Post this over at Blender Artists. I'd be interested to see what they think there. Honestly, I'd really need to see your .blend file and play with it myself to figure out what's going on here. It's difficult for me to ascertain the issue from your description. Is there any way you can share the .blend file of the character and rig?

______________________________________

My Store
My Free Models
My Video Tutorials
My CG Animations
Instagram: @luxxeon3d
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/luxxeon