New year, new pain

[amalia66]

Beginning this year, I started to experience burning pain and spasms under my left lower rib that spread to my back.

I never experienced anything like this before, and suspected it may be shingles, but I had no rash. Went to PCP. He said it was just rib pain and should go away within 2 weeks. The pain kept spreading down, ultimately reaching the front and back of my hip. The pain is also joined by horrible spasms on my left side. I can't even dress myself properly, because it is painful for the clothing to touch my skin. I assumed it may be an MS hug and went to my neuro. She offered me clonazepam or amithriptylin, which I am scared to take.

My fear of taking these sort of medications stems from ten years ago, when I had a burning pain in my arm and my neurologist prescribed Tegretol. After I took only half of the prescribed dose , I nearly lost consciousness and was extremely dizzy for three days--unable to walk. When the medication side effects finally subsided, I found that my right side was paralyzed and had to go to the hospital and take steroids. The only medication I'm not scared of taking is Tylenol and Advil, but they're not helping me with my current pain. I don't take any DMDs.

I hope this pain is MS related, since I also have an additional problem. I'm a 51-year-old peri-menopousal woman. I haven't had my period for two months. When it finally started, I had heavy bleeding for twelve days. Then it seemingly ended, for two days. Now it started again. I think that the pain I described above is not related to my female organs, since I have no pelvic pain--with my pain specifically being on the left side of my lower back. I had a regular pelvic ultrasound a year ago. I don't want to contact the gynecologist. Can anyone suggest any non-medical ways to get rid of the pain (I do stretches and put ice on the area that hurts, but that doesn't help)? Any thoughts and advice would be appreciated.

[SNOOPY]

Hi amalia66

I can't even dress myself properly, because it is painful for the clothing to touch my skin.

The above quote caught my attention. By your description this part sounds like Allodynia.

Allodynia where something, like a light touch, feels painful even though it shouldn’t cause pain. https://www.mstrust.org.uk/a-z/altered-sensations

I have experienced Allodynia as part of an exacerbation. It was quite painful for anything touching me (clothes, socks/shoes, bedding, a hug...anything. My best description: Imagine your nerves are exposed or on top of your skin.

This would go away once the exacerbation resolved but my feet have been left with hypersensitivity.

I haven't had my period for two months. When it finally started, I had heavy bleeding for twelve days. Then it seemingly ended, for two days. Now it started again.

Hormonal fluctuations (ovulation and menses) can cause a temporary increase of symptoms, this is also seen in women who have other health issues and isn't exclusive to MS. If you tract your cycle you should see the ebb and flow of your symptoms due to hormones. I am almost 55 and have not hit menopause yet. I have found I do better, MS wise, when I don't have my cycle.

Working with a Physical Therapist might be helpful for your muscle spasms (spasticity). I found the combination of Physical Therapy and a muscle relaxer worked best. Clonazepam isn't usually the first choice for muscle spasms although it can help.

Information on Spasticity:
https://www.mssociety.org.uk/what-is...and-management
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Sym...oms/Spasticity

[amalia66]

Thank you, Snoopy, for responding. I’ve read your other posts and you’re extremely smart so I appreciate your feedback. Your experience with MS has been similar to mine, up until my current attack.
I’m sure that MS attacks don’t happen randomly, but are triggered by something. My first attack was triggered by a horrible flu. The second attack was triggered by eating ice cream, since my MS reacts to milk. My current attack is due to my severe stress because of a family situation.

Before this attack, I also found out I have problems with my hemoglobin and iron, which are lower than the lowest normal range. I read an interesting article that there’s this a hypothesis that MS attacks can happen when there’s a depletion of iron in the blood—for example when a woman gives birth, and she loses a lot of blood and iron, which can cause an MS attack.

Thank you for providing the links which do a great job of explaining everything. You mentioned that clonazepam is usually not the first choice for muscle spasms, what is the first choice? Baclofen?
I took Baclofen at the beginning of my MS journey, and except for causing severe headaches, it didn’t do anything for me. But I already mentioned in my first post, that I’m very scared of these type of medications...

[Temagami]

You can make or buy magnesium cream or oil - the oil is dissolved magnesium in water and it feels oily. You spray it on and it relaxes your muscles. You can google Wellness Mama´s recipe for making your own- you need to buy a special kind of mg salt crystal. Epsom salt does not dissolve in the cream, but would work in a bath. The homemade cream drops pain levels significantly within 20 minutes.

You can google ephatic transmission or coupling of nerves.

You can ask to check your vitamin D3 level and address a low level. MSers need more than the regular population.