This thread is incredibly enlightening. I brings a new vista to the spasms and cramps which I have had--used to have more than now. I thought the MS hug was just a squeezing, which would involve tense muscles, a sense of not breathing well. But I didn't know it would include the stabbing/aching pain which I had in the abdomen, about the middle of the diaphragm, which I have in recent years attributed to the Porphyria, which is notorious for ab pain. Of course I had bad constipation, sometimes "obstipation" until I got on big doses of magnesium.

I still have the stabbing pain part of this. I get it mostly at night, when relaxed, and wake up with a very sharp pain in the diaphragm area. I feel like I am as good as dead.
I used to have this more frequently---much more frequently--before the menopause and before Porphyria diagnosis. The menopause got rid of some of the estrogen which had been triggering Porph ab pain. But now I realize, after reading this, that MS could have done a job on my middle too.

If I were not sensitive to all of the Porph triggers, I would go back to saying I had primarily MS as the neuro ailment which causes these things. I think there is a mysterious cross over anyway, between MS and HCP type Porphyria (that's Hereditary
Coproporphyria or one of its mutations)

I know that the reason the stabbing pain is back is due to the Interferon I was taking for my "new" disease, Polycythemia Vera. I had almost gotten over it, for many years, only having it a few times a year. I am off Interferon now for 12 days, so I may go back to my usual state as far as the spasms and pain goes.

One thing which indicates a Porph connection is that I get the "hug" when I have a severe trigger such as the formaldehyde in flu shots or polyethelene glycol which occurs in many drugs and in one form of Interferon called Pegasys (it's the Pegalating or timed-release agent in Pegasys). it is in MANY drugs and cosmetics, which I do well to skip--I read a whole lot of labels. I get it from mercury in flu shots, I meant to say, but of course there is often formaldehye in shots like that too, including the Interferon I was taking. So I'm not giving up my Porph dx, just saying I get "the hug" too.

re: MMJ

i put in a call to Desert Springs Cancer Center. One of the physicians is doing research and they may be looking for test subject other than cancer. If I can obtain MMJ without the prohibitive cost, that would be great.

My hug does not come with as much pain as some of you seem to have. But Trish, MMJ may be a good course of action if you can tolerate smoking and getting relief immediately.

We can try something down along in the fall. Maybe I will come to Tucson with the vaporizer and you can see if it helps. DD moved back to PHX but if I go for CCSVI, I may end up at Tucson facility.

Since I've been diagnosed for three years, and even beyond that, I've had this off and on pain under my left rib cage that sometimes go to my back. Some of you have described this feeling of a golf ball. Do you mean that it just feels like something is in there? Or do you actually feel a bump or a knot in there? I have had an US, CT scan and a gastroscopy which nothing has showed up on any of these. My labs are all normal. I just wonder if what I have been feeling for years is this hug. When I think of a hug I think of a squeezing sensation...don't know if I could describe it as that. My colon is sluggish much of the time...constipated. I am planning on getting that magnesium and starting that in a low dosage.:

My hug is mostly on my right side, up under my rib cage. For years it felt like someone squeezing my liver, then it changed to feel like someone tugging my liver. As the years have passed the area has grown side ways, and somedays I get the full frontal treatment, feeling like too tight a band around me, yet it feels like someone is trying to roll my diaphram up and under into my rib cage. roll it like a rug. its painful! I normally get hiccups when I get the hug. I am told the phrenic nerve controls the diaphram so its not surprising.

Xanax took away the panic attack I was having and gave me mild relief
Klonopin gave me relief but kept me awake and aggitated.
Ativan does help, but the next day I feel it again.
I have no desire to go back on gabepentin. i felt horrible on it.

I have days and weeks that can pass by with no word from it, and then...BLAMMO I roll over and its there. it can range in intensity from someone pushing on me or holding a firm hand against me to someone really trying to yank out my liver. I think for a long time the MDs thought I was making it up seeking drugs, till I screamed at one. "did I ASK you for drugs? NO! What I asked for was an answer!" he didnt see me again. Grouch!

Answer? From neuro? hard to get!

So many stories of people who can't get an answer as to what something even is. He probably should have told you, Dejibo, that this is a spastic reaction caused by malfunctioning nerves, just like most MS is. I am sure the Hug is spasticity. At least in me it is. Spasticity can feel like different things, all the way from golf ball to strong pulling motion that makes cramps. Why couldn't he just say that? Because the situation is hopeless and he does not want to verbalize that?

I must say I've had some relief. Choosing food very carefully, always avoiding saturated fats, which Dr. Swank would say can trigger an MS reaction. Red meat will almost always give me this hug. Klonopin in small doses helps me, sorry it does not help you Dejibo. I take less than a child's dose; maybe you are trying too large a dose which could have a paradoxical reaction. And of course one must have enough magnesium and calcium. Equal amounts cal and mag are about right, and I take mine separately. I had
very little "hug" for years until I tried Interferon, on this regimen. Now it's better, although other things are not. B1 helps too. I use 100 mg a day.

What I need now is help for neuropathy, very painful neuropathy in feet. No real help, although wearing the right shoes and sox and keeping the toes clean and exercised helps.