Guess I just need to vent a little.

I'm 4 weeks post op now. My sleep is interrupted, I can't get comfortable, my muscles in my neck and shoulders are so tight that I just want to cry. I just went in for my PT consult yesterday and I'm not on any pain medications and haven't been for a week and a half.
I had to go to the surgeon's office last Friday for some shortness of breath that they're blaming on anxiety, but I'm not anxious. I think I'm having issues either due to phrenic nerve irritation or just the general tightness of the area. The surgeon I saw (not the one who did my surgery) insisted that I take Ativan to help me "calm down" and said it would help my muscles relax too.
Well, every time I take the Ativan I get horribly depressed and irritable. I did some research on it and it's not supposed to be prescribed to people with untreated depression. I have post partum depression that I am not currently taking medication for because I am breastfeeding and because I can handle it on my own. The ativan makes it intolerable though.
So I haven't been taking the Ativan but today I just can't handle the spasms anymore. You all know how it goes, sometimes the actual pain level of TOS isn't that bad, it's the day in and day out constant mild/moderate pain that can drive a person insane. So I called the surgeon's office and explain to them that the Ativan isn't working but the Baclofen had been helping before and requested that perhaps I could go back to the Baclofen but at a higher dose than the 10mg every 8 hours I had been getting before that wasn't working as well as it had been with the hydromorphone.
The nurse called back and told me that my actual surgeon said that I shouldn't be on any medications anymore and he would be prescribing nothing else. I'm in tears. It's not like I'm asking for addictive medications or narcotics! He didn't even get me started on PT until way late. I did get the very "helpful" suggestions to take some tylenol or motrin and use a heating pad.
I have no idea where to turn and I don't think I'm out of line to request a little relief!

LiveLoveandTrust

Refer to you post of 1/26 as I responded to it with some info that may be of help. It has been a very frustrating for myself also and disappointing when you can not get an answer to these issues and the lack of concern when there are complications.....I guess the successes are what is only important.

chloecasey

Thank you, Cloecasey. I did see your other post. The problem is, my breathing hasn't been acting up but the pain levels are still too high. I can't get comfortable enough to sleep, my neck, shoulders and upper back are stiff as a board, and it probably doesn't help that I haven't even started PT yet. I know Baclofen isn't a forever-drug, but until everything can be retrained to relax and move where it is supposed to, I can't understand why they're expecting me to be back at 100%. The doctor didn't even want to order PT and said I should be perfectly fine at this point which I find completely unreasonable.

Have you tried a massage therapist? I have been having massages to help with my symptoms before my surgery and it sure has helped!