I need help. I can't seem to get this flare calmed down. It has been going on for over three weeks and I feel I can't take the pain and burning much longer. I do have an appointment with my neurologist this Thursday, but that seems like forever from today. I tried to get in sooner, but this is the best they could do.

I have been propping my arm on a pillow. Trying to sleep mostly in the corpse position (not sleeping much due to pain). I am putting lots and lots of heat packs on my neck, shoulder, arm. Also doing the neck stretch for the scalenes - the one where you hold the side of the chair and tilt the head to the opposite shoulder, and shoulder shruggs. Both of these exercises were recommended by my vascular surgeon. I am having husband do most of the housework again because my arm is so painful I just want to rest it.

Oh, I also started taking a baby aspirin per day about two weeks ago as suggested by my vascular surgeon. It does not help with pain but I think he suggested it because I have both ATOS and NTOS. The doctor also prescribed 100mg of Neurontin. I did not fill it because I had a very bad allergic reaction to Lyrica and I was afraid of getting another reaction (severe hives).

Any suggestions would be so welcome. Thanks.

Any suggestions?

the Neurontin helps me, I take 200mg 2x to 3x a day. The scalene stretches are good, I am not sure if I would do the shoulder shrugs. Before my first surgery, I was doing shrugs and it seemed to aggravate everything. When I flare up, I find I have to sleep in an elevated position. Also if you have a large foam roller, lay on the roller with the roller on spine, this helps open the shoulders. These are just things that help me.

Thank you so much for the help. I was doing shoulder shrugs 3-4 times per day and I will stop right now as it is not helping calm this flare. I fell asleep sitting up in the recliner last night and when I awoke about three hours later, I did find my hand was not numb like it typically is when I wake up in bed. I am going to make that my new sleeping spot for now. I also will get the Neurontin script filled and take it as I can't stand this intense burning pain.

I am so grateful for the advice. I am so tired and depressed right now because this flare is wearing me out so much and I am so miserable without good sleep. The days seem so long when they start at four in the morning with pain. I use my meals as markers...got through breakfast, good, just five more hours until lunch, then white knuckle it until dinner. It is miserable. But when I come to this forum and see I am not alone and that others can get their TOS calmed, I am so encouraged I get renewed energy to keep trying new things.

Thank you so much. No more shoulder shrugs for now and maybe sleeping upright will start to give some relief. I was starting to get pretty afraid of the pain, which makes everything worse.

Are you seeing a physiatrist? Mine gives me a scalene block to break the bad flares. I know it's temporary but it does provide me relief and breaks the flare. My insurance won't cover physical therapy nor the cost of the entire visit when botox is injected so besides medication, the scalene block is my only option.

I had a reaction to Lyrica as well. I can tolerate Neurontin (I'm at 400mg 2 - 3 times a day) but it is not going to really stop a flare, just dull your nerve pain. You have to ramp up Neurontin from 100mg until you get to a tolerable and effective dose. Not a short term solution to a flare.

The most effective short term solution to a flare for me has been Toradol (a powerful NSAID). A steroid taper (Medrol Dosepak) can also be effective. A strong muscle relaxer also helps (Valium, Zanaflex, and Flexeril are examples). I found that exercising and physical therapy only aggravate my flares. My advice would be to rest and avoid raising you arms. I've learned to drive with my elbows at my sides holding the bottom of the steering wheel so I don't aggravate the TOS.

Hot showerers/baths as well as heating pads or Thermacare patches also help me.

I have put all the instructions to: pull shoulder blades back, tuck in chin, do shoulder shrugs, etc. on hold until this calms down. I was pulling my shoulder blades back further and shrugging way too much thinking it would take pressure off of the nerves. But I think you are right, it was making things worse.

I just took a hot shower and did the three scalene stretches that were posted somewhere on this board. My injured side almost makes me sick to my stomach when I do it; the less involved side just feels like a nice stretch. I did not think this pain could come from my neck because it hurts so much in my shoulder, arm and hand. Ok, now I need to see if I can get a towel to shape up like a foam roll. Do you know where to buy a foam roll and what size to use?

I got a short length one from ****'s sporting goods. I got a longer one from the physical therapy I go to. I suggest the longer one because you can get your whole body on it. They are about 5" in diameter. It does help with stretch. I had surgery on left side, which still acts up. Tight muscles in neck and shoulder area. The right needs surgery, which I have both nerve and arterial compression but was not as bad as left side. I want to put off surgery as long as possible, but not sure how long that will be. Good Luck

Thanks for the information. I will look at an athletic store next week in the mall. I have had two ulnar nerve release surgeries on my left side, but it still left me with a lot of nerve pain. Then last year I developed ATOS and NTOS from an auto accident. It has gotten progressively worse over time and I am afraid what the future will bring. Since I developed a nasty case of CRPSII with the ulnar nerve surgery, my neurologist said I am not the most ideal of candidate for a TOS surgery. True enough I am sure.

So I am trying to stay calm and not panic through this but it is getting hard to stay upbeat. I am so hoping the good advice I received today will help turn things around, or at least halt the downward spiral. My family wants to help but they do not know what to do. We are lucky to have a place like this to come and get some direction from others who have been there.

I hope you are feeling well.

I bought my foam roll at Relax the Back. You can order from their website if you do not have a store near you - http://www.relaxtheback.com/

I got mine at a PT place, ($20) but Amazon and many places have them online too.
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keyw...uckduckgo-d-20


I have some quickie sketches on use of it and the inflatable exercise ball -
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/album.php?albumid=422