Hi Frenchfri1003...and welcome to our ramblin' club. You are in the right place for that as rsd has all kinds of aspects of it and sometimes we are about to lose our minds and this place gives you a place to vent (when no one else understands you) and offers support and will answer your questions to the best of our abilities. I am so sorry you seem to have joined our club. Rsd is not fun but you need to keep a sense of humor or else it will drive you crazy. Take things one day at a time and do the best you can with each day. Me...I pray alot and laugh alot. I've had full body rsd for almost 7 years now and have tried just about everything. You will find some things may work for you and others may not...some meds may help you a bit while others will make you feel worse. So, you have to see what works for you by trial and error.

I was saddened to hear about your car accident since you were on the path to recovery before it. Did you have the burning pain and color changes before your accident? I thought it didn't occur until after the accident. You poor thing. The medical field is filled with a mixed bunch of people that may know something about rsd and others that know nothing and are totally clueless. You will be knowledgeable about which one is which within the first few minutes you talk to anyone about your rsd. The "usual" route with rsd is first to try PT (but never use ice as it can make your rsd worse) and then they try nerve blocks (which are done via Pain Mgmt Doctors), and mainly medicine. I have tried pretty much the whole spectrum with pain meds and meds and I have found personally for me that they do not work well. Some may take a tiny bit of pain away but I never found anything that took it 100% away.

The two things that have helped me immensely are gently chiropractics and I started every two weeks about a year ago getting iv's of all natural vitamins and trace minerals and have worked up to once a month. My holistic neurologist doc told me people with rsd need those extra things and I believe it to be true. I was able to get off all my heavy pain meds and currently take a half muscle relaxer (Soma) at night to help me sleep and 3 mg of Melatonin and I have been sleeping for at least 6 hours straight each night (Thank God). I went through many years of not being able to sleep so this is a true miracle for me. It may take time for you to figure out just what works for you. But you have to take what all people say (including in the medical field) and do what will be best for you. Try to find one doctor (hopefully a good neurologist) that you trust and let him/her be the one to take charge of all your care. I am sorry you joined our club but we are happy to meet you and to have you here. This is the best group of caring people you will ever meet. We have not met each other but we are all a family here. Let us know if you have any questions (at any time as one of us is always awake) and hopefully we can help you. Best of luck.
kathy d