Tam, I am so glad you have finally gotten to a place with your w/c that you have a pain management Dr who is really interested in helping you. You were out there on your own for way too long!

You know I've had a stimulator for my arms for about 14 months now, and it's been a HUGE blessing. Most days my pain is 4-5 now, not 8-9, and you can have a life worth living at that level, even if you are limited in what you can do. When the RSD flares I still go down for a day or two, but other than my feet burning it is pretty calm lately, at least since the holidays are over.

I haven't had good luck with Neurontin or Lyrica, my kidneys don't tolerate them, but I do take Cymbalta. I had taken Effexor but concluded it wasn't working effectively for me anymore for depression, and Cymbalta works not just for depression but also helps with pain as well. It has been a good addition as there are so few really effective options for nerve pain. I also take Zonegran, a nerve pain med rx'd by Dr Machanic in Denver, it has given me no problems whatsoever. And this week I added another med, Trazedone, which is an older antidepressant. I take it only at bedtime to help me get to sleep. It increases seretonin, and also has some pain-relieving properties as well. My main med is Oxycontin twice a day, I also have Zanaflex which I am now only taking when my muscle spasms are really bad, and Valium, which I take as needed at bedtime for muscle pain.

The Zanaflex I find really adds to my fatigue during the day, after getting up and taking my a.m. meds, an hour later I wd be so tired I'd have to go back to bed! Now the Trazedone is working, I am getting to bed at a much more reasonable time, but my body wants to sleep 12-14 hours - that's the next challenge to solve.

I know I don't drink enough water and clear liquids - live on coffee and soda. And as a result I am SO dry all the time. Need to do better with that! Oh, but I wanted to say I haven't gained any weight on Cymbalta alone, definitely did on both Neurontin and Lyrica, but I'm 105 lbs at present, only 7 lbs more than when I graduated high school! (I was 115 when I got injured, and was up to 139 at my highest on Neurontin, low 130's with Lyrica. I have sweat pants in 4 different sizes!)

Sure hope you see more and more good days sweetie. You've had more than your share of crummy ones.

hugs, beth

(May be some good forward movement on my case this week - let me know when is a good time to call!)