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BiPAP Machine Got Rid of MS Hug! I Can Breathe, Talk, & Sleep Again

A BiPAP machine changed my life! I do not get any more MS hugs because of it! Like with any type of muscles you stretch them and that's what you need to do is stretch the intercostals. And a BiPAP does that.

I was told I didn't have breathing problems

I was told by several neurologists that I didn't have a breathing problem. That I was too early in my MS to have breathing problems that it was just the MS hug. It wasn't until I decided to go see a pulmonologist and get a breathing test done that I found out my lung capacity was reduced to 80%. Pulmonologist when I said what should I do, he said it's - just the MS hug.

Issues talking and getting enough air

So I spent the next few years having increased breathing problems. But always being told there is nothing that can be done and since my oxygen level is good that I am fine. Yet I was having problems talking and feeling like I could not get enough air in my lungs. To the point that I started waking up at night in a panic needing to sit up needing to take a deep breath in. I went to another neurologist because honestly, I thought I was having sleeping problems. She gave me sleeping pills after hearing my symptoms. Something inside told me not to take them and thank goodness I didn't!

Lung capacity was at 44%

I went to the Mayo Clinic and saw a new neurologist. Told him my symptoms and he said you have breathing problems! And he said if I would have taken those sleeping pills I probably would have died. Me waking up in a panic with my body telling me it couldn't get enough oxygen. He sent me to another breathing test, found out by lung capacity was at 44% because the lung muscles constricted lungs from taking air in and blowing it out. He also sent me for a sleeping test at a sleep aid clinic. And they watched me wake up because I couldn't breathe.

Prescription for a BiPAP machine

He gave me a prescription for a BiPAP machine. So that it will force air into my lungs and help me Force air out of my lungs. Very similar to exercise if you have a cramp or tight muscles you stretch them. Same thing with a BiPAP for the lungs - it was stretching my lungs muscles. The timing was perfect because the day I went to go get my BiPAP machine it was still in the package. I went to bed that night that I would read everything tomorrow I know how to use it, I woke up that night to the seemingly harmless MS hug literally preventing any air from going in and any are going out!

No more MS hugs and my lung capacity is at 85%

I got my BiPAP machine and put it on high and call the ambulance. It took 5 days for that MS hug to calm down. And finally, when the RT got my levels of my BiPAP to align to what I needed I was sent home. Now I use a BiPAP every night and I never ever have suffered from an MS hug again! And my lung capacity has gone up to 85%! I have no idea why BiPAPs are not given as an option for people who suffer from bad MS hugs. It's logical you have a tight muscle you stretch it. That's what a BiPAP does it stretches the intercostals. Otherwise, those intercostals keep constricting around the lungs.

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