Hi. I was wondering if anyone else w/ tos suffers from migraines that are accompanied by auras on a weekly basis

I think quite a few get headaches, and even migraines, not sure about the aura's , I don't recall those being mentioned very often.

The headaches could be getting set off by the tight neck muscles & spasms.

Are you getting any help {muscle relaxer, trigger point work, good PT, DC or any massage} for those tight or spasmed muscles?

If there's any chance you might be out of alignment from sports, falls, activities, car accident - I suggest visiting a few chiros for evaluation & interviewing purposes. gives you a feel for a match or not.

Then if you have little sore knots/spots in your muscles those could be triggerpoints, and they need to be released before the muscle can begin to relax and heal.

If you happen to find a chiro that uses various modalities for pain relief and treatments you are way ahead of the game.
Advance PT can also do many similar treatments.

LOL I forgot you are a nurse.

but just in case - I'll leave the info here.

Hi I am a fellow nurse and worked in in-patient oncology ward for seven years got injured at work got tos and never worked again...even tried ever possible modified and could not handle the stress or the strain and due to unpredictable migraines had to give it up and MISS IT LIKE HELL. I loved my job and miss being a nurse more than anything in the world...well aside from being pain free.

I had major vascular tos 90% occlusion of subclavian artery and vein so had scalenectomy and first rib ressection.....resolved the issue of vascular probs but the damn neurogenic issues are so much more worse now. I live in a world of hurt and thank God everyday for my partner Marc hey get to call him Fiancee now we go engaged in DEC. sorry I digress.....my life has never been the same....

I got migrianes up to 20 a month before getting botox treatment for them. I have an amazing neruologist here in Alberta Canada who does trigger point injections as well as regular botox points in my head and face and jaw. I am now down to around 8 a month and for me that is a lot...I usually bring them on by doing too much....we all do it to ourselves....overextend....I still afer 7 years of this hellish life have not learned to pace or slow down.....I still WANT to be normal as I was before and try.....I have given a lot up.

I don't cook or clean anymore...we hire cleaners and Marc will cook for us. He is a great help. Main concern now is tretment and getting the right meds for the right problems.....I am beginning to wonder if my compression is pre-brachial plexus and thus irritation is higher up and the pain in my arm is referred....who knows. hoping to go to get an MRI/MRA 3D in UCLA in the fall. I want to know what the hell is going on in there!!!!

I hope this helps...it sounds bleek I know but it is my life and I could not live without my meds!
I take neurontin 800 qid, nortriptyline 100 qhs, zanaflex 4mg tid and 6mg at hs, celebrex 100mg at noon, oxycontin 30mg tid, percocet 2-6 tabs daily for breakthrough pain, diazepam 10-30 mg daily for breakthrough pain, colace and senna as needed as well as bisacodol as needed.....narcs what can you do......I also take riboflavin B2 400mg, good studies to show it actually halves the amount of migraines people get...good double blind cross over study from 1988.....but not a drug so not widely publicized...no sure if it helps me but it can't hurt and who doesn't love a good vitamin B yellow neon pee!!! LOL I take axert for the migraines and have a massage 1hour a week. No PT and no other treatments for me my right affected shoulder is sooooooooooooo down-going it is unbelieveable when I pull my shoulder up to where it should be it looks like my head is on crooked!!! so no strapless weddingdress for me!!!!!

Anyhow feel free to PM me if you have questions!!!!

love and hugs,
Victoria

i have had migraines with auras but not on a weekly basis. one time i thought i had one, but it turned out to be a retinal occlusion. this is something you need to be careful about. now i wonder if the other ones were retinal occlusions too, since i have blind spots in other places besides the "big" one.

interesting to note that the eye doctor could see the occlusion when it first happened, but within about 6 wks he could not tell that i ever had one.

i have been told tos can cause tiny clots because of the compression narrowing arteries and veins. depending on where the clot gets thrown it could be major or minor. this is why some of us have been put on blood thinners.

in my case, this was not investigated even tho i mentioned it. i was tested to death but they do not believe in tos.

Hi...Nurse here too..Welcome, to an understnding group.
Iv'e had TOS, CRPS, RSDx 15 years. Had an MVA in 94 developed TOS and continued to work on a med surg floor x 9 years. SSDI now. They thought I had everything from MS to Fibro to whatever.
I always suffered from migraines, even prior to TOS, the headaches are varied now. Iv'e had relief from migraines from Calcium and Mag, and HTN meds ( ace inhibitor) Altace.
I miss our profession every day, Iv'e had to learn to mourn the loss of what was, and take each day.