MS Hug / Breathing Issues
 

Does anyone who deals with the "hug" also have a difficult time getting a good, deep breath?

I wouldn't call this "shortness of breath"......it's just more difficult to get a satisfyingly deep breath. Kind of like stopping a yawn before it's all finished. That feeling of not quite getting the whole thing.

Whenever I deal with the "hug" I have a nagging pain in my right side right below my underarm and above my waist. Feels like sort of a "catch" you get in your side when you run too much (haven't done that in years :rolleyes:).

It's much more noticeable when I lie down and especially on my side. So, I sleep on my back 99% of the time. Tried using another pillow but that just made it worse. Seems the more my head is inclined the worse it gets.

Does anybody else deal with this and, if you do, what has worked for you in terms of helping these symptoms?

Kelly, so sorry you are dealing with the dreaded hug.:( I get the breathing trouble too. The best way I have learned to get a deep breath is to raise your arms above your head. You can do this while laying on your back or doing a yoga pose (I can't remember the name of it) where you are curled up on your knees with your face down and stretch your arms out in front of you. Obviously, I do this on my bed as getting off the floor isn't always an option.:D Also, when sitting in a chair, sit up as straight as you can and raise your arms over your head. Most of the time this helps me get a good breath.

Ice helps my hug the most but others say they like heat. Since I get a lot of nerve pain in the area as well, heat makes it worse for me. SalonPas help too as does magnesium cream.

I hope you start feeling better soon.:hug:

So sorry that you are dealing with this too Kitty.

The HUG and a few other not so nice Sx have kept me from sitting for very long over the last 3 weeks. Thus have only been checking in briefly here from time to time. Hurts too much during and after :(.

I get some temporary relief from the HUG pain and inability to take a full breath by pressing (or having someone else press) on the abdominal muscles just under the rib cage. Just push on one area, hold for around 30 seconds, then move to another area; or the muscles will get sore, especially if they are in spasm.

It helps more if you can push the abdomen outward and try to breathe deeply while pressure is being applied. Hurts like heck...sometimes even refers sharply into the back; but after just a few minutes and some breaths like this, you will most likely be able to catch your breath and the pain will abate for a little while.

This also seems to help with digestion and bowel function.

The HUG pain, spasms and breathing problems come back for me if I stay in any position for very long (especially sitting), and after eating.

Good luck. Hope that you feel better soon :hug:.

With love, Erika

I think I get this too. Thanks for tip of raising arms over head, that seems to work great! Problem is I can't stay like that for long lol. Mine is more of a feeling like someone is sitting on my upper abdomen. Like a lot of pressure. Occasionally it is accompanied by horrible back spasms in which case I just have to lay flat on the floor for awhile. Sitting definitely makes it 10 times worse. Maybe it's not a hug, not sure.

I remembered to raise my arms above my head......that really does help alot. Seems like I yawn much more when this is happening. Must be my bodies way of getting more air. I've had this before but don't remember how long it lasted. It's so tiring.....as if I'm not dealing with fatigue already :rolleyes:......this just makes it worse.

Thanks for all the suggestions and advice. It's always something it seems. :rolleyes:

I hope you get some relief soon!!!

How are you doing today Kelly? :hug::hug:

It seems a little better. At least when I lay down I don't feel quite so suffocated. :rolleyes: 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. :hug:

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.

the MS hug
 

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.

M.S.Hug v M.S. shortage of breath.
 

Hi Kitty.
For the past twenty years I have learned to live with M.S.
The understanding that each person has different challenges is paramount within my limited experience with this condition.

Regarding the M.S. Hug may I share my experience with you.
The Hug is frightening.
For me it was extremely hard to breath.
It was painful in the center of my chest.
At one point I almost passed out due to the inability to breath effectually.
Once in Hospital after the normal heart scans had given me a "Heart as strong as an Ox" I was then informed that I had what I call a M.S. heart attack.
After this I experienced for the first time the M.S. Hug, which was in simple terms a reduced copy cat symptom of the M.S. heart attach.
With the M.s. hug I have pain with the reduced ability to breath effectively.

The M.S. Shortage of breath is different in my experience to the M.S. Hug.
With the M.S. Shortage of breath I find breathing becomes very shallow.
It tends to last about 30 minutes, after which normal breathing resumes for a while, then the shortage of breath starts all over again.
The M.S. shortage of breath tends to last longer in each eposode than the M.S. Hugs.

This has been my experience.
I understand that it may be different for each other M.S. person.
I trust that this will help in some way.

Best Regards
Mike

I don't have those symptoms anymore, but I recall my experiences being
similar to yours Mike, in as much as the Hug and Shortness of Breath
being two different symptoms. Not that they both can't happen at the
same time, for others and do.

Thank you and welcome to our little club.:)

I have had the hug on the left side of my rib cage for almost six years. You could draw a line down the center of my stomach around to my spine. And that is where I have the hug. It is right below my bra line. My neiro calls it a girding effect instead of hug.

It feels like my ribs and back are being squeezed or crushed depending on the day. That is also the area where I first experienced numbness -- my left side of my body. Most of the time it tolerable. I would estimate the pain in the 3 to 4 range. But for the last two days it has been horrible. I have tried taking advil and rubbing a pain relieving gel on it that has menthol it it. The gel helps for a few minutes. I have tried epsom lotion in the past, but it has never helped. Muscle relaxants do not have any effect. The only thing that relieves the pain a bit is lying on my left side with my ribs against the mattreess. You would think that would make it hurt more. But I do not want to spend all of my time in bed:rolleyes: I had a bit is a crying episode a few minutes ago. I have not cried in months because of pain. But I have discovered that crying just makes the pain worse.:(

Barb - :hug::hug::hug: I have been where you are today many times. I took have a "funnel" line that follows right along the dermatones. I get the muscle spasm along that line as well as nerve pain. It is not fun. I too find that laying on my left side, the side of the hug, helps some. But, if I lay on it too much, like all day, it makes it worse. The area also gets numb and I have no feeling in those areas. Hang in there and let us know how you are doing.

Just went to the drugstore and bought some icy/hot back patches. Trying that and tylenol.

Trish -- do you always have that feeling of pressure/ squeezing in your rib cage? Mine never goes away. It is just worse at times.

Barb - Yes!!! It's always there to varying degrees. Most of the time it is like you said, a 3 to 4 on the pain scale. But, there are times when it is excrutiating - times where I just want to tear that area of my body off. The pain can be so bad you feel crazy from the pain. You can't think, eat, etc. and feel like you are just going to pass out from the pain. I only get that way a couple of times a month. I do take gabapentin for it and have done well with it. It does help the nerve pain.

I did find that regular massages do help it quite a bit and I have done so much better with the hug since I started getting regular massages.

Also, the area gets swollen too and I use ice packs to help it out. If the area feels too nervy, I don't use heat as that seems to make it worse for me. On those days, a warm shower as opposed to a heating pad or heat pack, helps some (although, the numb spots feel weird in the shower:D). But for the most part, I find that ice helps me the most.

I don't take ibuprofen because of my stomach and Tylenol doesn't even touch the pain, even the extra strength. So, the only medications I take for it is the gabapentin, as I mentioned. Also, SalonPas do help some and I always carry a patch with me just in case.

Feel better, Barb.:hug::hug:

Icy/hot patch did not help. I could not get it on smothly and it was just annoying me.