I use the Activadose II. To transform it for tDCS you need to buy standard TENS wires (I got mine on amazon.com for like $2), sponge electrodes, and some "pin to banana" connectors. I used the information on page 3 (I think) of this thread. I'm sorry...but I don't know the answer to your other questions.

If you have any other questions about tDCS, please ask or feel free to PM me.

tDCS is it the answer?
 

My goodness, I haven't been on here since August and I come to check up on everyone else and I see NO one has been here either. What's happening everyone??? Come on we need to keep in touch and keep ourselves going.
I for one sure wish there was an answer to RSD, I do know at this point the answer is not tDCS. Deb and I have been faithfully following doc's orders and doing what he suggests in the protocols. We have not had one single improvement in any aspect of our individual problems. We have had such faith and hopes in this treatment and are at such a loss as to why we haven't seen anything change. Even doc Fugedy is at a loss. YEA,you can believe it, he too has no idea why we haven't had any improvement. As a matter of fact he has no idea what to do next. We have all reached the end of our ropes (as they say). I would sure like to hear from somebody about their position at this point in the treatment routine. How are you all doing? Catra, Ballerina, Joydee etc. Lets get our heads together. Luv To all and hope to hear from you even if it's in pm. Thanks I:confused:

Thinking of you often and you are in my prayers-Fondly-Carol

For those that are using the tdcs device what kind of head bands are you using to fasten the electrodes to your head?

I use self stick first aid tape (ie the kind that sticks to itself and not to skin or hair).

Hi Hampster. I was out of town last week and so I didn't see your post until just now.

I am VERY sorry to hear that neither Deb nor you have had ANY improvements. It makes me so sad as I really had high hopes that you would see SOME improvements. I wish that I knew what to tell you or had some other ideas that could offer you some sort of relief but other than those things that I have already talked about with regards to my tdcs treatments and my daily routines for pain relief...I don't have much to offer. But if you have any questions, anything you want to know, don't hesitate to ask as I will share again and again.

As for my progress...I will give an update.

I have now been back to work for almost 4 months. With the return to work has come a return of strength and endurance, loss of some of the weight I put on (though not the swelling in my upper body that came on all at once in three days once the spread started to those areas), and a return to mental health (not that I was ever horrible in this respect but I am much happier and in a better place than I was prior to my return to work). Work on the one hand has been difficult physically but has been far more beneficial than not in the grand scheme of things. I have bad days but so far they have been bearable.

Flip side...with the weather getting cooler I have been experiencing more pain and it has been a blow to my confidence. Don't get me wrong...I expected it...but it still sucks. I have serious concerns about how bad things will get as it gets even colder (right now the worst has been the temps in the mid 40s). Workload has also been heavy and VERY physical at work as we get ready for the holiday season (I work in big box retail as a manager). I worked a few extra days to get department moves done and that involved a lot of heavy lifting and it pretty much kicked my butt. On the one hand...those big moves are done and BECAUSE I busted my butt to get them done right then I shouldn't have any more to do until January. On the other hand...6 day weeks are quickly approaching and with the cooler weather...I am worried.

When the pain gets really bad at work (and it does sometimes...okay...often) I have been able to push through by focusing on that tasks that I have to complete. It should not be under estimated how big of a thing this is in helping me to keep going. When I was just at home and not working...no matter how much I tried to keep myself busy...the tasks just could not keep my mind occupied enough to overshadow the pain. At work...it's very different. I am able to push the pain back into a corner of my mind while I focus on all the things that I need to do and that need to get done. Several times I have been on the verge of tears and wanted to crawl into a corner and just sob...but I always get past it.

Better news is that when I am at home and there are no people around (besides my boyfriend) I can now get around MOST of the time without the walker. On bad days...I still need it...but when I don't have to worry about being bumped by other people or tripping over things in an unfamiliar environment I am doing pretty well without it. I look much like a drunkard with my tipsy way of walking...but it is getting better. Balance is still an issue so it takes a LOT of concentration to stay on my feet...but this is progress and I am very happy about it.

Let's see...what else. Well...I have purchased for myself knee and wrist braces. I do not have RSD in my knees but all the crawling I did last year when I couldn't walk or stand because of my RSD destroyed my knees. The wrist braces...well...I got them for days when I know I need to do physical work at work (ie heavy lifting and moving of fixtures). I know imobilization is bad and so I am limiting the use of them only to situations where I feel the benfits outweigh the risks (which is maybe a couple of hours a week). I found some wrist braces I really like that cushion my hands and those have worked out well in protecting them when I'm at work doing something very physical.

