I am having a difficult time emotionally resigning myself that there is no "cure" for TOS and that I am stuck with this (best case managing symptoms, worst case - in horrible life long pain). It would seem surgery is no real solution, where at best, it may offer a couple of years of relief (if any at all.) *Or in fact, make me worse off with complications.
My question is how many of you rely on narcotics to live with TOS? Is it possible to avoid them, or is the pain just too great? I have read here:
http://surgery.wustl.edu/TOS_Patients_Neurogenic.aspx
Quote:
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The use of opiate (narcotic) analgesics is not generally recommended for neurogenic TOS, as it is a condition of chronic neuropathic pain for which opiates do not have long-term or definitive efficacy yet carry risks of side effects, dependency, and dose-escalation. These medications may nonetheless be appropriate for short-term use during temporary “flares” of symptoms or in management of pain following specific interventions (e.g., during recovery from surgical treatment).
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Yet some seem to take pain pills every day? Could you avoid them if you 'had' to? I can't help but feel like my future is just sitting on a couch waiting to die. It seems most people who struggle with this have no quality of life and are unable to really do anything other than minimal activity.
Am I really never going to do physical activities ever again? Argh, this
can't be happening to me.
