Maybe I can give some hope, although my case of CRPS is not as severe as the ones you have described. I developed CRPS in my fright foot after having broken my ankle and subsequent surgery. I was in severe pain for several weeks but was lucky to be diagnosed early on. With the help of a pain physician I was put on Lyrica, Amitriptilin and Tramal on a high dose, which helped reduce the pain significantly. Now, 1 1/2 years later I have been able to stop taking any pain medication. My ankle still hurts, but the pain varies from day to day, so I need to adapt my usually active lifestyle. Strangely enough horse riding is fine, I guess because I do not put any weight on my ankle- and because I love it I tend to forget about my foot while I am on the horse :-). Long walks or sight seeing trips however are out of the question. After having gone through all the depression and frustration I know that any tension, frustration or anxiety only makes my pain increase, so I have taken up meditation and relaxation therapy. For me homeopathic snake poison injected in the ankle combined with acupuncture helps but has to be done every 3-4 weeks (sometimes it works brilliantly, sometimes I hardly feel any effect). It definitely was not a linear improvement so far, lots of ups and downs! I don't know how things will develop but at the moment it's okay as it is. I wish the pain would go away completely but I have learnt to adapt....And I have learnt that as a patient you have to fight for treatment that works for you as an individual, no matter what other people/physicians might say.Pain is a very individual thing and cannot be objectively measured by outsiders....
@neurochic: I love your postings!
All the best!