This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

Does anyone have this problem??? If so what does it feel like to you?

A week ago I had an extreme burning in my chest(warm feeling) and what felt like my heart fluttering...I went to er and nothing was wrong with my heart, they said it was acid reflux and gave me some sort of antacid and sent me home...The antacid didnt do anything and I jsut kept getting worse and worse at home. I started having pain on my right side under my ribcage so went back to er. They did blood work which showed I had a wbc of 14. So they kept me overnight and had me on antibiotics...after a few days of being on antibiotics the burning sensation went away. But, now that I finished the antibiotics this morning the burning feeling in my chest is back...its relieved when i stand up.
I've had acid reflux for many years and it has never caused pain like this...it almost makes me feel like I'm having a heart attack...and when i get it theres no way for me to fall asleep.

After doing some research I read about Esophageal spasms...and how it can cause a burning sensation in the chest often mistaken for a heart attack. I also read that this is a symptom of pwms. Anyone ever have this?? and what does it feel like to you??? I'm thinking I have to go back to the er...and dont know what to do...cuz I've been there 3 times in the last week.

Thanks for any info anyone may have about this.
-Sandra D

do you have a supplement regimen, tm, and if so may i ask what is in it?

any time anyone says spasm, i say magnesium. and if the heart is fluttering too, i shout magnesium. to help mag add b complex and potassium to the mix.

hth,

JL

ps my mag problems caused me to have probs with my throat not my chest but they certainly are SCARY!

pps mag helps bring down c reactive protein if i remember correctly, and high crt is associated with heart probs .. i have not been reading about that in a couple of years so the details are fuzzy but you could probably do a forum search on magnesium AND crt and see what comes up

Hi Twisty,

Sorry you're dealing with this. Several of us had a lengthy discussion about our experiences on this thread:
http://www.thisisms.com/ftopict-8804.html

I think that the occasional spasms I get when trying to force my throat to swallow certain types of foods are MS related, but the intense, lengthy bout I had was very obviously from belching up fish oil capsules, since it disappeared immediately after I stopped them. (See the details in the thread.)

I've been having the same thing this week, which seems like the aftereffects of last weekend's stomach virus, but who knows? It's gradually going away now, however.

Also, here are links to good info from Mayo that I posted on that thread.

Esophageal Spasms:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/esopha ... ms/DS00763

Swallowing Problems and different types of Dysphagia:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/swallowing-problems/

Hope you find some relief!
-
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Okay now I'm cranky I just typed all this and then the computer froze so i lost it.

I went back to the er today, same pain as i had last week...kept me up all night again. The Dr there suggested that I have a scope done by Dr Malik(i have worked with him before when i had chronic diarrhea for 2 years straight). The ER doc gave me morphine, gravol and buscopan(which i told him didnt work the first time). After that he sent me home saying to call dr malik to set up an appointment(he also said "but that may take 1-3 months") and sent me home with nothing to help the pain or anything till i get that test done.
So I went to My family dr right after(they were really busy so gave me an appointment for 3:30-but now just got a call from my dr that she will fax over a perscription for me)
My mom was able to call Dr Malik's office and get me an appointment with him for 1pm on monday. So all that is set.

JL: I'm on a multivitamin everyday...not sure about whats in it cuz i dont have it infront of me right now)...was wondering about the magnesium...how much should i take a day to help the spasms??

I got an anxiety medication from my family dr because my anxiety is pretty much getting the best of me right now which could possibly be making it worse.

Thanks for your info JL and euphoniaa!!!

Hi Twisty
Interisting that the antibiotics helped your pain! It seems to me that you should definitely look at the antiobiotics section of this website and see how people deal with ms. Hope it helps!

Assuming that every symptom we have is NOT related to MS, did the ER docs check your gallbladder?? Those are the symptoms of a gallbladder attack.

Flautenmusik,

Yup they checked my gallbladder...thats what my dr figured it was...they did an ultrasound and xrays...
today i went to see the general surgeon for follow up and he's sending me for a hida scan and a gastroscopy(the gastroscopy test isnt until may 6th)...i think he figures its my gall bladder...He's a really good dr, I saw him a couple years ago cuz we thought I had crohns(my brother has crohns) and he did a colonoscopy and barium follow thru...
hoping to get some relief...right now im taking Pantoprazole, buscopan, t3's(for occasional pain) and clonazepam for the anxiety that the pain gives me.

Filmmaker,

The only problem I have with antibiotics is that they all make me sick to my stomach...so I dont think the antibiotic therapy would work...I only go on antibiotics if I positively need them.

