[Sonny1]

Well I am home from my appointment this morning. I was a nervous wreck knowing we had to discuss the stellate ganglion block, which I agreed to for April 4th. YIKES!!

I fell a bit weird with this doctor. She seems to have this attitude of "suck it up and get over it". I explained that I could not take the Lyrica due to it making my vision very blurred and her response was "you are just going to have to push through things".......HELLO, I need to see. She continued with "every medication has side effects and you just cannot stop taking them because they make your vision blurred or they make you throw up etc" I'm thinking, I am trying to relieve pain not add it. So I agreed to go back on neurontin and "deal" with the exhaustion it caused me, at least I will be able to see!

OK, now that I freaked out, I do have an actual question. In doctor's report it states "The patient has symptoms which could fall in the diagnosis of CRPS-1." Is there ever a definitive diagnosis? or is it just wait and see if more symptoms appear? I am lost. My last visit she said you have CRPS, so here I am thinking i am going crazy~

[byates]

Originally Posted by Sonny1

Well I am home from my appointment this morning. I was a nervous wreck knowing we had to discuss the stellate ganglion block, which I agreed to for April 4th. YIKES!!

I fell a bit weird with this doctor. She seems to have this attitude of "suck it up and get over it". I explained that I could not take the Lyrica due to it making my vision very blurred and her response was "you are just going to have to push through things".......HELLO, I need to see. She continued with "every medication has side effects and you just cannot stop taking them because they make your vision blurred or they make you throw up etc" I'm thinking, I am trying to relieve pain not add it. So I agreed to go back on neurontin and "deal" with the exhaustion it caused me, at least I will be able to see!

OK, now that I freaked out, I do have an actual question. In doctor's report it states "The patient has symptoms which could fall in the diagnosis of CRPS-1." Is there ever a definitive diagnosis? or is it just wait and see if more symptoms appear? I am lost. My last visit she said you have CRPS, so here I am thinking i am going crazy~

It took me ten yrs of searching to find a doctor to give my daugther a diagnoses. All of the doctors said it was in her head or just said it was fibromyalgia. One doctor even diagnosed her with fibromyalgia without even turning around to look at her. She is 18 yrs old and has full body CRPS. She just completed her first ketamine infusion. She did get some good results from it. The CRPS is not gone but is better. She tried Lycria and did not do well with it. First of all it did not help anything. Then we she was trying to stop it, she was unable to sleep. It took at least a month to get her sleeping again. So be carefull. Good luck...

[mimichicago]

i am so sorry for what you've gone through with bad doctors. i have CRPS in my foot, and the first doctor i saw had me take me shoe off, LEAVING MY SOCK ON, and told me "your foot looks fine to me." that was our entire visit.

another doctor attempted to conduct our appointment with his entire body in the hall and just his head poking into the room where i was sitting. i refused to say a word till he had the decency to step completely inside.

[gramE]

When you have teenagers, advice often given is 'pick your battles'. When you have CRPS you sometimes must pick your pain. We have an imaginary scales at our house where we "weigh" out our choices. I find my self more and more using it to decide pain level vs benefits and this doesn't only include meds. Activities that I know are going to leave me "feet up" for a couple of days, dinner out, then sitting in the car while my husband does some things he wants to do. Sometimes I make the wrong choice. The dull eyesight is something I would not choose either, but the sleeping meds I'm taking now leave me slow moving most of the morning, but sleeping 9 hrs a night has lowered my pain level a bit.

But you also must learn about your own body and how it reacts, I am more sensitive to somethings that most normally aren't and I have to put up a battle to get my point across.

Don't give up. Keep doing your own research. Try and keep ahead of the game, and clearly notate your reactions but give them time to adjust in your system.

Best to you,
Pat

[lorigood243]

Dear Sonny

Please dont go back to this doctor!!! find another one. I have gone to many doctors to finally after 5 years getting a diagnosis of RSD. i have been to many pain clinics and if they want me to take meds i dont want or like...i leave..there are more fish in the sea. Tell your primary care that you didnt see eye to eye with the pain doctor. give you another month of meds until you find someone else to go to. This dr obviously doesnt have a drop of compassion in her body for what you are living with! cancel your appointment and move on. thats what your gut is telling you based on what you wrote. im just saying it out loud for you. RUN FAST
Lori

[Swatgen27]

