The one and only block I had was horrific. It put me in 10+ pain for 2 months afterward! Holy cow I was so miserable! I couldn't sit,stand,lay down, nothing!! I said I must have looked like a fish out of water doing all that flopping around. LOL I've known many others who were put into more pain because of the block than before they had it done. It just sucks and really disappointing when it doesn't work.

I'm sorry you didn't have better luck with it though. It does sound like an allergic reaction to one of the meds in the block too. I guess wait and see what your doc says about it as to whether it'd be worth it to try again or not. The best way to make sure a block is done correctly and place where it should be is having it done under Fluoroscopy, which is a big word for live xray. It shows the doc exactly where the needle is so as to put it in the nerve bundle.

Gymjunkie is correct on the views changing about the blocks. It doesn't seem to matter how "early" you get them done. They're not a very good diagnostic tool which is what many doctors used to go by. There are many factors involved as to why blocks fail. One is a individuals reaction to the block itself. The biggest reason is whether the rsd is SMP or SIP. Sympathetically Maintained Pain seems to respond better to pt and blocks. Sympathetically Independent Pain is much more difficult because it doesn't seem to respond to blocks at all or very little and pt also seems to set the pain off easier.

Here's a link that explains SMP and SIP. Just scroll down a little bit, it's title is in bold print. http://www.rsdconsultants.com/crps_abstract.htm

Another one that is good: http://www.nationalpainfoundation.or...TO_Surgery.asp

This one is really good: http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/...ekhail.htm#box

Hope these help understand it all a bit better. Education is our best friend trying to understand all the components of rsd and the how and why of the things we feel and go through.

I fully believe this is why I had the reaction I had to the block. As always though, it really is an individuals body that determines everything from blocks to meds and how they react or don't react to it.

Hugs,

Karen