[Brachial6]

I have been bothered lately by muscle spasms in my neck up from my left clavicle where I had 5 surgeries the 4th resulted in a staph infection from the operating room. Last week, my pain medicine physician gave me an injection in my left clavicle to help with those tight muscles from all the scar tissue. The injection did help but I still have some problems cause I'm trying to go down on the Kadian dosage cause it makes me so tired in the daytime. I was injured at work in 1990, almost 20 years ago! Does anyone else have this problem? Thanks for your ideas! Happy Holidays to all!

[vannafeelbettr]

Hi Jacqueline!

My Dr. prescribed me something called Skelaxin and it works wonderful as a muscle relaxer without me feeling drowsy (which I can't be with 2 small boys to care for). I also notice when I take one, that I can breathe so much easier because the muscles wrapped around my ribs are so darn tight all the time. With all the surgeries and things you've been through, I'm sure your muscles are out of whack and tight, and it is the 'pulling' that they do that causes them to spasm.

Good Luck! Vanna

[Jomar]

do you think you might have some trigger points in the muscles that are causing them to continue spasming?
Have you had any expert PT, chiro, or therapeutic massage to help find some of the possible causes?

If the scar tissue is the main cause of the problem, I'm don't know if there is a good fix for that.
I know some have had the scar tissue cleaned out but their bodies just seem to produce it again over time.

I wonder if Low level laser {also called cold laser} would help with the scar tissue problem.
That might be something to research.

My chiro used laser for my treatment on occasion, esp if there are specific sore spots that are bothering me at the time, muscles or joint, works for both.

[tshadow]

For my muscle spasms, which mostly emanate from the cervical spine, across the tops of my shoulders, and down other areas on my back, as well as my upper right arm and forearm, well,

we did Botox. I've had it several times. It only works for about 6 times I have read, before becoming useless as the body learns to fight it. But they use a little shot and put it around the back of my head, neck, shoulder blades and even forearm. They usually only do one side at a time, so that they don't compromise breathing.

I do wonder, since I haven't had it done in three years, if it was the cause of my many problems with breathing as within a few months as it wears off, I wonder if my muscles in my ribs are not in condition and thus I have / had those horrific times of not being able to breathe.

Don't know. But you could avoid the "back" and hit the neck and wherever else it is the very worst.

The best relief I ever had was the last one when the doc did both sides, and after a couple of weeks, it was nice to have less pain. The pain comes back on after 3 or 6 months, and it is very slow to return - not a quick change.

God bless you.

Pain management is MOST important because unless we have some relief, we don't get healing sleep, or time of healing. Or nerves need healing, not over working or "spreading" the pain or developing RSD from the sheer over load of it all.

Just my opinion.

[vannafeelbettr]

Pain management is MOST important because unless we have some relief, we don't get healing sleep, or time of healing. Or nerves need healing, not over working or "spreading" the pain or developing RSD from the sheer over load of it all.

I want to thank you for this paragraph, because I fight with myself daily when it comes time to take a pill. I feel the pill is putting something bad in my body, when truly, I could be doing my body more harm by not giving it the relief it needs

[tshadow]

Pain management is scary because I never ever want to be an addict.

An addict is someone who abuses a drug for a "good feeling" they get.

I have NEVER had a "good feeling" from any meds since getting sick, because the meds just take DOWN (not away) the level of pain. Even with my best pain relief, I am still like a 2 - 4 - and I mean, thats a Banner Day!!! So there's no addict behavior on my part, and I have never taken my meds in any way not as the doctor told me.

Tolerance is different than addiction. Tolerance means we either need more, or a DIFFERENT med to trick the brain, to again work on taking down the pain so we can have the time for that REST for the body and nerves to heal.

I am positive that the first two years of no med relief brought on the devil RSD. RSD is absolutely frightening - to see my arms and chest and face go bright red and pain like the worst sunburn - from the inside, and by no fault of mine and with NO control almost by meds. It is the real devil.

But you raise a good point of toxicity of meds. Whenever a doc says, "take these" it is up to US to HIT THE NET and find the side effects and decide if we are willing to risk it. I have been given 3 drugs which are now decidedly toxic and luckily I didn't take them...but my stomach still hurts and I have had blood tests of high liver enzymes. That's important also, to keep getting blood tests at least every 6 months or more to check liver enzymes and blood sugar and thyroid, especially.

I don't want to go into my personal meds, but it is not unusual to take basic pain with a Fentanyl patch, Ativan or Xanax for the RSD, a sleeping aid, a muscle relaxer on occasion, and if one can take Ibuprofen (which I can't anymore) but I take something else for the migraines brought on more now by the TOS. Docs say you can take the muscle relaxer and buy a small container of cream - they have them at the dollar store, and you take about 4 muscle relaxers per tub of cream, and you take the pills and grind them in a coffee grinder and mix them into the cream. The cream should not liquify (too much med) and there shouldn't be "chunks." Then, on the arm, hand or leg or feet where there is pain - or that spot on the shoulder blade, you take the cream and rub it into the bad spot. This avoids the stomach. And brain, I think...I mean, it's on the skin. And this
light massage, using the cream lightly and maybe using another cream to finish the rub (so you don't get a rash from too much meds) the light rubbing of smoothing these lumpy muscles or spasms out works as well as ANY drug I've ever had.

The only symptom I can't handle is when I can't breathe. It usually starts with not being able to eat more than a couple of bites, and then feeling REALLY FULL. Uncomfortable. Then my heart beats hard. Then next, the rib muscles start to hurt and harden and next I know I'll have days of fighting to breathe. I still think this is "autonomic neuropathy." But the ERs are real quick to just check for a heart attack - which is an unnecessary CT scan - and also rule out a blood clot in the chest - which again I tell them, I just need morphine to calm and smooth the muscles for a couple of days. Well, only two doctors have understood that. The rest have treated me abominably and rudely knocked me off usually with some pain relief but mostly "you shouldn't be on these drugs and you need to go back to you pain relief doctor, not us." Well, there are times, and my primary doc wrote it in my permanent report, that we WILL need hospitalization and a temporary rise in pain meds to get through that TYPE of flare. (Seems there are other flares, other types than this.)

So I try to share what I've learned these past 6 years, and try to be as open as possible, but it's hard since this is on the "open web." So many of us are in work comp or social security fights, and it is so hard when so many doctors do not understand the rarity and horrific nature of neuro TOS, RSD.

God bless you. You could always call me sometime if you want to talk. Just PM me, and if I check in here (not so often) I will call back.

Tam