It's been a long time since I checked in on this board. As time has passed my symptoms attributed to TOS have faded away.

I have continued to suffer from pain from fibromyalgia and the cervical & lumbar spine. About a year ago my fibromyalgia symptoms worsened. I was suffering from stiff-leg syndrome. When I woke at night or the morning my legs were so tight I could barely walk and couldn't go down the stairs until I loosened up (hot showers did the trick). They maxed me out on Mirapex which helped me sleep. I hadn't realized a had stopped dreaming. It was a sign I wasn't getting REM sleep. Sleep help has made a huge difference for me.

The biggest difference for me has been an experimental treatment, Ketamine Infusions. They have not only helped my muscle tension & spasms, my mood has improved, and my neck & low back pain is down to a 3 from a 7 six months ago. The infusions are administered by Interventional Anesthesia/Pain Management. UCLA is the leader in this research as far as I know.

While I am technically a chronic pain patient and not a TOS patient anymore, this group is my home. This outlet helped me cope, and has helped others.

I believe stories can have happy endings. I am no longer an engineer but I have an amazing 3-year-old boy and wife who stuck with me through it all. I am finally feeling good enough to return to work part-time. Today was my first day back to work. It's just part time, but its a start. Thanks to all who encouraged me and to everyone out there… keep fighting, never give up!

I'm sure you have found more answers by know, but I had a MRI w/contrast (MRA) with arms raised. This showed occlussion of the subclavian veins.

Hey Marc...good to hear from you. Glad you have found some relief... I have been good but wondering if this is not acting up again. Dr Angle moved to Bay area so no one hear in Oc unless you know of someone. USC actually started the ketamine infusions with Dr Richeimer. He is amazing. Happy that you are doing better.
God Bless:winky:

You know, maybe you don't have TRUE VENOUS TOS and that COULD be why your surgery went well. Not to say you don't have TOS because I dunno your medical history. But based on that comment alone. Dr. Thompson at Barnes Jewish who is supposedly a champion here will reject it. I've met with him 2 times and He said, everyone has some what of a compression when you raise you arm. that is the reason why we cant raise our arms for a very long time like we do when we stand with our legs without thye arms being tired and the lack of circulation will cause you to put it down. MRA with hands up is not gold standard he does not order it to diagnose only order MRA for redo for liability. If you talk purely venous TOS a good indication would be DVT, collateral veins or extra ribs pressing on all 3; veins, artery and nerves. I like success stories but I also wanna hear more cases on Dr. Ankles. and more severed cases such as DVT or large collateral vein or having to remove both ribs.