b'Life with MSA s k t h e M S Nu rs eA s k t h e M S Nu rs eCherie Binns is a MS-certied nurse living with MS. She is the patient healthcare liaison for MS Focus and a member of the MS Lived Experience Advisory panel for the Foundation. Her monthly column addresses the issues of living with MS.Dear MS Nurse,and affects your quality of life, you may be My back and left hip hurt a lot lately. Doesprescribed an anticonvulsant or antidepressant. that mean my MS is relapsing? Tylenol andBoth classes of medicine can calm nerves ibuprofen dont help much.Jean C.that have been damaged and minimize the Binns: Sometimes back and hip pain can beintensityofthepain.However,bothhave related to gait changes that you may not evenside-effects that can be sedating, and cause realize have taken place. A physical therapistdry mouth and constipation. Over time these is often very helpful at identifying problemsmay lessen in severity and frequency, or you with gait and working with an individual tomay come to tolerate the pain more easily. In correctthem.Footdropcancauseyoutosome individuals with a small specic area hike your hip up to keep you from trippingthat res like this periodically, an over-the-over your toe, and that can result in low backcounter product such as a lidocaine patch and hip pain on the affected side. A PT alsomay give some relief. has tools such as ultrasound, TENS unit, andDear MS Nurse, needling (acupuncture) that can be used toMy spasms seem to be getting more painful calm the discomfort.overtimeandmybaclofenismaxedout. Dear MS Nurse,What is the next step?Victor G. I get these stabbing pains on the side of myBinns: Baclofen can be more sedating as the leg that come out of the blue and only last fordose gets higher. Oral baclofen also affects the afewsecondsatatimebuttheyaresoentire body, whereas with a baclofen pump painfulthatIalmostcrumplefromthem.the medicine can be administered directly to the Sometimes it happens when I pull a sockarea of the spine that is causing the spasticity over the area or when wind blows over it.in very small doses with better effect. Baclofen What can I do to stop this?Alex Z.pumps are about the size of a hockey puck and are inserted under the skin of the abdomen. Binns: What you are describing sounds likeThey contain a liquid form of the medication what is called paroxysmal pain. This type ofthat is administered through a thin catheterpain is typically short-lived but intense. If itinserted into the sac around the spinal column. happens more often than briey each dayThe pump is lled and calibrated in a visit to msfocusmagazine.org 50'