So all in all...things are going well. Sleep is no longer a problem at all for me. I consistently sleep 6-8 hours a night and this is almost always consecutive.

I have been able to keep up my tdcs treatments once a day almost every day...but I confess that I do miss them sometimes when I have a crazy schedule at work. I also have an hour commute each way to and from work. I've started listening to audiobooks in the car to keep my mind off the pain of the vibrations of the car rides. This doesn't always work but it is better than nothing. I also have a playlist on my ipod of instumental music which I use often to help take my mind of pain or to cover up noises that aggravate my pain.

That's about it in terms of my progress to date. In 19 days...I take my celebratory trip (for getting back to work and back on my feet) to Disney World with my family. It will be my first airplane ride since the spread, my first trip to Disney since the spread, and I am nervous as heck about it but also terribly excited. I think it will be fine...I'll have all my supplies with me to deal with flares and I will be prepared to step back and take it easy when I need to. I hope I am ready to deal with this sort of trip...I think I am but sometimes I just worry that I am over estimating my physical condition. I need to be careful to try and avoid those situations what could result in my getting injured which I know will be no easy task when you are talking about large crowds, lines, rides, and a million other things I probably am not even thinking about. The walker should help in that people will likely keep their distances like they do at work and when I go out...but then again some people don't pay attention to things around them and I could still get hurt badly and end up in a really bad flare very easily. Oh well...I will hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

Again...Hampster and Deb...I am very sorry to hear that you have not had any improvement. If there is anything I can do for you two, please let me know.

To JohnBoy re: tdcs bands
 

Hi. What I found works best for me to hold the tdcs electrodes in place are the rubber wide bands that I have received from my PT. They are long, about 3" wide and I only need to wrap them around my head once and knot in the back. Because of how wide they are, I can fit the one sponge over my eye and the one over my ear. Also, it doesn't pull my hair like the other options do and they are easily reusable.

Hope tdcs works for you.

Hi, Just a quick report after being away for too long.

At this point I've been using tDCS regularly (as close to daily as I can) for close to the last 10 weeks.

And, while tDCS has not making a difference in my pain - and with lower-extremity I was warned in advance - it has brought about a real reduction in my sympathetic dysfunction, which had manifest as edema and myocardial small-vessel constriction that had finally become refractory to nitroglycerin, resulting in briefly being admitted after a 12-hour stay in the ER, a few weeks before I started tDCS my initial treatment with tDCS. (All of which is done with the anode is applied to the dominant motor cortex: M1.)

But, when also applied to the dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex - F3 - it has largely restored my verbal fluency, something I assumed I would never see again. So HOORAY FOR THAT!!!

Mike

That is awesome news Mike! I am so glad to hear it. I know we all want reduction in the pain but I would say MOST of my improvement has been in the other symptoms of RSD as a result of tDCS. I am just over the moon to hear about the restoration of your verbal fluency...I know that means so much to you. Thanks so much for the update! Take care.

Tdcs
 

Hi,

I to would like to add some comments, my daughter who has been trying
TDCS for some time has had a lot of interuptions due to deaths of close
family members not to mention having to change starting protocols due to
continued problems with migrane headaches.

Nevertheless she continues her treatments. We haven't seen the pain relief
we had hoped for but my daughter had mentioned with the previous
protocol she was unsure but felt it helped with balance for this reason she
is considering returning to that protocal which would have been C-3 I beleive
of the motor. In addition while she personally did not say anything I felt
when she was doing the pre-frontal her moods were better, she appeared
to be more up beat.

It is wonderful to hear the feedback from Catra and fmichael and everyone
else regarding there use of TDCS, it would seem judging from the responses
there are other benefits other than pain relief.

I have a question of any of you folks who may or may not have had this
experience it may not relate to TDCS but had any of you had your
pain move from one place to another. Somewhat like a spread but as far
as a further area but an absense of the burning pain in the orginal area.
Perhaps I can expalin it better, burning pain existed at the surgical site but
seems to have ceased there but moved a few inches beyond the orginal
site yet ceased at the surgical site.

Good luck to everyone with TDCS :hug: