bad bad MS "hugs"

[Yankeesfan4life]

I think we need to rename these, hugs are supposed to make you feel good not feel like ur having a massive heart attack. What do any of you do or suggest for these? I have muscle relaxers and xanax but they don't do much anymore. I think this weekend , all of the Sept. 11 stuff brought back some bad reminders and has caused some flare ups, I wish you all well and prayers for us all.
michael

[jensequitur]

I get esophageal spasms, which hurt like heck.  I also get spasms around the back and shoulder area, and around the ribs at the bottom.  Then there's the rhythmic tense-release thing that my stomach does - but only when I'm on my right side.  Weird.

I take baclofen - 6 a day.  If I have a spasm on top of that, I take a Flexaril, which seems to fix things.  There's been days when I had to take two or three, which makes for a foggy tomorrow.

I've tried lots of things to make me feel better.  Heat does help.  I'll get hot coffee or even just hot water, and swallowing that helps my throat not to spasm.

[Guitar_grrrl]

My "hugs" are usually always on the left side, and don't last more than 3 minutes.  But they're the most excruciating 3 minutes there can be!  Since mine are relatively short, I do some deep relaxation techniques (Yogic), and have faith that they will pass, and they do.

Yesterday I had one on the right side for the first time.  I thought my ribs were going to be pulled right out of my sternum!

Definitely the "hug we all hate"!

[HVAC]

I do not have the MS hug. I do have Myoclonic spasms of the diaphragm. I had one last night. Acupuncture and relaxing do me no good neither do baclofen, several anti seizure drugs nor regular xanax. The only thing that helps me is being knocked out cold for a few hours. I have xanax which dissolves under my tongue. It took four and a half over two hours to knock me and the spasms out this time. I never know what will bring mine on. I do hypnosis when it starts but the pain is so bad that does not work. I do not try to talk and I think that it will not last forever ( like my Doctor told me). I told my husband "At least heart attacks do not take this long to kill a person". I usually drop to the floor with my arms above my head, invoking any God there is to pleas kill me, it is a little hard to relax when you are in  that much pain.

Alex

[Lulu54]

I found acupuncture worked for me to give relief and make those muscles/ligaments relax.  One other tip - when you breath in, try to focus on moving your diaphragm east to west rather than up and down.  This can gently stretch those painful spots and hopefully give you some relief.  

The hug comes from the tightening of the structure between the ribs.

no hugs for you,
L

[supermum_ms]

Yep, count me in with the wrapping up, it sort of helps but not always. I noticed it was worse if i tried to sit or stand, laying flat would calm it sometimes long enough for it to stop, sometimes not but it doesn't hurt half as much when i lay flat. I've been doing this since 08, probably the worst time cause i hadn't a clue what the heck was going on. Lol i now crack loud enough to make people jump, just a little stretch of my rib cage is enough, thats a b!tch!

I've found the sticky bandages work best to hold everything tight, i like the comfort feel of the heated ones too though not sure they do anything more than feel nicer and come off easier, I do prefer to leave some skin on lol hmmm we did play with re-naming the HUG to something more realistic, from memory boa constrictor got a few votes, and the crush also comes to mind but bra too tight might be one name that doesn't suit you lol

Cheers.........JJ

[rendean]

Micachel.

I had forgotten that when I first felt the hug,I didn't know I had MS. I thought I had pulled muscles. I did the same thing Julie did and it helped relieve the pain.

Talk about cog fog, totally forgot about something I did that provided relief.
Give it a try, can't hurt.

Ren

[jujuminx]

Michael,
  I had it last year and it su cked.  Didn't take any drugs but cried a lot.  The only thing I found that relieved the pressure slightly was putting pressure on the area that was causing the tightness (I know, counter intuitive).

  I used an ace-type bandage which I wrapped around my trunk. Not too tight but tight enough to relieve the squeezing sensation.  As time went on, I also found that swimming, or being in a pool of water helped as well.

  Not sure any of these are as practical or long lasting as drugs but it got me through. Good luck.

Julie

[Yankeesfan4life]

Nice to meet you also ren, I am just hoping for a day tomorrow without any, I guess stress does a lot to the body we don't realize, thank you for the welcome and response. Baclofen was bad for me, I took that after one of my spinal surgeries, and while it may work for some I'll never take it again, yea i am hoping someone has a trick that works for all of us.
Michael

[Yankeesfan4life]

Thank you Suman, I am gonna give my Nurse practioner a call tomorrow if they continue, the xanax had been working but nothing touching them past couple days.
michael

[rendean]

Hi Michael,

We haven't yet so a warm welcome extended to you. As for the MS hugs, I totally agree with you regarding the misnomer.

Stress can cause a pseudo-exacerbation which seems to be what you have experienced. If you are not too heat sensitive you could try warm compresses. I take Klonopin for spasms since Baclofen didn't work for me. It doesn't do much for the hugs though like it does for my leg spasms,etc.

Somebody else may have a better solution and will pop in here with something that we both can use. Wishing you well  also!

Ren

[Sumanadevii]

Well Yankeefan, I am too!  Go Go Yankee's!!!  

The MS hug is awful and I do know stress makes it worse.  Have you called your PCP or neuro?  I don't know if they may have another trick up their sleeve or not.  The Xanax works for me still.

Hoping you get an answer.