From the article: Tips for Managing the "MS Hug"
Now it's your turn to share your strategies for feeling better when you are experiencing the dreaded "MS hug." Don't worry if the way that you find relief seems silly, ineffective or downright bizarre - you may know just the thing to help out someone else that is suffering and at the end of their rope with this symptom. After all, when the doctors shrug and well-meaning friends tell us that we "just need to relax" when we describe the pain and annoyance of the "MS hug," it is from one another that we can really get support, understanding, and maybe even a little help. Share Your Tip
ms hugs
- My first MS hug was in May, I thought I was having a heart attack, took an asprin and called an ambulance nothing showed up on the ekg. I eased off before the got me to the hospital. I take a baby asprin everyday it seems to help. except at night when they really get worse. then I chew 2 of them. alot cheaper than prescriptions. the Dr prescribed Baclophn 3 times a day. for the past couple of weeks I have had one every night around 7:00pm I can't figure out why.any other help on easing the pain of the MS hug?
- —Guest mendy
no more hugs!
- I love a good hug, but this one, i dont like at all. It is painful and scary, especially when you dont know whats happening, i have only been diagnosed recently so before that, i thought i was breaking in two! Any suggestions would be great to relieve it, sometimes though, you just feel so exhausted that you wonder if you have the energy to relieve it! If you know hat i mean! InkedMS
- —Guest InkedMS
MS "hug"
- For me, the "hug" just feels like a tight squeezing around my lower ribcage, like a girdle, I suppose, though I've never worn one, LOL. I guess I'm one of the fortunate ones who although I get the "hug" it's definitely manageable. It's just annoying.
- —kendallvon
Hug or Intestinal problem
- I have not been diagnoised with MS.Although I have everything but.I should of already had another MRI on my brain & optical nerves but had to put it off due to hubby being ill. I am having this pain that sounds like what all of you call a hug but mine is always below my diaphram. It start on my right upper side works around to the left and than into my back like a band. A bra seems to make it worse so I never ware one at home. It feels like my insides are being ripped. It worsens when I bend forward just a hair. Does this sound like a hug as yaw discribe? Several Doctors have thought over the past 5 or 6 years that I had MS.First MRI had only age lishons.Mine eases up if I tilt back just so so in my recliner.
- —Guest Carol
MS hug relief
- Yes,whoever thought of that had a sick sense of humor indeed. I experienced it for the first time today. It felt like I had been in a boxing match in my sleep. Much the same way as having cracked ribs feels like. I was afraid to take a deep breath because it hurt so bad.I took lots of OTC pain pills and nothing touched it. I had a severe headache all day too.Finally I walked into the walk-in freezer at work and that calmed the constricting sensation. Most of the day it felt like an Anaconda was wrapped around me. From now on,I will call it the snake hug. I used to love hugs,not so much anymore.
- —BonitaBon
every other day
- i was diagnosed with ms three years ago although i am sure i have had it for many years prior to that the ms hug started about three years ago as well and what i have noticed it comes to me every other day like clock work i call it my good days and my bad days and pretty plan my life around it. i have never really found any relief but now that i have found this web sight i am getting lots of great suggestions thank you everyone i wish you all well and i hope that someday they will find a cure for this disease. guest deb
- —Guest deb
MS HUG
- I have had MS for 16+ years. I have been lucky-one attack when I was diagnosed and then smaller manageable ones through the years, but now-POW! With my latest round of attacks, I have experienced the MS Hug! It has a mind of it's own and comes and goes when it likes. It usually stays around for what seems like an eternity when I am fatigued. While I do not like this unwelcome guest, it looks like it is here to stay. It is more like a band that is put around your mid section that tries to squeeze the breath out of you! And it likes to travel! Sometimes it is so bad, I think I am having a heart attack! But then, it decides to go and reappear at another location. (Sometimes very painful and other times mild and manageable.) With this latest attack I had switched meds and I wanted to blame it on that! My doctor let me know that what I was dealing with was part of the new MS symptoms I have acquired. (One of many this time!) All I have to say is: When can I give them back?
- —Guest Donna Kramer
Torso Squeeze
- I first had the feeling 37 years ago while pregnant with my twin boys. Had no idea what it was. Applying pressure to my ribs helped. Now 37 years later, my 10th year with M.S. , I realize my "hug" was showing it self years before I knew what was to come. Ice, laying down, stretching, taking tight close off, are all things that help me, along with a glass of white wine. I do find relief in massage, just rubbing the area and stretching it out. After reading the above blogs, I realize I need to pay more attention when the "hug" comes a calling. I use Robaxin when the tightness is just out of control.
- —Guest Jane
My tips
- I only eat small meals when I've got particularly bad rib pressure, use a hot water bottle or pad, sit reclined back in chair to take pressure off ribs and take ibuprofen - these are my best tips.
- —Guest Chrissi
MS Hug or Something Else?
- Though having had symptoms for 5 years, I was just diagnosed with MS about 6 months ago & am doing well with betaserone. I had a "hug" sensation a few months ago, squeezing the air out, but it was quick. For the last couple of months it feels like my ribs are badly bruised (under my breast), so I have tried new bras...basically not wearing bras at all doesn't seem to help. It does feel like a tight bandage is around me all of the time, but I have no issues breathing & do not think I am having a heart attack. Has anyone any experience with this type of rib pain and do you think it is related to MS or something else?
- —faithkaiser
chest compression
- I'm in the process of being tested for MS. Just the other day, in fact, I had this very unusual symptom...the feeling of an elephant stepping on my chest. It freaked me out so much I couldn't even monitor how long it lasted or what it did really. But it at least started with this chest compression feeling right above my breasts, right on my ribcage. Very frightening...and I was having what I call a 'full body hot flash'...just hot and sweating from head to toe...and then weak and wasted for about an hour afterwards.
- —Guest Kitty
What helps you deal with the "MS hug?"
- At first, I thought I was having a heart attack; as many people have shared as well. I also get the band around my head...at times it feels as if part of head has fallen asleep! i cope by recognizing what is happens-doing this lessens the fear and simple lay/sit, or move around in whatever way that offers relief. I have learned that patience and an optimistic attitude help :)
- —Spitfire_Annie
I'm dieing!
- My heart races, an elephant is sitting on my chest, I feel I have been socked in the back-I get nauseaus-vision blurs-can't breathe-vision fades-pain down right arm-electrical sensations-legs go numb. It is the most horrifying experience, and I feel so alone with it. I don't go to E.R. because to be told it's nothing would devastate me.
- —Guest erika badore
hugs
- Ah so the "anxiety attacks I was supposed to be having are really MS? Thanks- I'm fed up with sticking my fingers into my eyes to slow the pulse, and/or deep breathing techniques. I am sure I am a bit stressed with it all having just emigrated, but it feels like a heart attack- pain and tightness round my chest and often knifing out through my back. I did have bad dyspepsia but am on nexium which has helped a bit.
- —Guest carrie
Desmodium for respiratory issues
- Desmodium Ascendens tincture or tea makes it much easier to clear the chest and throat of mucous. It makes coughs work better. It is also a pain reliever, smooth muscle relaxer, and used for asthma, congestive heart failure, back pain, arthritis, and hepatitis. Its main side effect is to heal the liver and improve liver function in a spectacular way. Lab values normalize even with a Hep C infection. I keep it in the house always. I get mine at wholeworldbotanicals.com.
- —triara1
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