My symtpoms keep coming back and dont know what the cause is, its been 4 months of treatment now and i only feel slightly better. Im really frustrated at the moment and i feel like maybe the only thing that would save me is surgery.

All these pains are making me suicidal and i spend a large part of each of my day fighting away these negative thoughts. i dont know what to do anymore, I feel like i cant be cured because the pain just keeps coming back..

Are you under a Drs care at all?
Any meds to help with pain levels- hopefully only temporarily?

What is you avg daily pain level?

Maybe you said elsewhere, but what kind of treatment have you been getting for 4 months?

Also, don't give into the suicidal thoughts. You certainly have not exhausted all possible treatment options including surgery which has worked for many TOS sufferers!

If you are experiencing suicidal feelings please read and share on our Survivors of Suicide forum (we call it the SOS forum for short) - they are a truly caring group - and the sticky thread has hot line # and tips for times of crisis.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum29.html

We also have a variety of Mental Health Conditions forums that might have helpful info Depression, Anxiety and OCD etc..-here -
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum84.html


If you are working at a job that causes symptoms to increase - any treatment & self care will take much longer to see long lasting improvements.
Do you have the option to use Voice Recognition software at work?
Vista & Win 7 and Macs have it built in - you just have to set it up & get a good microphone - a good sound card in the computer makes a difference too.
Dragon Naturally Speaking is the most well known VR software - quite often they have specials advertised- as it can get pricey with no discounts.

Right now on Ebay someone has 10 for US $21.99 each - & 3.99 shipping
http://compare.ebay.com/like/3504542...Types&var=sbar

I would also like to add, that some drugs will cause suicidal thoughts and further depression.

SSRI's and SSNI's including Cymbalta, Prozac and others in these groups

antiseizure drugs --Neurontin, Lyrica

high dose opiates-- may cause significant dysphoria and suicidal thoughts in some people

So if you think your medication may be at fault, please discuss this with your doctor. Most of these medications need careful tapering to discontinue. Sudden discontinuance may be harmful.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys , I jus dont know maybe a change of occupation is the next step to see lasting improvement because to this point even with stretching, PT and chiro i can never really get more then 2 days of where the sympotms arent bothering and painful. But mostly i cannot go back to doing what i loved the most which was body building and by the looks of it i never will. Jus hard to take it all in at my young age and accept the fact that i have ristrictions because of something that is beyond my control.. Im wondering if surgery is the path for me, i have another appointment scheduled with a surgeon in a few days so ill see what he thinks.

even switching to part time or changing your job for six months could help i think. i know if i worked full time i would be dead by now

faith keeps me going, not religious faith but i keep thinking somehow someday my body will heal itself lol

I think your right, I have really been listening to my body lately and its telling me it doesnt like coming back to a compueter for 40hrs a week. It also doesnt like to much strenuous activity, but it does really like it when i go to the gym and work all those posterior muscles it makes me feel really good after it and for days to follow.

I think switching occupations into something with more mobility as but not to strenous for a while will definately help me. the static posture and repatative movements of working at a computer all day long are not doing me any favours.

Is it possible to achieve lasting improvement to the point where the symptoms are that minor they dont affect your life as much ? I go fward then it comes back so im wondering what will it take to continue progressing foward and foward.

i definitely think its possible to heal, it's a balancing act that will take years to figure out tho. 100 percent recovery though i would never say that because then you get too comfortable, slip into old habits and BAM. mostly recovered, yes

Another symptom which has really been bugging me lately is this pain in my left elbow, the left side is the more symptomatic side and i dunno what its due to. I could be tennis elbow it could be somtethin else. Im thinking bout going to get a cortisone injection and being done with it cause at this point im over dealing with the pain , i got enough on my pain plate and the elbow pain wasnt always there it was only been ther after the second flare up. Im gonna make the step to quit my computer job and get somethin else cause bottom line is spending all that time on a computer jus isnt helping.