Tight Belt around my Rib Cage

[minkeygirl]

A few months ago I started to feel like there was a belt around my rib cage just under my breasteses. I barely noticed it. Then a few months ago my back went into spasm and it set things off.

Now the belt is all the way around my rib cage and around the back. It moves up and down. As the day goes on it gets "tighter". If my back tightens up then it's even worse. And at it's worst it feels like someone jamming their fingers into my ribcage on both sides in the front. Every thing is symmetrical.

When I wake in the middle of the night or early morning it is not there but within minutes, even if I have not moved an inch, it starts to tighten. It starts from the back and then circles around to the front.

I have tried muscle relaxants and they do nothing. I saw my doctor Thursday and she felt it had more to do with nerves but to start she has me on Celebrex just to see. She mentioned gababentin which I have taken and won't take again. I also have issues with Lyrica. I took a Tylenol 3 with codeine and I got some relief for about 2 hours.

I can tell you it IS NOT Myofacsial trigger point, FM, MS, or Shingles. I don't care what it is but I need this to stop.

I'm so uncomfortable I have to be a contortionist to find a way to lay that is the least uncomfortable.

Has anyone had this and what did you do? And please no doom and gloom stories.

Thanks

 

[lansbergen]

I had the feeling like a belt was tightened over my ribcase. I think it is inflammed nerves. It is one of the things that went away with overall improvement using the immunemodulator.

The only other thing to do I can think of is trying Benzydaminehydrochloride cream. Might lessen the inflammation.

A few months ago I started to feel like there was a belt around my rib cage just under my breasteses. I barely noticed it. Then a few months ago my back went into spasm and it set things off.

 

[minkeygirl]

= It is one of the things that went away with overall improvement using the immunemodulator.

The only other thing to do I can think of is trying Benzydamine hydrochloride cream. Might lessen the inflammation.

Hi, Thanks @lansbergen. Is there a brand name for the cream? I'm having a hard time finding something. Do I just need the numbing agent since I'm on Celebrex?

What immune modulator are you using?

I see my ME doc January 10th so I'll talk to her about this too. I saw my regular doc who is clueless about ME/CFS.

 

[lansbergen]

Hi, Thanks @lansbergen. Is there a brand name for the cream? I'm having a hard time finding something. Do I just need the numbing agent since I'm on Celebrex?.

In the netherlands it is called Tantum, in the UK I think the name it Difflam. I do not know about other countries.

It is a COX2 inhibiter like Celebrex. If Celebrex does something for you, using Tantum/Difflam localy on top of it might do the tric but please check interactions.

 

[minkeygirl]

I found some stuff with lidocaine. I got 9 days worth of Celebrex. It was making me nauseas but that seems to have stopped. I'll see how it goes the next week and go from there.

I see my ME doc In January so if I haven't made any headway I'll ask her then.

Thanks

 

[minkeygirl]

Well, I woke around 3 a.m. which is normal for me and there was no problem at all. Whatever it is, muscular?, totally relaxed while I was sleeping. I took 1/2 of a Tylenol 3 with codeine, slept til 7:30 and it was still mostly gone.

I'm now laying with a heating pad on the front or back and although it feels good, I'm not sure how much it is helping.

I'm wondering if maybe it is hormonal? I'm going to stop the celebrex because it's making me nauseous and I don't think it's helping.

Very curious.

 

[WillowJ]

This article might help (it's from an MS site, but the main symptom is not unique to MS--I gather it's thought to be from spinal cord inflammation regardless of cause--and there is a differential diagnosis section):
http://www.msfocus.org/article-details.aspx?articleID=381

 

[minkeygirl]

@WillowJ, Not sure why you gave this to me. I believe I addressed this in my original post:

I can tell you it IS NOT Myofacsial trigger point, FM, MS, or Shingles.

I have tried muscle relaxants and they do nothing. I saw my doctor Thursday and she felt it had more to do with nerves but to start she has me on Celebrex just to see. She mentioned gababentin which I have taken and won't take again. I also have issues with Lyrica.

