Jess,

Given the impact on your life, it sounds like it's time for surgery. It was having that sort of impact on me when I opted for surgery the 1st time. The only regret I had was that I waited so long to go for surgery.

You will be in pain after surgery but you'll be in the hospital and they'll get the initial post-surgical pain under control. The pain pump will be your friend. Given your issues with pain meds, they may need to switch medications in the hospital to find one that works for you. For my 1st TOS surgery, they figured this out the day after surgery. Once they switched the medication, all the sudden I could breathe better and the pain decreased, etc.

I am 10 days out from my 2nd TOS surgery and doing great but my case (this time) was primarily arterial TOS. I noticed the difference in the arm right away. Last time, it was neurogenic TOS and my symptoms that time sounded similar to yours.

Good luck!