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- Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (https://www.neurotalk.org/thoracic-outlet-syndrome/)

- - tos head poll (https://www.neurotalk.org/thoracic-outlet-syndrome/161051-tos-head-poll.html)

It definitely did when I was having the most severe spasms.
Not fun at all.:(

Hated car rides, bumpy roads, winding roads and even shifting & stopping/starting again was horrible. Kept couch pillow & padded neck support in the car back then.

I didn't vote since it was long ago (04) and luckily none that bad has happened again.

I had to laugh when I read the poll question :p for me it's not always 500lbs. Sometimes it's only 50lbs.

lol, 50 lbs is still 41 lbs too much!

i HATE CAR RIDES. if im driving its okay for some reason but the unpredictability of someone else driving makes me insane.

i am not having spasms *knock on wood* except for my levators now from improper shoulder stuff...

but i do believe my neck is getting so tight its causing extreme dizzyness etc. i avoid bending over at all costs or else i would most definitely have them.

Not sure if it feels like its 500lbs, but rather like its going to explode. :thud:

Quote:

Originally Posted by mspennyloafer (Post 826507)

Yeah I would get dizzy when neck tightness. So awful. Diazepam knocked most of it out and now I'm doing PT and more stretches hoping to fix things well enough for when I come off of it. I'm also investigating TMJ which I appear to have.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tossucks (Post 826542)

Not sure if it feels like its 500lbs, but rather like its going to explode. :thud:

Wonder what would come flying out of your head? :Scratch-Head:

I use to carry 500 lbs., but the Lyrica killed most of my brain cells, so it's pretty vacant and hollow now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mspennyloafer (Post 826507)

Hello, I just had the rib resection & scalenectomy surgery a few months back, but prior to that I had the same exact prob with respect to my head feeling super heavy, like my neck cannot support it. As well, even after surgery my shoulder symptoms have been incredibly relieved, still working on recovery in pt. However, I still have that feeling that my head is really heavy, just not at the same intensity/severity; with respect to driving, I still have the same issues that "mspennyloafer" described above. I usually drive myself anywhere I go, but prior to surgery I hated being a passenger in any car because it was so uncomfortable-when you (me) are driving, you can anticipate what the vehicle is going to do and can prepare your body for any turn or stop, etc. However, even after surgery, while the symptoms have decreased in severity it is still uncomfortable to be a passenger in a car someone else is driving no matter how slow the car is driving or how much I trust the driver it is still unfomfortable because it is impossible to prepare your body for each movement your body will endure as a passenger as opposed to when you are driving. When our heads feel like they are 500lbs or 50lbs it is incredibly uncomfortable and painful to endure movements that are not brought on by our own actions...

I have done hundreds of hours of research of all that I can find on TOS, including asking my own drs about this symptom that I have and this is the first that I have seen or heard anyone else even refer to this symptom/ailment. Although I havent found anything that will help relieve the pain and discomfort of it, it is a bit of a relief to know that I am not the only one with this symptom!

For me it feels like there is a 50 pound bowling ball balancing on a toothpick...obviously my head is the bowling ball and my neck is the toothpick. I do hope that the physical therapy that I am currently working through will help resolve this issue. for those of you that have yet to have surgery for help relieve the pain, I truly hope that you find someone who can help you very soon. the pain makes life miserable. It took me about 3 yrs and over 50 doctors before I finally found a surgeon who took less than 5 minutes to agree that I needed surgery. Since the surgery I have felt immense relief from the pain that I was having. therapy and getting my body back to its pre-injury self takes ALOT of time and work, but the surgery and therapy is entirely worth it. I wouldnt change any of it. (BTW-I did try physical therapy for over a year before I took the surgical approach, I did everything possible prior to having my rib and scalene muscle removed, but my injury was too severe for anything else to work)

If anyone needs help, whether it is regarding what type of doctor to see, what symptoms are tos, or whatever-please dont hesitate to ask! I am going to keep a close eye on these msg boards to see what else I can learn, but you can also reach me if you have yahoo msgr @kerryucialumni.

I wish you all swift healing, no more pain, and a quick resolution to your TOS issues!

Take care all,

Kerry

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kerryucialumni (Post 854280)

Hey Kerry

So sorry you're struggling with TOS and scalenes. It is a battle.

It isn't easy to live with, even at its best.

Take care... never give up...

My symptoms of an usual heavy head decreased greatly as I got the tension in my neck to decrease. I speculate that the heaviness is due to tight muscles constricting blood vessels, which reduces the rate of circulation through the head, making us feel like crap. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by chroma (Post 854344)

I speculate that the heaviness is due to tight muscles constricting blood vessels, which reduces the rate of circulation through the head, making us feel like crap. :)

EXACTLY!! If my heart rate gets up there, my head feels like it's going to explode and my hands and arms swell up and hurt! Definately seems like circulation is constricted.

people with ehlers danlos syndrome have AWFUL circulation and dysautonomia (which has 100x increased since iw as giving myself whiplash)
that tightens and constricts blood flow. i know my arm pit from my shoulder girdle being too hypermobile..if i move it a certain way, i think the blood flow there gets cut off too.

when i strengthen my back i hope this improves. if not im in trouble, lol. my neck is basically collapsing. its sooooooooooooooooooooooooo tired.

if anyone can tolerate it, a soft neck brace has helped me so much. but id imagine if my ribs were really elevated again it would be more irritating than anything

Quote:

Originally Posted by chroma (Post 854344)

OK, compression makes sense....I already had most of my scalene muscles in the front, middle and back removed...I have tried varied muscle relaxants. What have you done that has helped to reduce muscle tension/tightness? Anything in particular that you think helped you with this particular symptom to relieve the tension? I welcome any and ALL helpful advice! :p

Thanks alot!
K

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kerryucialumni (Post 856255)

Diazepam was the number one thing that helped me. 2mg 2 X per day.

My chiro did some myofascial release on my neck muscles.

PT does some kind of manual stretching stuff.

Monitoring for undue tension and letting it go.

My scm on one side seemed to be the biggest culprit.

In your case, if the muscles are gone and muscle relaxants didn't help, then perhaps there is a different cause. Symptoms of any sort can often have more than one cause. If you haven't tried diazepam, try it. If the scm on either side is tight, see what you can do. Otherwise, I think you'll have to do some more digging.