NeuroTalk Support Groups - Continuous cervical epidural

Hi there,

I’m new to NeuroTalk and for that matter CRPS. I was diagnosed four months ago due to break to my right wrist. Within two weeks of being casted unfortunately things were compounded by separate injury to my left hand, thus the symptoms have now spread to include both arms, both legs, the back of my neck and my face. Though my orthopedic surgeon was prompt in suspecting CRPS, the spreading of symptoms has made it very difficult to treat. I’ve had numerous nerve blocks in both my upper and lower extremities with no lasting results, so I then flew to Florida to have a 4 days of Ketamine infusions followed by heated pool exercises 3 – 4 times a week. The infusions did provide some relief, however they didn’t put me into a remission as I’d hoped they would.

Because I live in a small city in Alaska the nearest pain management clinic is a 45min plane ride away, so needless to say I am feeling very alone. My pain management doctor is pretty vigilant about treating things very aggressively in the first 6 months and is now suggesting I have a continuous cervical epidural by means of a pump for 1-week in order to knock this down. I’ve discussed this with my doctor in Florida and he said that the procedure is very risky and to keep with the heated pool exercises and get a Ketamine booster when needed, but that means another plane ride across the country! With that said I am now really unsure. I really don’t have any doubts as to the capability of my PM doctor in Alaska, but I’m really scared about the possibility of spreading things further and possibly having a new source of pain. Therefore I was wondering if anyone out there knows anything about this procedure?

In the event I don’t do this procedure, I am contemplating doing a second 4 – day infusion with hopefully better results than the first, but was also looking for any information on this as well.

Thank you for your time, Denali