Is this from MS Hug?

I have muscle spasms between my ribs that after reading back posts I guess actually is from MS hug.  I am wondering a couple of things though...

1.  Is it possible for these spasms to make my ribs painful to the touch?? My PT does massage therapy on me, and she hasn't even been able to touch my ribs where they generally spasm. Is that all related?

2.  I have had a rib on the right side that does what I would call an "over lapping" when I bend wrong (when it feels like it of course not always?) and it feels like my ribs get hooked up on each other.  Everyone I explain this to thinks I am crazy.  Since everyone here knows I am crazy (lol) I figured I would get your opinions.  

When it happens I have to stay bent over until it relaxes and releases.  Sometimes it is a couple seconds, sometimes it is a minute, and sometimes I actually have to force myself to stand up even through the mind numbing pain.  I am wondering if this is a sx of the MS hug and if so, should I mention it to the Dr I am going to see at UCSF in a couple weeks?

I am trying to get Dr's to look at how far back I first started having sx's and that this started ages ago.  I always thought it was from when I broke my ribs in softball but forgot that I broke the left side not the right.  So there really is no explination for the ribs to be painful and "overlapping" on the right.

OK just wondering
D

[supermum_ms]

They are good questions, though sorry i cant answer them with any form of factual knowledge, just experience and my own thoughts.

1. ohhhhh yes, dont touch my ribs if i'm having a day or week of intercostal muscle spams or i might kill you. A gentle massage is too painful because my back has been spasming for weeks on end, prior to that it was the front and my sternum still isn't right or happy.  I dont even like hugs (real ones) because it hurts.

2. I must be crazy too!! I get the overlapped feeling, ribs hooked sort of explains it well and i only get it if i've bent wrong, though whats wrong about how i bent, i havent a clue. Due to the stermum thingy i've got going on i've assumed its something to do with that. It hurts hurts hurts and yes i've got stuck bent over trying to work out how to unstick me. lol

Sorry no facts, just another member of the crazy club :-)

Cheers....JJ

[Zacksmomi]

Thanks JJ.  Glad I'm not alone :)

[jensequitur]

It sounds like spasticity/spasms of the intercostal muscles to me.  Sometimes I'll have a cramp or spasm in that area, and it feels like a hitch in my side.

I've heard the MS hug explained as two different symptoms.  Some people experience paresthesia, and they get a phantom sensation of tightness across the chest.  Others have a painful chest cramp or spasm, that goes all the way around and makes it difficult to breathe.  I've never gotten that phantom sensation, but I have had chest cramps that sometimes go halfway around, sometimes are around my sternum, or around the back area.

I would definitely mention it to the doctor at USC when you go.  Any abnormal cramping or spasms, weird sensations, shortness of breath, anything that seems out of the ordinary.

[Wobbly]

I went to the Dr with pain in the right side under ribs... it's been on and off for months.  The pain was so bad, it went from the middle of my stomach to the side then to my back.  The GP thought Gallbladder and sent me to the hospital for an assessment.

they took an ultrasound, blood test, CT scan, and Xray of my abdomen?? The said they couldn't find anything wrong.  I mentioned MS hug and they looked at me like I was strange? hahahaha

guess in canada they don't know about that??  

anyway..they told me to add fiber... which I alway have been doing...so I just wanted to go home and said OK...

I'm alright now.. it went away and I'm not sure what caused it and I have a feeling it will return.

take care
wobbly

[sllowe]

OOh D these are horribly painful. Do they take your breath away?

I had them like that and same thing, couldn't move a muscle, had to stay as still as I could, even breathing intensified them. I feel for you. I also had them across my chest too (those scared me).

I get that "overlapping" as you describe it in my neck. Have to slowly lean it out the opposite way to unlap (is that a word) it, lol

Baclofen did keep spasms at bay for me if it's any consolation.
ttys,
me