Originally Posted by catra121

I am so very sorry to hear what you are going through. Is there anything else that you have found that helps you besides meds?

For me...when I was at my worst and unable to walk or stand...the best relief that I got was from heat. I took hot baths with Epsom salts (twice a day for a long time). I have a space heater that I would put near me when I sat on the couch. I have heating pads and patches that I use to help. I also use an ultrasound heat therapy machine after my hot baths which seems to extend the amount of relief that I get from the baths.

Lidoderm patches have also been helpful for me...particularly when I use them just for pain flares. I also have a lidocaine cream that I have started using for my hands when they flare and that has been helpful as well.

None of these things help a LOT but they do take the edge off.

It's also important to figure out what your triggers are and do your best to avoid them as much as possible. For me...cold and air movements and touch are the worst things...cold being the number one big bad for me and my RSD. So I wear gloves and a scarf...I keep covered...I keep it warm in my house and avoid air conditioning during the summer. Full weight bearing also causes my pain levels to increase quickly so I use a walker now and it takes all day for me to get as bad as I do in 30 minutes without the walker.

And...I know this isn't a quick fix...but physical therapy was really the best thing for me. It hurt like hell to go through it and it took a good 6 months of daily therapy and exercises to get me back on my feet and another 6 months before I was really fully functioning...but it helped me so much. You cannot discount how much worse the pain gets with immobilization and disuse.

I hope that you are able to find some meds to help make this more bearable for you.