I have heard that Vitamin C & Magnesium are good to take for your rsd/crps. I just don't know how much to take & when ? I got Spring Valley Vitamin C with Natural Rose Hips 500mg tabs. also got Nature Made Magnesium 250mg tabs. I heard people say they take up 1500mg daily of vit. C but I don't know if you start on a low dose & work your way up to 1500mg or what? I kinda need some help. Just was diagnose with crps type 2 in Jan. 2014. Was also told by Dr. I got crps when I got my injury (July 2012) not when I had my surgery (April 2013) my injury was my right foot. the crps is starting to spread up my leg some. Don't know to much yet. I am on Gabapentin 900mg 3X daily & for my pain I take Nucynta ER 100 mg every 12 hrs. also taking fluoxetine 40mg once daily for depression/ptsd.
any advice would be helpful. Thank you

It's up to you. Vitamin C is very safe. I've known people who take 4000-8000 mg per day, but I think that's a little extreme. If you space the 1500 out over the day (a good idea no matter what dosage one takes)—say 500 mg w/ each meal—there shouldn't be any problems. The worst you might get is an acid stomach or heartburn. If that happens, back off a little. If it persists even on lower dosage, you might consider switching to Ester C, which is calcium based. I can't tolerate ascorbic acid at all (IBS) so I take Ester C (500-1000 mg/day) with no acid/stomach problems at all.

I think 1500/day is on the high side anyway; 500-1000 should be plenty—12 hrs apart if convenient, w/ breakfast & supper if not.

Doc

The studies from Europe to prevent CRPS in wrist and ankle, trauma and surgery, used either 500mg a day or 1000mg a day for at least 50 days. It would be best to use at the time of the
injury, but you should try it anyway.

Some people on the RSD forum here get IV infusions and claim improvement. If you type in Vitamin C into the search engine on page 1 of the RSD forum, you'll see lots of entries. (including some from me quoting the papers from Europe).

The Vit C is supposed to quell the inflammatory response to the injury site which is causing the CRPS symptoms.

I also use Ester C --I get mine reasonably from Puritan's Pride.
It is also at Costco for a nice price. Try WalMart's too...as their supplement prices are very good, and also they carry good manufacturers as well.

Look carefully at the magnesium label. If it says Magnesium OXIDE, it won't work as it is not absorbed. You need another type that is better absorbed. SlowMag, or Magnesium glycinate, malate, lactate, or gluconate. There is a lotion you can rub on also...called Morton Epsom Lotion. It is sold locally at WalMart and online at Amazon.

You cannot take magnesium WITH gabapentin. It should be spaced far apart. Magnesium will block the absorption of the gabapentin into the blood stream.