Before I was diagnosed with MS officially I had been having severe chest pressure frequently. When I was in high school I had a heart condition that required use of beta blockers. The first thing I thought when I started having chest pressure was that it was my heart again.

No, I did not go to the ER, I hate hospitals, I spend way too much time at medical facilities and doctor’s office. Instead, I made an appointment with my cardiologist. Several months of testing, EKG, ECG, Stress Test, 30 day heart monitor and so much blood work she ruled out my heart. Did she have an answer or suggestion? No, her response was that “it wasn’t my heart” and so her part was done.

More than 2 years later when I was finally diagnosed with MS I was informed that there was a lesion on my spine that was most likely causing the MS Hug. Hug my behind! From that point on whenever I have chest pain/pressure I just figure it is my MS. These hugs or banding as it is also called stopped after I got my stem cell treatment. Though I hadn’t really noted it until it came back last week.

For those who don’t experience this weird symptom of MS, it can be different for everyone. For me, it feels like a 7 pound weight on my sternum applying pressure to my chest that makes it difficult to get a full breath of air in my lungs. Sometimes there is a deep, sharp pain in my chest followed by this pressure. The weight is heavy, the pressure is firm but not heavy enough to make it feel like your bones will break. Some people experience the hug for a brief time, for others it can come and go for days, my is the latter. I have to remind myself that it’s not my heart every time it happens because it’s alarming.

When I have the moments like these, it makes me wish I have a friend in the medical field who could explain all the science to me. Our bodies are weird and mysterious and I am always in awe about how one tiny spot in a particular section of your nervous system can wreak havoc on so many parts of your body and life.