Thanks to both of you
-Sandra D

JL: I'm on a multivitamin everyday...not sure about whats in it cuz i dont have it infront of me right now)...was wondering about the magnesium...how much should i take a day to help the spasms??
I got an anxiety medication from my family dr because my anxiety is pretty much getting the best of me right now which could possibly be making it worse.

hi TM,

to start i'll just comment that regular multivitamins are IMHO meant to keep healthy people topped up, not to correct the kinds of issues seen in nutrition status of ms patients.

as far as amounts of magnesium, i'd say pick up a tub of magnesium citrate powder, or just powder in capsules, and take 500mg per day. if you take any vitamin d3, take some magnesium with that and some at a different time. magnesium is best absorbed from food and dark leafy greens like kale, and chard, are great sources. i'm pretty sure you can get some decent magnesium from eating fish, too.

you may also wish to consider adding a hi dose b-complex into your daily routine, such as a b50 complex. the b6 should help with cellular retention of magnesium.

if you do not take vit d3, i recommend starting to do so. vitamin d3 and magnesium together should do a lot for anxiety. anxiety itself can strip things like calcium and magnesium, so it's best to stay on top of all these things

you might also consider upping your dietary intakes of nutrient dense foods. here's one of my fave web sites on that:

http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php
The World's Healthiest Foods
129 foods that can serve as the basis of your Healthiest Way of Eating
(this site is where you can check if fish gets you some magnesium )

in terms of diet for ms, some schools of thought would say ixnay on the egumeslay, airyday and ainsgray. personally i say pshaw to that, you just have to make sure you balance inflammatory foods and anti-inflammatory foods, and make sure your zinc status is optimal

oh by the way, fave site which can tell you inflammation factors for specific foods including options for serving size: www.nutritiondata.com

i'd be very interested to hear if you do start on some higher intakes of various nutrients, and whether you notice improvement.

take care,
JL

ps sorry i did not see your post before today - when i search the forums for ppl talking to me, i can only use jimmy or jimmylegs - it won't find any results for 'JL' i should stop referring to myself by initials! ;)

Jimmylegs,

Thanks for all the info you provided it will help a lot once i get the money(right now on ei and only get 420 every 2 weeks so it mainly goes to my bills). I go back to work part time next week...soo a couple more weeks and I shall test it out

-Sandra D

Jimmylegs,

Another quick question-...vitamin d3..is that in regular vitamin d???
I dont know much about vitamins...all ive taken other than the multivitamin is vitamin d and calcium(while i was on depo to help with bone loss)

there are a couple of forms of vitamin d that are found in supplements.

one is d2, or ergocalciferol. the other is d3 or cholecalciferol, and d3 is better than d2.

d3 is what forms in your skin when it is exposed to sufficient solar energy. you can also get it by consuming certain foods - baked chinook salmon is an excellent source (according to www.whfoods.com), and milk gets supplemented with vitamin d also (sometimes d2 not d3 though)

once you have d3 in your system, it gets hydroxylated once into hydroxycholecalciferol, then hydroxylated again to form a few different dihydroxycholecalciferols, for example 1,25dihydroxycholecalciferol.

that last one is a powerful steroid hormone, very anti-inflammatory. it is an immune system booster, and what it boosts are the immune system's 'brakes'. certain immune system components act on an 'attack' message. vitamin d3 provides the 'now stop attacking' message.

if you have taken d3 and calcium without supplementing magnesium, that could have drained your magnesium level a bit. if you take d3 to help your ms, make sure you take some calcium and magnesium with it - but make sure you also get a hefty intake of magnesium at another time of day separate from the d3.

let me know if you have any other questions
JL

Jimmylegs,

Thanks for all the info again...i started all the supplements today.

few more questions...how long does it normally take for a person to see an improvement with these supplements??? I know i cant expect it to be right away.

and...was wondering what would help with extreme fatigue??? I've been abnormally fatigued for the past week and a half...I get enough sleep at night and i try not to nap in the afternoon(tho its very hard). I'm just really tired by afternoon and if i dont nap the fatigue goes away at around 4-6 and then it comes back strong again...its a pain.

thanks in advance
-sandra d

hi TM, when i have megadosed the right thing at the right time, and there were noticeable results, they happened in 2 to 3 days. the only changes i have seen with high d3 supplementation were lab results - it didn't change anything subjectively, it's nice to know though

iron deficiency is pretty much the commonest deficiency going and it's known to cause fatigue.. i'm sure you know iron has joined the ranks of bad 4-letter words here at TIMS, but you might want to have some tests done - ferritin, iron, and TIBC.

may i ask what your supplement regimen each day looks like now, including amounts and timing? mostly wondering about what your daily d3 intake would be now, because that may also have some ties to fatigue. b complex too, and magnesium. basically, if i see what you're taking in, i might be able to make an educated guess on whether you've got a good enough intake to get results.

ttfn!
JL

ps. with the understanding that finances are tight at the moment.. i feel your pain!

Jimmylegs,

I really have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to supplements...lol. all i did before this was a multi and then calcium and vitamin d(as the dr perscribed it).

I took all three new supplements at the same time...I'm sure this is not correct tho...
it was magnesium 450mg(all they had were 100 mg pills and 300mg pills)
d3 1000ui(i think)
B complex 50mg...

I would like to know as much more info as you have on how to take these.

Also my urine was fluorescent yellow after...is this cuz of the bcomplex??? I read that b and d vitamins can both do this.

thanks in advance
-Sandra D

ps: about the finances...i just used my credit card...hehe know i shouldnt but its all good. I checked superstore for all the supplements cuz i figured it would be cheaper...luckly i said to myself that it was too expensive because i went to shoppers drug mart today and they all were atleast 5 dollars cheaper(which i really didnt expect from shoppers but its right across the road so i figured why not look?)