 

[WillowJ]

@WillowJ, Not sure why you gave this to me. I believe I addressed this in my original post:

I can tell you it IS NOT Myofacsial trigger point, FM, MS, or Shingles.

MS hug can be caused by other types of spinal inflammation. This is a new theory I have, that PWME can get MS hug.

from that site:

The MS Hug is not specific to MS. It can also occur with spinal cord inflammation, as in transverse myelitis. If you are experiencing the MS Hug, talk to your doctor. An MRI may be required to rule out other conditions, such as heart or gallbladder problems, lung disease, gastro-intestinal disorders, or inflammation of the cartilage between the ribs.

The more generic medicines do sound like stuff you have tried already, although knowing a potential cause (e.g. spinal inflammation, which could occur with ME, or cartilage inflammation, which if I'm not mistaken is costochondritis and is known to occur in us...or the noncomprehensive differential diagnosis list) could help you talk to your doctor or figure something else out.

If the description sounds accurate, you could look up other sites for more info. If it doesn't sound accurate, feel free to ignore.

 

[Valentijn]

@minkeygirl - one possibility is inflammation. It can cause a lot of pain, and will lock up my back at times - presumable by getting in the spinal joints?

There's also a virus or bacteria known for causing intense chest/rib pain. But I can't remember the name. Might have been one of the bartonella variations.

 

[minkeygirl]

My doc is pretty smart with medicine, not so much with ME, in fact not at all. I just sent her a message about an MRI or ultrasound as the next step.

Thanks all

 

[minkeygirl]

@WillowJ I just read that page, which I had seen before. Even if it's a non MS hug, the treatment is the same, and I'm unable to take the meds suggested, either they don't work, I had a bad reaction or addiction issues.

I'll let my doc work it out.

 

[minkeygirl]

UPDATE! OMG. I don't know if the celebrex started to work or because I was a contortionist yesterday in how I was laying or because some stuff that had been making me crazy for a few awhile resolved itself but last night the back spasm were gone AND the band was barely perceptible.

This morning too, I could and still can barely feel it. My doc is getting me an RX for flexeril and I'm gonna bound ibuprofen and see what happens but I know now that I can get this resolved.

You don't realize how much something is grating on you and changing how you think and feel until it's gone.

Color me relieved!

 

[katarina]

Sorry I know this is a super old post, but I get an MS hug as well. I have ME/CFS and have a lot of different kinds of nerve pain but this hug is by far the worst pain I experience. Did you ever end up finding something that helps? I've tried Gabapentin (bad) and the only thing that helps at all are cannabis topicals. I just wish I didn't have to stay up all night in this kind of pain.

 

[Oliver3]

@WillowJ, Not sure why you gave this to me. I believe I addressed this in my original post:

I can tell you it IS NOT Myofacsial trigger point, FM, MS, or Shingles.

I have tried muscle relaxants and they do nothing. I saw my doctor Thursday and she felt it had more to do with nerves but to start she has me on Celebrex just to see. She mentioned gababentin which I have taken and won't take again. I also have issues with Lyrica.

Have you had your spine looked at.
Your b vitamins checked? This could be muscles just losing power and spasming to compensate

 

[triffid113]

I have pain in a band around my rib cage sporadically and feel that it is inflammation around my heart due to high blood pressure. I have genetic high blood pressure which used to only manifest during pms due to hormone swing. I take calcium magnesium citrate, which helps tremendously, and is no doubt how I survived, since my b.p. is very high and was not diagnosed until 50, which is like pms-forever. When I get that now, I take extra cal-mag citrate, p5p, olive leaf extract, C, but those things take time. Sleep is a tremendous help but can't achieve if it hurts too much so I use DmSO on my ribcage and back (on clean skin - no lotions) and it fixes me up in 10 minutes. I told my bf if I ever have a heart attack or stroke to please apply DMSO. It takes down inflammation to let starved tissues get oxygen. I read that pain is caused by inflammation choking off oxygen to tissues...so I use DMSO for all pain and it works for me. I've used for sciatica, tendonitis, headache, and rib pain that goes around to the back. So check your blood pressure to be sure that's not your problem, but in any event dmso cuts pain.

