I had a Guanethidine nerve block when I was initially diagnosed with RSD (almost 5 months after the onset of symptoms) and had a really nasty reaction from them.

When I was diagnosed with RSD, I could just manage to walk around on crutches. I was really slow at walking but at least I could do it and sort of move around. When I had the nerve block though, all of that went and I was left wheelchair bound for 13 months.

When I had the nerve block, my doctor didn't know that you should never inject into an RSD limb. It was only after I had the block and the complications first started that my mum found an article on the internet stating NEVER to inject into an RSD limb unless you absolutely have to and by that time it was too late.

My Doctor didn't believe that the nerve block could cause such devestating complications to start off with. It was only when I had an ingrown toenail removed on my RSD leg and another doctor did a ring block to ease the pain that he started realising that the block must have caused those problems.

The ring block in my foot caused me to develop severe myoclonic spasms that lasted for months and I still have them now and didn't respond to any medications.

My Pain Management Doctor said that he has never seen such severe reactions in someone with RSD before and says I have the most 'wound up' nerves he has ever seen.

I had to have a splint made for the Dystonia in my RSD leg at the end of last year and my Doctor knew that it would cause more pain afterwards so decided to do an epidural. I really didn't want to have it done at first considering the complications I had from the other blocks but my doctor reassured me that it would go OK and that it wouldn't be injected anywhere near my leg.

The epidural with the Ketamine worked well and I got relief for 6 hours and didn't have any nasty complications thankfully. Seeing as the epidural worked, my PM Dr has now prescribed oral Ketamine to try and relieve my pain a bit.

It is believed that the nerves in my foot are really working overtime and misfiring a lot. My doctor has told me that he isn't going to do any more procedures in that area as it just isn't worth the risk and would probably only make things worse.

I think everyone responds differently to nerve blocks. Personally, after the experience I had, I certainly would NEVER have a nerve block done into an RSD limbs again. I have seen people that have had very good experiences from the blocks and some have even gone into remission if their RSD was caught early enough.

Everyone is different with RSD which makes it hard to determine how the blocks will work for you. I really wish that I didn't have the block in my RSD leg but my doctor told me that it could potentially reduce my pain so I decided to have it done - like anyone else with RSD would probably do if they were told the same thing.

Interesting topic though, i'll be interested to see what others have to say. Thanks for posting.