I did get a flu shot two months ago. Today I figured out what was causing these problems.

The narcotics!!! My body is physically addicted. I have been on what I thought was a low dose of methadone for over a year (5mg 3xday). I have been weaning very slowly since the TOS surgery 7 weeks ago. I was down to taking a half pill twice a day when the chills, body aches and increased neck, shoulder, scapula pain started. This lasted a week until today. I went back to 2 full pills today and the flu like symptoms disappeared compleely and the TOS side returned to where it ws from a pain standpoint. I even withstood a more rigourous PT session wihtout the delayed pain afterwards.

I guess this is a good news bad news thing. Even though I hate this stuff I should probably stay on it until I get much further along in the TOS recovery. When I do get off it may be tough. I never had this kind of reaction from hydrocodone weaning. Methadone must be very different on the body. It supposedly works on nerves more than regular narcotics is why I was placed on it.

TOSmother, thank you so much for your prayer. Our prayers are usually answered in ways we do not anticipate. At least that has been my experience. I hope your daughter had a good day.

Nospam, I just read your story and we have a strikingly similar background. I am going to send you a private message soon.

I just started pt yesterday and I'm having scapular pain today after not even taking a pain killer yesterday. I'm also still having numbness in my elbow. It's been two weeks since the surgery. Did any of y'all experience this? Am i just being impatient im just ready to have my old body back! Do you have any advice for starting pt?

So glad you figured it out! Who knew that pain meds can do that to your body? My daughter is doing better each day...it's hard to believe that it was just a week ago I was freaking out about the pain meds and not having enough Since that time, each day is better. I think that I told you that Dr Pearl changed her meds because the percocet was making her sick. Well, since then, she took the new ones a couple of days, but now only at night!! She doesn't do much during the day, her breathing, and some walking around the yard, but she is feeling better. She woke up this morning with some pain in her left side, but thinks it's because she didn't do her breathing as much as she should have yesterday. Right now we are working on cleaning (yuck) the rib and preserving it (double yuck) I'm glad that you are doing better. Take care and hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

My daughter is doing really well now. Today is the first day that she hasn't had any pain! She had been having random pains in her side each day...some days worse than others. But today there isn't any pain! she asked me if she could drive to town (she is going crazy at home) and since she isn't on any pain meds, I said yes. She did fine and the only thing that she commented on was how her incisions are numb. I feel so blessed that I had all of you to lean on during this stressful time. I really appreciate each and every one of you. She hasn't started p/t yet (more miscommunications) but I feel certain that she probably will next week. I guess with the holidays and us being out of town, there has been some confusion. I will try to get it set up again tomorrow Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Happy New Year!

I'm so glad to hear your daughter is doing so great! That's the best Christmas gift you could have hoped for! Best of luck with p/t!

Glad to hear she is doing well. I am 10 weeks post op and still numb at my incision site. I have had a little pain and it seems to be triggered by the weather. It's not really a bad pain, more annoying than anything. Anyways, glad to hear everything is going well.

Thanks for sharing bc I had lots of pain today too. (Im 3 wks out) Is the pain TOS pain? It really freaked me out to have the shooting pain in my elbow, wrist, and hand. Im afraid it will never go away. I wasn't sure why I was still having this pain.
Here's to a pain free 2013!

From what I've learned, it's not uncommon to have residual pain in the same TOS places for awhile post-op - some people have it up to a year, some only have it a few weeks post-op - it takes the nerves awhile to settle down after the trauma of surgery, and you have to learn how to use your body properly, as you've probably been holding it in a weird posture for a long time either to avoid triggering the TOS or b/c the muscles/ribs/scar tissue/etc in that area forced your body into weird posture. Have you started PT? That may help.
Happy New Year, everyone!

I am also 10 weeks post op and agree with CLT and LH. I go through spurts where I think I have this thing beat and then have spurts where the nerves seem to act up. Even those spurts are not as bad as pre surgery. Probably the most frustrating aspect is I feel like I should be able to increase activities but flare ups occur afterwards. It's hard to find the right balance of increasing activities without causing pain responses. I beleive it will take a year or more to reach the full benefit which includes nerves calming down and strengthening atrophied muscles.

I do encourage you to start PT but listen to your body. Neck stretches and lifting heavy objects seem to cause me the most trouble. I have recently given more emphasis on stretching the pec muscles and activating the lower traps and serratus. I am getting a good response to this.

Every now and then it does feel like the TOS pain and, like you, it concerns me. Today my last 2 fingers and the inside of my arm "fell asleep" while I was throwing a baseball. Today was the first time that I threw from a farther distance (I was told I could by my PT) and it was going well until the numbness set in. I stopped throwing immediately and after about 10 minutes I had full feeling again. I am already sore but I am glad the numbness went away. Like Romans8 said, finding the right balance in activities is key because when you feel good you want to do more and that's not always good. Lifting heavy things is still a challenge because it tends to make my nerves flare up. Anyways, this is just a process to getting better and re-learning a part of your body that is trying to function normal again.