Diaphragm spasms again!

[jumpinjiminy]

I had about seven intense waves of these yesterday. They had been ramping up for five or six days before the big explosion of them. I really didn't expect them to come on so strong again, but that they did. Still having little threats of them through today.

The pain was so severe it made me break out in a sweat and start shaking, like the kind of shaking you can barely hold a phone in your hand and dial the number to the neuro's office.

What I'm wondering, is this sweating and shaking a form of shock from severe pain and can it be dangerous? I'm wondering if maybe I should have called an ambulance or found a ride to the ER.

Thoughts?

[jumpinjiminy]

JJ, sorry I missed your post. That sounds like a really awful experience. But thank you for sharing. I do appreciate hearing how others deal with this pain.

Candy, thank you for the comment. I've not gone to the ER because the times I did for other issues, they don't know what to do. I did call the GPs office and he had me come back in for an exam. He ordered some GI studies to see if there was a stomach problem that might be triggering it. I find out next week how those came out, and will keep working on this until we find an answer.

I don't have an MS dx, so they can't stop there with me. Not yet anyway.

[candy158]

I'm so sorry that you are going through this again.  I gt the same thing, and HVAC helped me with her suggestions.

I went through a period when it was so severe, I DID go to the hospital, and they did ultrasounds, and everything, thought maybe it was my heart, and it turned out to the the diaphram...\
\

They gave me some pills, and sent me on my way.... the morphine is really what I needed, but, we only take that when we can't take it anymore.

So, I would still suggest that if it persists, go to the ER, and let them do the tests on you just to make sure that it is what you think it is.  

Better to be safe, than sorry,

((Hugs))
Candy

[jumpinjiminy]

Alex, I wanted to thank you for sharing about the Tramadol and medications triggering these spasms. I got hit with another migraine last night and had to choose which med to hammer it with. Because we're having guests today, I wanted to go with the Tramadol, as it's not as profoundly sedating as the Fioracet.

Having this warning in the back of my mind, I was prepared in advance for the possibility it might trigger these again. It did. Every two hours throughout the night, I was awakened by that awful squeezing. I halfway expected this because of your post, and knew that heading to the fridge for some ice water would help. It did, every time.

Now I've got another little clue to give the doc when I see him next. The tramadol trigger. I would have never connected those dots on my own.

[supermum_ms]

You learn that all the tricks under the sun do not work every single time, you learn that eventually they do subside, you learn that childbirth is nothing in comparrison but like childbirth it too shall pass. My intercostal muscle spasms (entire left front and back) started in 08 and didn't stop for days, by 2010 everytime i flexed my rib cage i echoed out a very loud crack lol I still do.

I can see individual intercostal muscles going off, so weird but it doesn't usually hurt, it only hurts beyond words, when the left side of my ribcage starts getting stuck in its contracted stage. Again its weird to see half your , ribcage crunch down, sometimes it makes me scream, i cant help it nore can i hold them in.

The only thing that i've found helps is to lay down, it takes all the pressure off your skeleton frame, miminul muscles need to be working and finding my 'zen' is always better than trying to fight it. I normally crash because its exhausting, pain sort of does that to me so i have to say sleeping as much as you can does do something too.

Actually it was getting a UTI after the flu, that set mine off the first time, but for the last year or so they just hit when they dammm well please, often with out warning lol which is a bit of a bugger. Dont let that UTI get away from you, infections are not good!!

Cheers............JJ

    

[jumpinjiminy]

Thank you. When the shaking starting, I was worried something else was wrong. That one had me hyperventilating. As long as this isn't dangerous, I'm determined to stay out of that ER. The last thing I want is to spend big $ to be told I'm having a panic attack when it's a muscle spasm. Just not willing to go through all of that testing for nothing anymore.

My local neuro ordered a t-spine MRI for this and it showed nothing. The specialist neuro we're relying on for a dx told me it was an abdominal migraine and then asked if the baclofen helped it. When I said, "It took the edge off and made it more bearable," I got silence.

Thank God for the local guy.

Tramadol, huh? That is interesting.

You want to know something scary? There's another thread on this topic I posted in last July where I mentioned drinking water helped. Why couldn't I remember that in September when it got worse, or this time? Where did my memory go? :-O

[HVAC]

Interesting you said you took a Tramadol beforehand. I found certain medicines set them off. They are not the only reason I get them. I can't take Oxycodin or certain migraine drugs with out having bad diaphragm spasms. Yes I sometimes get the shakes. I do not go to the ER because by the time they would see me it would be over.

