Trip to ER
 

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??

:hug:

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

:hug: Friend :hug: 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.....:hug:

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. :)

Thank you all.
 

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

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 :confused:), 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. :confused:

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"...:eek:

Thanks for your input. :hug:

:(
 

Friend, I'm sorry you're going thru this right now. Yuck. I hope you can get to the bottom of it and FAST!!

~k

I've broken down my prior response to the critical parts below, because the sensation is very specific and follows an exact pattern each time:

The pain occurs between my ribs, at the bottom . . .
First I'd get a soreness (like internal bruising) feeling . . .
then like labor pains in that it hightens and then lets up . . .
over about the next 15 min would escalate to "all on" pain . . .
eventually it was one long contraction sensation.

So ultimately, I am in state of constant pain . . . but the lead-up always includes the bruised feeling (that's my warning), then "contractions" that escalate and retract, just like labour. If I can catch it at that point (with Advil), I never get the "all on" pain . . . but if I don't, that pain is bad enough that I can not even talk for entire 'attack', usually lasting another 30 min. One time it lasted about 60 min though, and I couldn't even go to work the following morning because it left me so "bruised" feeling and sore. :(

I wondered about it and the MS when I first started researching, because my first sign of UC was in about 1981, and although I didn't have my first "official" MS attack till 1991, in retrospect, I had had MS symptoms dating back to the late 70's. So, I tried to put the two diseases together too . . .

There are a lot of PwMS who have IBS, which presents similar to Crohn's and UC, but just not as severe. Once we have a MS dx though, and start having bowel problems, chances are some people are just automatically categoried with "IBS" unless they start bleeding or something. No doubt that is what would have happened to me if I hadn't started bleeding that one time, and/or if it hadn't occurred before I knew about the MS . . .

There is a part of the colon that is right between the lowest part of ribs (transverse colon, or something like that), but that is not the only place UC pain can occur, apparently. I have always had the pain in exactly the same place every time though, so that must be where I get "ulcered".

Cherie

PS. Didn't you mention having bowel issues recently too?

Cherie

Sometimes you can have a stone left in the duct. Sometimes it can be hard to see/fine. IF you have it again, demand an ultra sound of the area. They may have you stand WHILE e/s you so they may be able to see the stone drop (that is what they had to do for me).

I have no experience with the MS hug, so I can't answer that.

Could it have been gas pain? GERD?

Hope you are feeling better!!! And hope you don't get it again!

Glad to hear you are feeling better today Friend, I hope it continues to go away.....

Sounds a little like my reaction to morphine that I was given for a severe headache in ER once.

Mine was at the top of my ribs tho. They think it might have been the morphine messing with my pancreas (pancreitis,sp).

Awful pain, worse than labor and would just come in waves and go on and on! No more morphine for me.

Yes, I did. I am learning so much.... I didn't realize there was a section of colon as high up as the ribs. I am going to give this some thought.
Thank you for the input.:)

I am continuing to feel better.
 

Tried going back to work Thursday.. but could stay only a couple of hours. Seems things take a lot longer to bounce back from than they used to. I go back to my neuro Tuesday. Maybe he can shed some insight or lead me in a direction for some answers. Thanks everyone!:grouphug: