Hi Everyone.

I'm hoping that I can get some info from all of you. Just a little background. I've had TOS for about 4.5 years. I had rib resection surgery 8/04. I've just been diagnosed with CRPS, but seems that I've had it since surgery. This is mostly in my left arm, forearm, hand and is now moving to my right arm.

Friday I had a nerve block. This was the most painful procedure I've ever had. The doctor thought I had an abnormal response. But the worst thing is that the nerve block didn't help me at all.

Along with the burning pain, and just plain hurting, I have these horrible muscle spasms. They're mostly at night when I can almost feel the build up of pain and then spasms.

Can anyone relate? What do you use for the pain? I'm currently on 600mg Neurontin X3 day, lidocaine patches and should be starting cymbalta soon. This is just not helping!!!

Any advice would be helpful.

Hi there..

I did have some tinglys from hell on my very first lumbar block, in my right foot as I lowered my leg from the bed, at the time it was thought that that was a reaction of fresh oxygenated blood flowing into the previously blue foot and warming all those cells, it was harsh burn pins an needles X 1000 then gone in mabie 5 (thankfully) to be replaced by a tingly warm limb feeling.

Mine stopped working after a bit, I think they can help most when started early.

Your experience reminds me of an atricle that I once read I will go hunt it down and post back soon, some people do have that reaction I think.


back soon,
sandra

The ABC Syndrome
Recently Ochoa (58) described a newly recognized painful syndrome in a small group of patients. He believes this syndrome represents a subset of causalgia/RSD, and he calls it the ABC (Angry Backfiring C nociceptor) syndrome. This syndrome has been found in patients with major sciatic nerve injury, diabetic neuropathy, and other neuropathic disorders. The following are the characteristics of the syndrome: (a) stimulus-induced pain in response to low-intensity skin stimulation (hyperalgesia, allodynia) and often spontaneous burning pain; (b) induced pain is characteristically elicited by both mechanical and thermal stimuli—he named this polymodal hyperalgesia (PH); © in most patients decreasing the skin temperature abolishes both spontaneous and mechanically induced pain, whereas increasing the temperature aggravates both symptoms. Less often this thermal dependence is reversed (i.e., cold aggravates and heat relieves the pain), and in still other more unfortunate patients, the thermal dependence is bipolar, expressing aggravation by either increasing or decreasing the temperature. He termed such influence of one stimulus energy on the perception threshold of another cross-modality threshold modulation (XTM); (d) vasodilation with warming of symptomatic skin as best revealed by thermography is a key sign of the syndrome; and (e) symptoms that are up-modulated by increased temperature may worsen during sympathetic blocks. As discussed in some detail in the section C, Ochoa believes this syndrome is due to sensitization of polymodal nociceptors (CPNs) and that the most rational therapeutic strategy is drug- induced desensitization of CPNs.


http://neuro.vetmed.ufl.edu/neuro/Jo...es/CPS_Art.htm

be VERY careful using cymbalta when you are already on neurontin. it literally almost killed me. the newest literature says you should be weaned off the neurontin if you go on cymbalta. please reseach all your own meds and talk to a good pharmacist, doctors DO NOT always keep up on the latest warnings and news.
as far as night cramping, i have been using tranxene 7.5 mg for years for sleep and cramping and i swear by it. joan

Hello: Joan is correct. Cymbalta does not go well with some medications and can cause serious, possibly fatal reactions. I was prescribed Cymbalta while I was on Tramadol. The pharmacy filled the prescription and did not warn me of the possibility of adverse reactions. I always go to druginteractions.com before taking any new prescriptions. It was there I learned of the danger. I did not take any of the Cymbalta and instead got another prescription.

I advise anyone who is prescribed medicine to learn all they can about it. It seems we cannot always rely on our pharmacist to keep us safe.

Regards, Lil

Hi lil, where are you in the northeast? spring is finally getting here!

I had the same thing happen to me last week. Last Thursday I had a lumbar nerve block and right when I woke up I noticed my leg was on fire. I told my nurse and he said it was in my head. I spent that night in the ER. Just to have a doctor look at me like I wasa druggy. Then he gave me 2 shots and sent me home...... My Doc when I saw her on Friday said she has only seen a couple cases where the block caused more pain and tried a block on the nerve in my leg yesterday. It didn't work........ I have to call her tomorrow.... When I woke up I noticed that my leg felt really cold to the touch and my left leg ws room temp. I brought it up to the burse and she said she would ask and my doc walked up and said that it was the rsd acting up....within an hour my leg was on fire again....