Hi catra121

Thank you so much for your post, it's really kind of you to share your experience and ideas.

I have not heard of tDCS before, just googled it and it sounds interesting. I have been accepted onto a UK trial of the Alpha Stim system, which is not the same I know but I am excited to try it and see if it helps (if not I haven't lost anything). TENS works to a degree on me and because of that and my failure with many meds, the neurosurgeon has written to my pain consultant recommending I be considered for the SCS. I am trying not to get my hopes up too much as obviously there are criteria to fill and hoops to jump through over here to get one, and then it might not even help. Still, it's better than nothing to look forward to.

I am currently taking Buprenorphine patches (35mcg), buprenorphine sublingual tablets as "breakthrough" relief (200mcg), pregabalin (450mg) and Cymbalta (60mg). I thought recently that I was tolerant to the buprenorphine, as I had level 7ish pain daily for a while, then was admitted to hospital the week before last in agony. While I was in, they didn't have a patch available and I had to do without for 24 hours (having IV morphine) and towards the end of that period I realised I am not as tolerant as I thought, it's just the pain is worse "underneath". They fiddled with my dosages to what I've listed above (I didn't have any breakthrough meds and they added the sublingual buprenorphine, Cymbalta and upped my pregabalin) and now it's tolerable, although I am still around a 5-6 daily.

In the past I have tried gabapentin and amitriptylene. The gabapentin worked moderately well for a short period, then 'wore off'. Under the GP's direction I would wean off and take breaks from it and start titrating back up again to try and make the most of those initial coverages. Amitriptylene helped me sleep at first before the pain went through it's really bad phase, but again it wore off. Now I only sleep 'properly' if I am knocked out by something stronger - on my current meds I will get up to 2 hours, maybe 3 on a good night at a time. Amitriptylene didn't do anything for the pain (which is what it was prescribed for), so they took me off it. That's when they started me on gabapentin.

I am going to ask the GP about the lidoderm cream, thanks for the tip! I think patches might not be suitable for me given the amount of area that's burning (I presume you apply them to the burning areas?). I'd need a hell of a lot to cover both thighs and my lower back, haha.

I'll definitely try the epsom salts too. I'd read about them in other threads and on CRPS websites, and it's such a cheap and easy thing to try that it makes a lot of sense to give it a go. It's good to hear from the horse's mouth that they are actually helpful though, so thank you. This might be a silly question but how much do you use in how much water?

I am so glad you get relief from all the things you mentioned - 6-8 hours sleep sounds like heaven and I know from experience that broken sleep makes everything worse. I am going to look into everything you've mentioned, and thanks again for sharing your experience.