How are you doing today Kelly?

It seems a little better. At least when I lay down I don't feel quite so suffocated. Just like MS it's unpredictable......better some days and worse others. The bad days just make me appreciate the good ones that much more.

Thanks for checking on me.

Glad you're feeling better Kitty...thanks for bringing this up. I never would have known about how to "fix" this without reading the great advice you got.

Could I ask some questions?
First of all. I am sorry you are having these problems. It is good there is a place like this to get help and support. I wish you all the best and hope you will be doing much better soon
I have not been diagnosed. But I do have some brain lesions. I have so many unresolved issues. I have a tight pressure in upper chest and throat area, that almost feels like a spasm. After a while og squesing it seems to travel further down in the chest, and it ends up with a pain around my whole ribcage and and a tight pain right across the mid back. Yes, it does indeed cause me to feel as if I am not catching my breath properly, but I am not really short of breath, just feel airhunger. Does this sound like the MS hug? The doctors have not found the reason for this symptom, but they did find some sort of lesion in the bronchi that I will have biopsied.

When the "HUG" comes, how long does it last?

These symptoms sound like the ones I get when the "hug" is especially bad.

I guess it's different for everyone.....like MS is. My symptoms can last several days or as long as a month or more. There's no predicting how long it will stay.

It can be scary, especially if you don't know what's causing it. I hope your biopsy comes back clear and you feel better soon. When you have MS it's easy to blame annoying symptoms on it but always be aware that it could be other things, too.

Omigosh Kelly

That describes it pretty much for me too - and Synnoves's comments are similar to my experiences as well. When it first happened to me, I went to a doctor, described it and she referred me to a cardiologist who found nothing (although I certainly did experience an arrhythmia which was probably due to panic when I was having breathing difficulties).

I told my neurologist about it at my next routine visit and he told me that in the absence of another diagnosis it was most likely the 'hug'.

Soooo.....thanks for the arms up idea - I didn't know that one but I will certainly try that next time.

Cheers

Lyn

That sounds exactly like what happens to me! I get it up to my throat as well like a spasm and sometimes causes me to have to concentrate very hard on swallowing. It's usually accompanied by a burning sensation in my throat. For me it really comes and goes a lot throughout the day but will hang around for weeks and then disappear.

Variations of the hug are too many to count! It's an individual thing. Which makes it hard to decide if it's "just the hug" or something else that might require medical intervention.

Very good point Kelly! A little over a year ago I had not only my usual hug on my left ribs but it extended up to the center of my chest. I definitely went and had it checked out. The muscles were so spastic that it caused costochondritis. But, they kept me overnight at the hospital and did some cardiac testing just to be sure it was not my heart. Some minor things showed up in the testing, nothing that warranted medication at this point (PVC's). It's always better to get it checked out than assume it is from MS.