Hi Vanessa,

I'm sorry to hear about all that you are going through, and hope you get some useful feedback at this forum.

You asked about muscle twitching, so here's my experience:

I have CRPS type II (which is basically RSD from a known and defined nerve injury) resulting from a needle injury to my right arm while donating blood almost 2 years ago. Mine has spread up the arm to my shoulder, neck and right side of my face, although the arm symptoms are the worst. I just switched from carbamazepine (Tegretol) to 300 mg gabapentin (Neurontin) 3-4 X a day, which luckily works well in controlling my symptoms most of the time. Unmedicated, my primary symptoms are burning pain, aching pain, sensitivity to touch, cold, wind, etc, excessive sweating in my right armpit, and minor redness in my hand (but no significant swelling right now).

For the last year, I have had a constant regular twitch, about every 2-3 seconds, in the ball of my right thumb. Since it's in a very small muscle, I call it the world's smallest dystonia. It started right about the time when my symptoms worstened last winter. Also, especially when my symptoms are flaring and are not being controlled by medication, I have a lot of twitching all over my right forearm. It's not strong twitches, but makes my forearm feel like it's vibrating. Fortunately, none of these twitches seem to significantly affect function of my arm. I do, however, have a problem with muscle contractures in my right hand. The muscles in my hand are very tight, and I feel like I'm fighting tight rubber bands when I spread my fingers. My hand doesn't twitch, however.

I don't know if this is helpful, but this has been my experience.

Annie