[lithographica]

I guess I'll first start off with a little bit about myself.

One day about 6 years ago I noticed I was developing a feeling of tightness in my chest, making it difficult to breathe. That night, I laid down to sleep and was wracked with enormous pain in my right shoulder, as if someone stuck a knife in me. I went to the hospital and had some x-rays done but nothing was really found. I was given some pain patches and after a week or so the pain went away.

So I thought. For the past 6 years I'll be fine most of the year but about once or twice in the year I will experience tightness in my neck and chest on my right side, making it painful for me to breathe and engage the muscles on that side up to my jaw. The pain will extend into my arm to my hands. Many movements are unbearably painful, particularly getting into bed and laying down, which can leave me gasping for air in pain like a stranded fish, sometimes with bonus panic attack. While I may get small twinges of pain throughout the year, it only becomes what I consider full blown once or twice in the year, usually lasting about a week or maybe 2 weeks.

I have had X-Rays, MRI, and catscan but nothing has been found. I don't know if any of the Drs ever tested me for TOS, I have only heard of it today while I sit here at 4am in excruciating pain. Normally I'd have dosed myself up on 900-1400 mg ibuprofen right now, but I'm pregnant so that's out of the question for me. I'm due to get an MRI of my brain to check for brain lesions.

Reading about TOS, its the closest thing to my symptoms I have found, except for the fact that for you guys it looks like the pain is constant. Would this be correct? I am also wondering since many of you have gone through tests for multiple types of conditions with similar symptoms if any of you had recommendations for other conditions that could cause these symptoms?

Thank you very much for your time.