I had shoulder surgery in decemeber and with that i had a pain sheath catheter in place. The first catheter did not work and the MDA wanted to replace it after surgery. He tried to remove the first catheter but was unable. He then placed a second one and told me that I'd have to go see a different MDA to have them both taken out. I made it to 2nd day post op and was in terrible pain and pump wasn't relieving much pain. Come to find out the first catheter was knotted inside and thats why he couldn't get it out. AFter they realized they weren't getting it out the "normal" way I Had to have it cut out of me. It was a huge knot.

Since all of this I"ve been dealing iwth Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy also called complex regional pain syndrome- type 1 in that arm. I have had 3 stellate ganglion blocks and 3 axillary blocks to help. this is the first week without a block and i'm hurting really bad. it feels like my arm is on fire. it comes and goes but i don't know what to do.

i'm on gabapentin , nortriptylene, and fosamx as prescribed by the pain management doc. i don't see him for another week and a half as he's on vacation. is there anything else out there besides meds to try to make this go away. i want my life back! i should have just lived with a bad shoulder if I knew this was going to happen. I've also been using a tens unit and doing desensitization therapy.

i've read a little about nerve stimulators permanently being in place?

please if anyone has any input or ideas or been through this please msg me or reply to this...

First I would like to welcome you to the group. . Second, I am sorry to hear you have this monster and I know that you wish you didn't as do all of us.
As far as alternative therapy, you can use heat or bath's. (NEVER ICE) But personally, I would say if it gets to the point you can not take it go to the ER.
I was glad to hear you got treated so fast. (compared to most of us) I hope this will help you to find remission. (they say the sooner you are treated the better chance for remission)

Best of luck and keep us informed.

Aggressive, but gentle, Physical Therapy is usually best. It can help keep muscles from locking up, and hopefully push it into remission. Also try Lidoderm patches, made with Lidocaine, it can help numb the affected nerves. I'm seeing a pain Psychologist too, she's helping me manage stress. Which seems to be a large part of the battle.

Since you have caught it somewhat early, another thing you might want to look into is a high dose infusion of bisphosphonates. There is a thread further down talking about a study with several high dose infusions of the bisphosphonate neridronate that showed very promising results. Also, you may want to look into graded motor imagery/mirror box therapy. Again, these therapies might work better if initiated shortly after the development of CRPS. Furthermore, I'd take vitamin c and possibly NAC to address free radicals and inflammation.

These things (with the exception of the high dose bisphosphonates which we never tried) have helped my fiancee anyway, who is basically in remission now from CRPS.