Sonny1
Im sorry your appointment left you frustrated. I agree with the others, as if I take a new med and find it has to many side effects then I won't take them anymore. After all, it's my body but with that being said I always try the various meds for a solid month. Reason bring, the side effects usually dissipate after a few weeks. I would say 99% of the meds I discontinued was because I did not feel any changes in my pain levels.
As far as the comment the dr made about the diagnosis being potential CRPS type 1, I'm thinking she wants to see how your body reacts to the nerve block. If you fire this dr, please find another asap to treat you as the percentage of remission decreases over time and therefore right now timely treatment is important. Either way, I suggest that you still try the nerve block wether it be with the current pm dr or a new one.
Sarah

[Sonny1]

Originally Posted by Swatgen27

Sonny1
Im sorry your appointment left you frustrated. I agree with the others, as if I take a new med and find it has to many side effects then I won't take them anymore. After all, it's my body but with that being said I always try the various meds for a solid month. Reason bring, the side effects usually dissipate after a few weeks. I would say 99% of the meds I discontinued was because I did not feel any changes in my pain levels.
As far as the comment the dr made about the diagnosis being potential CRPS type 1, I'm thinking she wants to see how your body reacts to the nerve block. If you fire this dr, please find another asap to treat you as the percentage of remission decreases over time and therefore right now timely treatment is important. Either way, I suggest that you still try the nerve block wether it be with the current pm dr or a new one.
Sarah

I am sticking it out with this doctor for at least the 1st nerve block on 4/4/11. I spoke with my PT head honcho today about this Dr. and her lack of compassion and bedside manner. PT honcho knows this Dr. well and agreed 100% with my description of her, however said she is the person to go to if I want to see results. She sent her mom there last year for shingles pain. She explained to me that this Dr. is a no nonsense pity party woman, which I get. No pain no gain, but I do have some say in my treatment and treatment is not limited to pills, tests, injections etc., but people connection. So, I will give her a try and see what results I get, if I am not satisfied then we move on!!!

[SandyRI]

So how do you know your PT head honcho is qualified to make that judgment? Don't ever disregard your instincts...

some docs do blocks well, and many don't. Just be sure that your doc is board certified and really has a whole lot of experience in this line of business. Treating shingles isn't necessarily the same as performing a sympathetic block on the spinal column.

Good luck.

[ballerina]

Originally Posted by Sonny1

I am sticking it out with this doctor for at least the 1st nerve block on 4/4/11. I spoke with my PT head honcho today about this Dr. and her lack of compassion and bedside manner. PT honcho knows this Dr. well and agreed 100% with my description of her, however said she is the person to go to if I want to see results. She sent her mom there last year for shingles pain. She explained to me that this Dr. is a no nonsense pity party woman, which I get. No pain no gain, but I do have some say in my treatment and treatment is not limited to pills, tests, injections etc., but people connection. So, I will give her a try and see what results I get, if I am not satisfied then we move on!!!

Hi Sonny1,

Please trust your instincts. The most horrible experience I had was with a doctor that I had a gut feeling about but kept my appointment anyway because the doctor was recommended by two PT'S and an orthopedic surgeon. I was also worried about the time it would take to find another doctor.

I cannot stress enough the countless folks who have had a spread by CRPS by blocks. Please do not take any chances.

A doctor who lacks compassion and has a poor bedside manner is not a doctor to treat CRPS.

If you can get to New York City I highly recommend Dr. Cruciani at Beth Israel.

Teri

[gabbycakes]

Originally Posted by Sonny1

Well I am home from my appointment this morning. I was a nervous wreck knowing we had to discuss the stellate ganglion block, which I agreed to for April 4th. YIKES!!

I fell a bit weird with this doctor. She seems to have this attitude of "suck it up and get over it". I explained that I could not take the Lyrica due to it making my vision very blurred and her response was "you are just going to have to push through things".......HELLO, I need to see. She continued with "every medication has side effects and you just cannot stop taking them because they make your vision blurred or they make you throw up etc" I'm thinking, I am trying to relieve pain not add it. So I agreed to go back on neurontin and "deal" with the exhaustion it caused me, at least I will be able to see!

OK, now that I freaked out, I do have an actual question. In doctor's report it states "The patient has symptoms which could fall in the diagnosis of CRPS-1." Is there ever a definitive diagnosis? or is it just wait and see if more symptoms appear? I am lost. My last visit she said you have CRPS, so here I am thinking i am going crazy~

Sonny1,

I would not go back to that doctor if she paid me. I have had RSD and PN for 7 years and have been with the same PM Doctor/Office and have never been told something so rediculious when I complained about a side effect of a med. or a treatment which I had many, many. Just start looking for a new doctor. What part of the country do you live in? Maybe someone can make a suggestion.

Gabbycakes