what is it?

[diguilio]

hi.....can someone please explain to me what a MS hug is and what it feels like? thank you

[Seasha]

Hi diguillo - I have experienced the so called "MS Hug" only once in my MS journey and to me it felt like a boa constrictor was wrapping itself around my torso. A bad squeezing feeling that persisted for weeks. I would try different positions to alleviate the feeling but to no avail.

It is basically due to spasms in the intercoastal muscles that are between your ribs. You might also the MS hug if you have transverse myelitis which is caused by an inflammation of the spinal cord. Costochondritis is another condition (which is inflammation of the cartilage that connects your ribs) and it can also trigger the dreaded MS hug.

Here is more information from Healthline: http://www.healthline.com/health/mul...-hug#WhatIsMS1

Hope this helps you. Do you feel you are experiencing this? If so, talk to your doctor. There are meds that should help you!

[1936siols]

MS hug

To me the MS hug was like a tight binding just under the breast that kept being pulled tighter. for me this lasted continuously for several years. I never heard it called the MS hug until years later. It feels like the brath is being squeeed out of you.

Lois

[Goldfinch]

If you've ever been punched in the solar plexus, that area directly between your abdomen and your ribcage, you know it right away because it leaves you breathless. First off, it hurts, second, it feels like your stomach muscles are cramping up, and there is a facet of anxiety to it where you wonder how long the feeling will last and will it dissipate or get worse?

Now take those symptoms and map them out over a timeline, from the initial realization that something is wrong but you can't quite put your finger on it, up to the realization that something is definitely wrong and you're starting to get concerned, past the hope that it will settle down, into the feeling that well, maybe it won't get worse, through the getting worse part and past the feeling of "I can't breathe, it hurts" to the stage where you think maybe if I don't breathe or move it will hurt less, to the intensity of "Oh dear God I want muscle relaxers NOW and I don't care if they make me comatose."

Paragraphs not especially important because hey, your MS hug doesn't let up or give you a break, you don't need it to read either, right.

And then the point where warmth floods you, comfort returns like a fuzzy security blanket, and you talk yourself into thinking "whew, thank goodness that's over. Glad I won't have to deal with that again" even though you know you probably will at some point, and by then you'll have consoled yourself with the thought that next time you'll have acquired muscle relaxants or some really good booze to take the edge off.