It is funny how you posted this about Dr. Sajben, I just found her web page and noticed how she uses Dextromethorphan for pain. I posted on her page to see what her thoughts are on RSD. My daughters PM doesn't believe that RSD spreads from one limb to any where else. (NICE HUH?) She was diagnosed by one of the best. But her PM is quite the a;ksfaf! Need I say more. I would be interested in knowing more about Dr. Sajben.

Sandy

Here is her web page.
http://painsandiego.com/tag/crps/

Sandy, I checked out her web page, she sure seems to care about her patients, I am curios to see what she says in reply to your questions. So glad Lindsey is feeling so much better and not on any narcotics. She must feel like a new person. Please keep us informed on how she is doing.
-Wendy

HI -- I'm wondering how your progress has been of late with Dr. Sajben for RSD. I just read about her approach using a combo of meds that no other doctor appears to be doing [naltrexone, namenda, lamotrigine] and patients are ultimately weaned off them. I am looking for a new doc in So Cal area, have already tried ketamine and HBOT with little success. I don't believe in SCS and am not anywhere near being a candidate for this but docs keep pushing it as part of their agenda...therefore I'm not interested in seeing Dr. Prager at UCLA, etc. Thanks!

Dr. Leverone in Torrance offers outpatient Ketamine.

Hi Holly I am in ut. and i wouldnt come here looking for a doctor there are none that I know of that can do ya any good if ya have RSD. I have had it for about twelve yrs and been to a few doctors here. sounds like the doc u have came from ut. if he put your battery pack on the belt line and says you made your rsd worse what by thinking about it like no one does that. Every time they do something to me they make it worse or what ever they do they mess it up and it is never their fault. My scs hasnt worked out they hurt my back putting it in they didnt blame it on me but they made sure telling me that they didnt do it even tho my back was fine before they touched it. I didnt think putting in a scs could make you get rsd in your back have never heard of that before ya sure the pain isnt from something else. I am in n. utah maybe down south there are some better docs but i dont think so the joke here is we get the ones that cant make it out of state. well have a great week see ya Alan

Hi,
I just saw your questions about Dr. Sajben. I saw her for about 10 months. She is nice and seems to understand how difficult RSD is to live with. The only one thing is that she is disorganized (probably b/c she doesn't have an assistant or secretary so she handles everything herself while managing a lot of complicated cases). I tried a variety of meds and combo of meds with her. Unfortunately, I just didn't respond well to anything we tried. She is worth a try, especially if you tend to tolerate medications well.
I also have resisted an SCS implant. Dr. Sajben has been very supportive in my decision to not do one. If you see her, I recommend you talk with her about it.
I hope this helps!

Hi, Mike-- separate subject, can you recommend any physical therapists in the L.A. area who are familiar with treating RSD patients? Just moved back to L.A. and am waiting for my PCIP insurance to kick in to see a doc, but in the meantime am trying to find a good PT. Thanks!

I to have seen Dr. Sajben she was very understanding and caring, i to did not have any luck with her concotion of medication but i do have a friend that has gotten his life back thanks to her treatments. i recommended her if you tolerate meds well.
Kern Physical Therapy in Santa Monica the physical therapist is Rami he is unbeliveable.

Sorry, just saw this, exactly a month late. And yes, I've got some information.

The first thing - and this if HUGE - is that U.S.C. is now turning out people with post-graduate degrees in physical therapy. The program takes roughly 3 and 1/2 years, at the end of which folks come out with a "Doctor of Physical Therapy" (DPT). And a remarkable knowledge of neuro-anatomy, based in part on cadaver studies! And this from the program's webpage:

Since the Division was founded in 1945, it has been at the forefront of the most significant advances of the physical therapy profession. The program today is ranked #1 in the country by U.S. News and World Report and continues to be a center of excellence for clinical practice, education, and research in physical therapy.

At this point, many the owners/principals of the top PT practices in Los Angeles County are members of the department's clinical faculty, and who, in turn, employ the program's DPT graduate almost exclusively in their practices. Here, for instance is the webpage of Layfield & Associates Physical Therapy in Encino, where after years of bumbling attempts at "strengthening" elsewhere - that only made me worse - I was offered a series of "nerve gliding" exercises that for the first time brought significant relief from what had been chronic and disabling spasms in both legs, which had previously responded only to Marinol, a synthetic "Delta-9 THC" that otherwise left me completely wasted. (And here's the profile page of Susan Layfield PT, DPT, MS, OCS, on the USC site.)

And check out the DPT program catalog, if for nothing else, the required coursework.

And that's just the beginning, the top students are then offered the opportunity to participate in 1-year residencies in area practices, but with all
of their patient treatment under the guidance of full-time university faculty. Accordingly, when I was seen two years ago at Layfield & Associates, I received absolutely outstanding treatment from a young DPT who was then in an orthopedics residency, on account of which my treatment was reviewed weekly by her professor, who sat in on one or more of my treatment sessions over a two or three month period. And as a 100% satisfied customer, I can only imagine what it might have been like to have been treated by someone in the USC/DPT Neurologic Residency Program!

And to that end, for those who would find it convenient to be seen at either USC's Health Science Campus in East LA or at a smaller office on the main "University Park Campus," the school itself offers a fairly comprehensive Pain Management Program, specifically referencing the treatment of CRPS, in which it's apparently possible to book treatment directly with its staff members, as opposed to students in training.

And finally, for anyone on the Westside, I would be remiss if I didn't offer a referral to my own treating therapist, Jennifer Reynolds Carr, DPT, OCS, now practicing at Wehner and Associates Physical Therapy in Santa Monica.

I hope this is (still) useful.

Mike