 

[belize44]

I have pain in a band around my rib cage sporadically and feel that it is inflammation around my heart due to high blood pressure. I have genetic high blood pressure which used to only manifest during pms due to hormone swing. I take calcium magnesium citrate, which helps tremendously, and is no doubt how I survived, since my b.p. is very high and was not diagnosed until 50, which is like pms-forever. When I get that now, I take extra cal-mag citrate, p5p, olive leaf extract, C, but those things take time. Sleep is a tremendous help but can't achieve if it hurts too much so I use DmSO on my ribcage and back (on clean skin - no lotions) and it fixes me up in 10 minutes. I told my bf if I ever have a heart attack or stroke to please apply DMSO. It takes down inflammation to let starved tissues get oxygen. I read that pain is caused by inflammation choking off oxygen to tissues...so I use DMSO for all pain and it works for me. I've used for sciatica, tendonitis, headache, and rib pain that goes around to the back. So check your blood pressure to be sure that's not your problem, but in any event dmso cuts pain.

Do you take pain meds? The reason I ask, is that I want to try DMSO so I can eventually wean off opioids. And my other question, is if one takes pain meds will DMSO intensify them? I just bought a bottle of DMSO and mixed up a 30% solution to apply topically. I appreciate any info you can give. Thanks!

 

[triffid113]

Oh, sorry. I haven't been on the site in awhile. I take no meds at all, except bioidentical estrogen and progesterone. I rarely even take an aspirin but when I do it's low-dose. I take at least 20 natural supplement pills each day and many are cox-2 inhibitors, so even a baby aspirin makes my stomach bleed. I have every known side effect to meds so I only take them if going into the hospital for surgery.

when you take DMSO, make sure to use it on clean skin (no lotions) and leave your clothes off until absorbed. I would think long and hard about using it if I had foreign materials in my body like joint replacements, metal bolts, etc. (research it). I don't think DMSO will intensify anything... I have never seen any evidence of that and I do have low stomach acid, so I would know if it helped digestion, for instance.

 

[belize44]

Oh, sorry. I haven't been on the site in awhile. I take no meds at all, except bioidentical estrogen and progesterone. I rarely even take an aspirin but when I do it's low-dose. I take at least 20 natural supplement pills each day and many are cox-2 inhibitors, so even a baby aspirin makes my stomach bleed. I have every known side effect to meds so I only take them if going into the hospital for surgery.

when you take DMSO, make sure to use it on clean skin (no lotions) and leave your clothes off until absorbed. I would think long and hard about using it if I had foreign materials in my body like joint replacements, metal bolts, etc. (research it). I don't think DMSO will intensify anything... I have never seen any evidence of that and I do have low stomach acid, so I would know if it helped digestion, for instance.

Thank you! I hope that you are doing well.

 

[triffid113]

Thank you. Well, I have never totally gotten back to where I was before covid, but I'm managing. My latest thing is I am going to try eating a green pepper every day for the luteolin since I read about it for gout (mine) and cancer (brother-in-law has bladder cancer), and in one of the reviews was a mention that luteolin significantly reduces fat in 4 weeks...both in turning on the genes involved in making the enzymes for breaking down fat and also in preventing new fat cells to form. Sounds like a fun thing to try and win-win for my high blood pressure and gout!

You know, I only had 1 gout attack in my life before covid and now I have them all the time, which is also raising my blood pressure. I track it back to lowered zinc levels due to covid. Since you need stomach acid to digest zinc and zinc is needed to make stomach acid, it's not very easy to get your zinc levels up. UIgh! I'm working on it. But... having discovered I can't take zinc with Vitamin C or calcium, I often plain forget to take it at all. Double ugh. Not enough stomach acid is a slippery slope to all sorts of health problems...and work and worry fending them off. SIgh.