Dear Kitty,
My RSD is is both feet, ankles and lower legs and I have a great deal of trouble with cold, blue/purple feet and I have little to no tolerance for shoes and socks.
Recently my MD decided to fiddle with my BP meds(I'm not too fond of being fiddled with) and explained to me that the ones I was currently taking were all beta blockers, and that he was going to add a calcium channel blocker which relaxes the vessels so that more blood flow is possible than when the vessels are constricted. That obiviously was true after taking the first pill my feet went from purple/blue I've become so accustomed to, and turn fire engine red. Not exactly the trade off I was expecting. Honestly the blue was easier to deal with, and when i walked around the red got redder and more painful. Plus my head did not seem to be too keen on the relaxed vessels, so with the red feet came a show stopping headache and a BP of 76/48 and a pulse of 101-125. So he took me off of all my other BP meds(3) but I was weak, and energyless. So after 5 days he lower the dose of Procardia XL by 1/2 and added back my atenolol and clonidine(which is for BP and pain). Well my pulse went down, my BP up a bit, and the redness is less, but the headache is still here, a bit less debilitating, but my ankles are the size of my knees from swelling and my face is puffy and a few other things that are tipping the scale to the "more side effects that benefits" side.

I like having warmer feet without the pain of socks, but I can't enjoy it because of all the other crap. There is a procardia that is not extented release and i could cut them in half, but i don't know if he will just say it doesn't work and go back to what seemed to be working for me without all the side effects. I knew how to handle the blue/purple, the red neuron popping feet were a whole new learning curve. And I'm not a good headache person, never had many before RSD, and don't really need to have them everyday.

Do you take the Inderal for headaches? Now I don't really take a pill for my RSD except Zanaflex a muscle relaxer. I'm allergic or ultra sensitive to so much. I'm getting nerve blocks every 2-4 months and not walking or wearing socks or shoes. I have a wheel chair for long walks and a mobility cart to keep up with my grandkids at sporting events and some shopping. Winter is coming so I'm getting ready to hibernate. Not totally but I don't visit my g'kids, they come and 'babysit' me. I do some things, but I definitely count the cost first.

Rambling is my specialty if you hadn't noticed yet, so I will end by saying I don't know what a sodium blocker is. But my relationship is about to end with the calcium channel blockers. And I'm due for a nerve block soon, so I'm looking fwd to the wonderful period of almost total relief for a few weeks.

Have a great fall week. We had our first pot of chili this week, it must be fall. SSSOOO GOOD. I have set the bar high for the rest of the chili soup season. Next week is vegetable, I can't wait. I love soup season. The leaves are even beginning to change around here. Hope you find your answers.