I was told I was having panic attacks. Finally they did a full heart work up and saw where the connective tissue was pulled from my ribs on the echo from the force of the spasms. I can hurt for weeks afterwards.

Alex

[Guitar_grrrl]

It's really hard, but it can be done.  This too, shall pass...

[jumpinjiminy]

Thanks for the well wishes. I honestly don't know how anyone can relax through that kind of pain. I tried my best to breathe through it every time and let it pass. There was no way. OMG, there was no way. Lol. It was just too much.

[jumpinjiminy]

It was borderline for a UTI. I'd been feeling some back, abdominal and bladder pain all week. Then the flu-like sxs started. Then the neuro symptoms fired up. At that point, there was no putting it off any longer. Started antibiotics two days ago. Hoping to be all patched up in another day or two.

[Guitar_grrrl]

So, Jumpin', did your GP find a UTI?  If so, that can be a major cause of flair-up of symptoms.  

FWIW, I get those dreaded spasms, too.  No Fun!!  I lie down and go int as deep a relaxation as I can, and maintain faith that it will eventually subside, and it does.  I'm already on Baclofen, 20 mg 3x/day.

I hope you feel better, soon.

[jumpinjiminy]

Thank you for asking, I'm doing much better. Still having little threats of them this morning but nothing taking hold, thankfully. Had to see the GP later that day for a suspected UTI. After telling him about the sweating and shaking bit, he kind of went silent. It made me wonder if maybe I'd made the wrong choice, or if maybe he was wondering why I hadn't called him. But I'm alive! lol

But I have to share this, because it's really ingenious and I think it works. Have to test it a third time to be sure, but it's going to blow your socks off! It did mine.

On the other MS forum, a member mentioned drinking ice water really fast when these hit. So I tried it. Within a minute or two, the spasm started to subside and disappeared for almost an hour while I sipped on this ice water. Then it hit again. I tried all the usual, walking, lying, stretching, slow breathing, fast breathing, nothing worked. Got another glass of ice water and within a minute or two, same thing. After that, I took the baclofen and they never came back to the same level, so haven't been able to test it a third time.

Something to keep in mind. After reading up on the effect of ice on nerve conduction, it made perfect sense how that could work.

[jumpinjiminy]

I have to agree with you on this being the most painful symptom. I'm still in limbo and refuse to let any of them brush this off as psychogenic. It isn't. There is no way this is psychogenic.

Anyway, I had already taken a tramadol for a migraine before they hit and had to wait for the neuro's office to call me back on adding a baclofen to it. Apparently, it was okay to add a 20mg baclofen on top of the tramadol. I only took 10mg, and boy, did the two together knock me for a loop. Still had the spasms after that but not as severe.

[jumpinjiminy]

I'm so sorry to hear about them finding a mass. I know that has to be pretty unnerving right now. Just know I've been thinking of you and wishing you well. I'm really hoping everything comes back benign. There was a recent article somewhere about ovarian teratomas and neurological syndromes. I can't remember if it was an antibody that caused the problem or some kind of hormonal secretion, but once it was removed the patients fully recovered (if they caught it before too much neuro damage). Also, the neurological issues went away after that. Maybe the ovarian mass IS your MS. Would that be nice?

On the spasm subject, I'm wondering . . . have you ever gotten a case of the shakes with yours? It's never happened to me before. Something new. Never a dull moment!

[HVAC]

I go through the same thing with mine I drench myself. I am not sure why. I am thinking it is the terrible pain. The pain comes in horrible waves for several hours. All I can do is take enough Xanax to knock me completely out. The downside is it took more and more and that is dangerous because it can cause seizures.

The pain clinic finally got me on medication to stop them from happening at all. Zanaflex and Tegretal 4 x a day.

Of course in my case diaphragm spasms may be from my Ovarian mass and not MS. I am learning the hard way everything is not MS.

Alex

[supermum_ms]

Hey, how you doing? I'm really sorry, I just saw your post, I would of answered sooner, i am thinking you pobably need to head to the ER.

The sweating and the shakes has me thinking you probably need one on one medical advice for this one, just to be on the safe side.

HUGS............JJ

[bettebelle]

I'm so so sorry your going through this! I found the MS hug by far the most painful sx! I thought that I was going to be squeezed to death! I found laying on my back doing breathing g exercises along with taking 20mg baclofen to ease it enough to be tolerable! I too wonder if when it strikes next what to do... My MS specialist treated me with 5 days with IVSM when this showed up and luckily haven't had it since!!! I wish you the best and my thoughts and prayers are with you!