I have had quite a week. Sunday evening my husband called an ambulance I was in so much rib pain. It subsided enough, that I didn't go ahead and let them take me. But then, later in the night, it started up again. So we went to the E.R. which is about 60 miles away. They did CT Scan, EKG, blood tests, but couldn't find what was the cause. They initially thought it might me a stone left from the gallbladder surgery last Monday...but didn't find anything that would relate it to the surgery.

I kept asking if it was the ms rib banding. They all acted like they had never heard such a thing. My neuri wasn't there. So it was all drs I had never seen before. It finally died down Monday, so I just came on home. It's so scary to not know what to do when it hurts so much. I have never been a complainer, just withstand pain and go on. But this was at least equal to my labor pain with no breathe time in between. The spells would last about an hour. Then would subside for a while and start up again. The morphene wasn't even completely stopping it.

I seem okay right now. I'm thinking I may need to find a neurologist who is more specialized with MS. He is a good doctor and maybe he will have some ideas when I do get to talk with him. But it's such a helpless feeling.

Thanks for listening!
~friend

Next time, maybe you could ask for a small amount of Baclofen to see if that helps. Baclofen is an anti-spasmodic/muscle relaxer med

http://www.drugs.com/baclofen.html

I had an ulser after my GB surgery...could that be it??

im stubborn about going to docs and ER, but after surgery and u get sharp pain u go dont chance it glad u finally went better to be safe than sorry, yeah i know its annoying u go and no answer, at least it wasnt a bad answer .

getting a neuro who is an MS specialist may not be a bad idea

hope you are not over doing it, take it easy, good hunting on ms doc

Friend I hope you're feeling better now. It's so scary when the reason for the pain is unknown but it's bad enough to warrant a trip to the ER. I'm glad it's subsided some now. It's also frustrating when the doctors and nurses in the ER look at you like you're crazy when you ask MS related questions - it's frightening how much they DON'T know about the disease.

I hope today is better for you.....

Any better today, Friend?

I had this same kind of trip to the er a couple of months ago but I hadn't just had surgery! Have you had a chance to speak with your regular docs? I hope you're feeling better today.

I am feeling a lot better today. Staying home from work and trying not to overdo. Thanks everyone!

Your description reminds me of a pain that I started getting in the early 80's, that I visited the ER several times with.

The pain was between my ribs, at the bottom, and (now, after having MS and babies) I would probably best describe it as a bad spasm or contraction feeling. It was very painful though, and I normally couldn't talk or barely breath when it was all on. It would eventually have me in a fetal position on the floor . . .

What would happen is I'd get a soreness (like internal bruising) feeling, which over about the next 15 min, would eventually escalate to "all on" pain in that hole at the bottom of the rib area, and sometimes even in my back. The pain did feel like labor pains in that it hightened and then would let up, at least for the first while, but eventually it was one long contraction sensation.

They suspected a gallbladder problem (even though it is not in the gallbladder area ), but after plugging me full of meds, they'd send me home with no answers as well. This occurred one time only, once every 6 months, for about 4 yrs.

Finally one time I started passing blood instead of stool, and they took me in acute care for a colonoscopy. I was dx with Ulcerative Colitis and sulfa meds to manage it over the years. The meds didn't help with the immediate pain, but over a few days they must have affected the "ulcered" part of the disease process because the pain would let up for another several months.

I have since learned a fairly simple trick for managing the acute pain that comes with this. As soon as I feel the "bruised" feeling come on (I would normally ignore that level of pain, so I have to be disciplined), I take 2 X Advil. I don't know why, but if I get it early enough in the process (within 10 minutes), it STOPS the intermittent/labour and all on pain from ever coming on.

This didn't help the disease process though, and I normally end up getting another attack within the same or next day. That's when I start on the Sulfa drug . . .

The LDN I am taking for the MS seems to have really helped this, and I haven't had to use the Sulfa drugs over the last 3 yrs. I have had the sensation coming on, but once I take the 2 X Advil, and I've never had another bought of pain (later that day, or for about another year).

Something to consider anyway . . .

Cherie

So, Cherie, was the Ulcerative Colitis something brought on by MS? Or something separate from MS?

Yes, labor contractions was how intense it was. Only, at the worst of it, there was no rest time... it would stay solid for a good 30 minutes with or without meds. And it does make a difference having gone through childbirth as far as understanding just how intense the pain is. Some of the youngins working in the ER, I know, just doesn't quite get it. They would get a little impatient when I couldn't "just calm down and slow your breathing"...

Thanks for your input.