange relief the MS Trust say on their website to relieve pain. It may sound strange but give it a go, and that is wearing a hat. It seems then the brain concentrates more on the hat wearing. What is the MS hug? | MS Trust

George

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6

Thank you all for your very kind replies. I was prescribed amitriptyline a couple of months ago for pain in my legs but didn’t take them because I have an 11 month old and didn’t want to be drowsy - I was told this was a side effect. If it gets any worse and I feel it’s too much I’ll give them a go.x