ms hug. tell me about it..
 

I've done a search but came back with no results. i apologise for asking the same old questions as you've no doubt heard many times.

I was wondering about ms hug, your experiences, how you differentiate it from other ailments and when it hits hardest.

This question arises from my experience today. I've felt like I've had someone/something tapping on my ribs all day. Just a gentle tap, a nerve twitch, a tremble...

any ideas what's going on?

If it feels like a twitch, it's probably a nerve making a muscle twitch..

The Hug feels (to me) like someone is pressing really hard on one side of my ribs. Or like I ate a lot of food and the food is trying to get out thru my ribcage...or like someone is tightening a belt around my ribcage, very tightly.

I've got the twitch in the back of my ribcage, probably because I've been up with insomnia all night, and I was playing Sims3 for waaaay too long tonight without getting up and moving around.

Now I've got a headache AND someone is tapping me on the back...and I'm really tired.

Hi,

I experienced what might be 'the hug' 2 weeks ago. A tight pressure under my bra line and stabbing pains.
Only lasted 5 mins. Then the next 2 days a really mild tight-band sensation like my bra was too tight.

I used this website to read more when it happened to me:

http://ms.about.com/od/signssymptoms/a/ms_hug_pain.htm

I hope it goes away for you soon!

under my right rib cage, I feel like someone is tugging on my muscle. I feel like the muscle is trying to roll over. I can sometimes literally feel that muscle tighten up, and spasm.

I spent years thinking I had a gallbladder issue (had it removed) or having some sort of liver or intestinal issue. (ct scans, mri's and so forth reveal nothing) the only explanation was when I was dx with MS, and someone explained the "hug" to me. I thought it would affect both sides, but for me its only one sided. The MD said it was common to be one side of the other.

If I rest when I feel it coming on, and or use a heat pad, or a TENS unit, and stretch to help it, I can prevent the full on painful yanking sensation that can start if I dont head it off. It can be painful.

I have it on my left side (under bra line) down to my hip. It feels as if something is squeezing my rib cage and spine, but just on the left side. You can draw a line down the center of my body. This was the area where I first experience numbness when I had my first flare. Mine has never gone away; it is just worse at certain times.

Having this all the is just awful! My hug comes a few times a year, for no apparent reason, it just happens. It only lasts from 10 minutes to about an hour.


gmi

Like Barb, it is a daily thing for me, just worse at times and on the left. I do not have abdominal reflexes on that side. They have been absent for a few years and I know won't be coming back. On a daily basis, I don't sit for too long as that irritates it.

The pain varies but during a flare I am flat on my back as just moving irritates it. Breathing is difficult as I am being squeezed and it is at those times that I call it the MS vise grip. Additionally, I at times have experience the feeling of a board being shoved in to my side, a burning ripping pain, and muscle spasms that can be seen. Truly, this is my most painful symptom and is constant to varying degrees.

To help with the pain, I use ice (which is good for nerve conduction) and put my arm above my head, which helps both the pain and with the breathing.

Sending you gentle, gentle cyber:hug:'s.

BTW - You can always tell where I am on my rib pain level by whether or not I have a bra on.:o Sometimes bras seem to irritate it more and cause more banding.

My experience with the hug has been a tight feeling right around my diaphram. Feels like I'm being squeezed by a boa constrictor.

For me to breathe easier, I need to sit like a queen with my arms resting on the back of a couch or oversized chair.

I get those twitchy spasms all over the place, and the chest area can be the worse. Sometimes my tummy will spasm so much it looks like a scene from Alien :D

Hang in there! :hug::hug:

hug back!
 

Something that helps me is too squeeze a cylindrical pillow (mine has those little silicone balls inside) against my chest with my arms.

Susie

I just sit really straight and still and try to relax and breathe through it.

ok, the first time I panicked and ended up going to hospital in a ambulance thinking i was maybe having a heart attack!!
(the 2nd 'big' one wasn't as bad as the 1st one).

This is *exactly* what I have. And this is my official first flare. Mine's been going for 3 hours today, with no sign of letting up. Someone suggested using a TENS unit and since I have one, I decided to try it. it does seem to help a bit (and I might have it in the wrong position too). But at least I'm not on the verge of crying anymore.

My mom has a TENS Unit, somewhere in the house...not sure where it went, but if I can find it, I'm going to try it the next time I have a bad Hug going on.

I considered trying it (if we could figure out where she put it...she forgets things) when I had bad pain in my hand from the numbness I've got going on right now. I wish we could find that TENS. I know it's in the house somewhere. My mom actually doesnt even remember ever having it. (like I said, she forgets a lot) but she used it for 10 months.

Hi Laurie! Welcome to NT! I have a TENS unit and it does help. Long story short, several years ago (before MS dx) I went to physical therapy to help with the pain along my ribcage. This is the routine that helped me the most and I still do now when the hug gets worse. Most days I just tolerate it; it's part of my everyday life. It used to come and go in phases and I have been dealing with it since 1996?? '97ish? Only now it is constant and never stops and I now know what it is.

1. Apply warm (not hot) moist heat for 10 to 20 minutes or take a warm bath (Epsom salt helps a lot).
2. Do the TENS unit for 10 to 20 minutes.
3. (Optional but helpful) If you have some who can give you a massage, have them massage your back.
4. Apply ice for 10 to 20 minutes.
*Give yourself a few minutes between each one. Don't go straight from the warm to the TENS to the ice. :eek::D

I have permanent severed/dead nerves in my ribcage extending in to my stomach (no abdominal reflexes on my left side). If you have something similar, don't apply the TENs lead to that area. You can burn yourself without realizing it.

I have spent many, many nights sleeping with an ice pack to help me sleep through the night/take some of the pain away. This usually happens during a spinal lesion flare. During those times, I know I will be down for a good week and it will take up to 8 weeks or more to feel better.

Hang in there Laurie!!! We all can relate to how you are feeling. Try different things and see what works best for you.:hug:

Yep, Laurie, we can all relate. I've been having a lot of trouble with the Hug this year. Like a lot of my symptoms, it just comes and goes, sometimes for hours, sometimes days, but never long or bad enough to be a full-on flare. For me, it feels like I've got a giant fist squashing my diaphragm vertically. I don't get any tapping, though. I also forgo the bra, and I take baclofen. It helps somewhat, and when combined with medical mj, I get better relief. Best thing for me is lying down. It feels so good when it ends and I can take a real deep breath again!

Lots of fun symptoms with this illness :cool: But then, I haven't heard of one that's "no so bad" just days that aren't so bad. They're like Fridays, and I live for them!

Hope you get relief soon.