DreaB,

Sorry to hear about your situation.

Confusing isn't it? Maddening? Absolutely. And awful darn painful!

I would recommend doing as much of your own research as you can. YOU are your best health care advocate. Especially with such a misunderstood condition as CRPS. Heck, about half of the doctors I talked to knew almost nothing about it.

Don't be afraid to seek many opinions. I think I saw close to a dozen professionals before I was comfortable with my diagnosis and treatment plan. And yes, CRPS can be misdiagnosed; not uncommon actually......

This is a slow process. As is dealing with chronic pain. But there are things that will help; you just need to find out what works for YOU! What works for one may or may not work for the other. Lots of experimentation necessary. And patience, even though that comes with difficulty when you are in pain. It took me about a year to sort this condition out and another year for me to fine-tune my medications and management routine. Today, my life is much better than it was the last two years........

As for the neurontin, as I mentioned, what works for one may or may not work for another. But it is widely used as the first drug to try for CRPS and neuropathic pain in general. It actually works quite well for me and is the "cornerstone" of my medications. Give it some time to work. But if it doesn't, don't be afraid to ask to try something else.

Remember, even though they are doctors and you are the patient, YOU need to drive the bus!

Good luck to you!