Hi Rigman,

If you have the financial ability to go ahead and get the neurontin (which is inexpensive in generic form) by all means do! We have one member who uses WC for some things and her private insurance for others. I don't know if this has any repercussions but neurontin generic is cheap enough to pay cash for.

Consider asking also about the oral steroids. They too are inexpensive. Perhaps your ortho would consider prescribing them. You could just call. If they are unsure about it you can send them this.

Ask The Expert: Steroids for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome?

Standard CRPS dose for oral prednisone that I've seen in literature is 3x daily for ten days. I personally found this helpful for calming things down when I was acute. CRPS is a neuroinflammatory process, steroids do treat that.

Meanwhile are you on Vitamin C? 500mg daily helps fight free radicals. Anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen may be more helpful than tylenol. Your ortho might also be able to do a local nerve block to see if that helps. They have the ability to do that in the office under ultrasound guidance.

Are you on a call list for cancellations at the pain doctor? Is there anyone else in town to get you started? 6 weeks seems way too long. Early CRPS is an urgent pain situation. Call back, talk with the practice manager or assistant and explain the situation. Have your ortho call. Send your records over and file early patient forms. whatever it takes. In my experience, extreme acute pain that was untreated bumped me up on work-in lists for busy doctors.

good luck. I'm sending healing vibes,