I'm sorry to hear that all of this is happening to you! All of the symptoms you mentioned are classic of RSD, except for the breathing difficulties. That one is probably important to get checked out further, to see what's going on.

I had some balance issues when I first started Neurontin/gabapentin. It's a very common side effect. If you can stand it, keep going with the medication. Eventually, the side effects might get better. I stopped it after two weeks the first time I tried it, but when I tried it again later, I lasted longer and the side effects subsided after a while. Unfortunately, it didn't really help me much!

I don't have much advice. For swelling, I usually wear a long soccer sock on my RSD leg. It keeps the swelling down a bit and has the added benefit of acting as a barrier between my leg and the rest of the world...so my pants leg doesn't directly touch my skin. That helps a bit.

A warm bath might help with the temperature/color changes temporarily. It may also help a bit of the pain. I find that it helps a little bit, and also loosens up my muscles. I take a hot shower before bed every day as a result.

Other than that, please find a good doctor! From your posts, it looks like you're in the UK. Is that right? Hopefully a girl called Frogga will come along soon. She's also from the UK, so she understands your medical system (the US is completely different, so most of us don't get it at all)!

Oh, one more thing. I really recommend that you find a hobby (if you don't already have one) that doesn't cause extra pain and immerse yourself in it. Maybe find several hobbies. Distraction is the best thing for RSD. If you're not thinking about the pain, it won't upset you as much. I found that I needed to keep myself in the "real world" (as opposed to the "RSD world") or I would get depressed.

So if you like art, spend time drawing or painting. If you like games, play lots of them. If you like writing, write lots of stories. Find an activity that will take up some of your spare time and make you feel good about what you CAN do, because it's so easy to feel bad about what you can't, especially when school starts and you'll be around other kids who do all sorts of stuff you wish you could. So find something you can do, that you ENJOY, and concentrate on it. My distraction is music (playing it, not listening...listening isn't active enough to count because you can still think about the pain while listening). I really think you should find what you like to do, and make sure it's something that requires your full attention!

Good luck...I hope I'll see you around the teens list soon.

-Betsy