Lupus,
I am so sorry you are in so much pain. What meds are you on for it?

I haven't heard much good about sympathectomy. I hear you can be much worse off by having one.

Have you tried Aqua Therapy in a heated pool of about 92 or 93 degrees? I am having good success with aqua therapy. I most likely will never be able to do land therapy. My muscles lock up when I get cold. The warm water is soothing to the sympathetic nervous system and often calms my pain. It is very relaxing. Also have you been to a good OT? My OT taught me a brushing and pressure technique which helps calm down nerve pain. I use a surgical brush for the brushing technique. I use a paraffin bath on both my hands and feet to help calm the pain and nerve activity as well. I also use a heated blanket throw and a heated mattress pad. Cold is my enemy.

I have been very leery of anything invasive. I had two sympathetic nerve blocks done. The second one put the RSD in my back. I believe that a part of rsd is sensory oriented. In Sept. I had a very bad flare up that knocked the wind out of me for two months. I was unable to type at all on the keyboard because the tapping caused such pain. I wasn't able to ride my lawn tractor due the vibrations causing pain. I read an article in a Neurology magazine about how a child was rehabbed and decided to try some of the techniques myself. I am on very little medication for the RSD. I got on my tractor and started doing the lawn. Considering how weak I am, this was quite an endeavor. I had to empty two lawn bags from the back of the tractor onto a trailer. At first, I was crying because of the pain the vibrations were causing. I persisted and eventually, the vibrations didn't hurt anymore. At one point, it was very painful to touch my foot where the break was. I couldn't stand covers or anything else on it. I began to rub the area with my hands and put lotion on my foot multiple times a day. What I did to one foot, I also repeated on the other. I can now have covers on my foot, wear socks and shoes. When things start acting up, I again work on desensitizing the area. The only time I have taken a narcotic is last night and the night before due to the pain from the PICC line site. I only took the narcotic at night and hope I won't need to take the narcotic tonight. I was on neurontin and had terrible side effects with no pain control. I now take a low dose of Cymbalta and am doing so much better. If you would like to private message me, feel free. I look forward to hearing from you.

Naturelover