help me!! it hurts!!?

Question

i have a nuerological condition called rsd causing my nerves to misfire for no reason, hence im in almost constant pain. my meds arent really helping anymore. so all i can do is just sit here and do nothing, i have to just ride it out. does anyone have any ideas on pain management that could help me? PLZ?!?

i am having surgery to try and help on july 12, though i dont know if it will make it better or worse. my nuerologist doesnt think it is to the point to do anything drastic yet, he just keeps adjusting my meds.

Answer 1

I find that physical therapy can help some patients with RSD, so maybe give that a try. If physical therapy doesnt work then I send my patients off to acupuncture and have found that a good alternative.

Answer 2

I'm so sorry you're experiencing so much pain. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

Once, when the dentist was shooting me up with novacaine, he started shaking my cheek back & forth. I asked him why, and he said that the body can only pay attention to one pain signal at a time. If that is true, it would mean that putting ice on any area, or ben-gay for that matter, or pinching or tickling, if you can refocus on that sensation, perhaps you can unfocus on the bad pain.

Have you tried acupuncture? Have you tried more than one doctor? What caused this condition?

I know someone that practices ancient Chinese/Japanese chi medicine--it has to do with unblocking energy so that the energy will be free to heal as the body needs it. I personally have experienced relief from profound pain, quickly and easily. It simply involves connecting energy points with a gentle touch of a fingertip. Usually, you can do this by yourself, but the practitioner would need to tell you how.

This practitioner is not licensed, but if you are truly desperate, e-mail me and I'll get you together. [e-mail]

Don't give up. Your pain is NOT going to last forever.

Answer 3

i have friend with rsd, and work with two doctor's who are familiar with it.

if the pain is in your legs, here is what i know...basically, at this point, what you need to do is see a pain specialist. they can start you on nerve blocks to ease the pain. the blocks will eventually stop working after a period of time (6 months, 1 year, 2 years, who knows...) and the next option would be to have a sympathectomy. this is were the nerves in your sympathetic nervous system, causing you the pain, are severed. these nerves are in lumbar area of your back. this won't affect your movement, but it will alter your hot/cold sensation and your legs will lose the ability to sweat. there is plenty of info online to look up and read about it. the surgeon i work with said many people will actually electively ask for amputation to stop the pain, but since the nerves are still there, it doesn't help. it's difficult to treat, difficult to live with, and terribly painful. find a good pain specialist, look for one in your area that specializes in rsd if there is one. good luck!

Answer 4

Find an activity that distracts you, exercise, watch a movie, read a book, cook, call a friend!

Answer 5

Just a note: CRPS is the same as RSD.



Physicians use a variety of drugs to treat CRPS, including antidepressants, anti-inflammatories such as corticosteroids and COX-inhibitors such as piroxicam, vasodilators, GABA analogs such gabapentin and pregabalin, and alpha- or beta-adrenergic-blocking compounds.

Elevation of the extremity and physical therapy are also used to treat CRPS.

Injection of a local anesthetic, such as lidocaine, is often the first step in treatment. Injections are repeated as needed. However, early intervention with non-invasive management may be preferred to repeated nerve blockade. The use of topical lidocaine patches has been shown to be of use in the treatment of CRPS-1 and -2. TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation), a procedure in which brief pulses of electricity are applied to nerve endings under the skin, has helped some patients in relieving chronic pain.

Neurostimulation (spinal cord stimulators) may also be surgically implanted to reduce the pain by directly stimulating the spinal cord. These devices place electrodes either in the epidural space (space above the spinal cord) or directly over nerves located outside the central nervous system. Implantable drug pumps may also be used to deliver pain medication directly to the cerebrospinal fluid which allows powerful opioids to be used in a much smaller dose than when taken orally. Prednisolone (a corticosteroid) has been shown to be superior to piroxicam in the treatment of reflex sympathetic dystrophy.

Surgical, chemical, or radiofrequency sympathectomy — interruption of the affected portion of the sympathetic nervous system — can be used as a last resort in patients with impending tissue loss, edema, recurrent infection, or ischemic necrosis. However, there is little evidence that these permanent interventions alter the pain symptoms of these devastated patients.

Physical therapy is the most important part of treatment, though it should be noted that many patients are incapable of participating in physical therapy due to muscular and bone problems. People struggling with CRPS often develop guarding behaviors where they avoid using or touching the affected limb. Unfortunately, inactivity can exacerbate the disease and perpetuate the pain cycle. Physical therapy works best for most patients, especially goal-directed therapy, where the patient begins from an initial point, regardless of how minimal, and then endeavors to increase activity each week. Therapy should be directed at facilitating the patient to engage in physical therapy, movement and stimulation of the affected areas.

Some treating physicians have even initiated physical therapy under light general anesthesia, in an attempt to remobilize the extremity. While the unpredictability of this illness often causes a frustrating pattern of progress and regress, it is essential to continue to try to increase and normalize physical activity.

A study in 2007 indicated that Collateral Meridian Therapywas effective in lowering CRPS patient's VAS pain score.

EEG Biofeedback, various forms of psychotherapy relaxation techniques and hypnosis are adjunctive treatments which assist coping.


[edit] Ketamine Therapy
Ketamine, a potent anesthetic, is being used as an experimental and controversial treatment for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. The theory of ketamine use in CRPS/RPS is primarily advanced by neurologist Dr Robert J. Schwartzman of Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, and researchers at the University of Tübingen in Germany. The hypothesis is that ketamine manipulates NMDA receptors which might reboot aberrant brain activity.

There are two treatment modalities, the first consist of a low dose ketamine infusion of between 25-90 mg per day, over five days either in hospital or as an outpatient. This is called the awake technique.

Open label, prospective, pain journal evaluation of a 10-day infusion of intravenous ketamine (awake technique) in the CRPS patient concluded that "A four-hour ketamine infusion escalated from 40-80 mg over a 10-day period can result in a significant reduction of pain with increased mobility and a tendency to decreased autonomic dysregulation".

The second treatment modality consists of putting the patient into a medically-induced coma and given an extremely high dosage of ketamine; typically between 600-900 mg. This version, currently not allowed in the United States, is most commonly done in Germany but some treatments are now also taking place in Monterrey, Mexico.

According to Dr Schwartzman, 14 cases out of 41 patients in the coma induced ketamine experiments were completely cured. "We haven't cured the original injury," he says, "but we have cured the RSD or kept it in remission. The RSD pain is gone."

"No one ever cured it before," he adds. "In 40 years, I have never seen anything like it. These are people who were disabled and in horrible pain. Most were completely incapacitated. They go back to work, back to school, and are doing everything they used to do. Most are on no medications at all. I have taken morphine pumps out of people. You turn off the pain and reset the whole system."

No trials have been done for the coma induced method to date.

This method gained attention in pop culture through season 3 of the FOX television drama House, M.D., which opens a few months after the title character, Gregory House, was placed into a ketamine coma to treat ongoing neuropathy in his right leg. House is shown to have recovered significant use of his right leg (he even goes running regularly), but the treatment eventually wears off and House is once more left in pain and significantly disabled

Answer 6

http://rsdtherapy.com/home_page