Hi luna.moon great name!

Sorry you have this thing we all struggle with...there's great support here, and you can feel free to vent and tell it like it is. We do get it.

I was on Neurontin for a while after trying other meds, and I didn't get on with it at all, but I know others swear by it, so you have to do what's right for you. I was titrated up to 3,600mg a day, and it messed with my stomach and didn't help my pain, and after two bad bouts of vomiting and pain my doc thought OT best that I stopped Other folks are fine, so perhaps my stomach is just super-sensitive to it - I am a coeliac so maybe that doesn't help? Who knows. I hope the higher does controls things better for you!

I don't think you can ever really come to terms with this because it varies so much, and it does just affect every singe darn thing we try to do normally! As Angelina said, try to find the things you enjoy that don't make your pain worse. Try to replace the things you can't do anymore with alternatives that a kinder on your CRPS. You can't ever forget it, but you can distract yourself a lot of the time, and manage your own reactions to the problems it brings. It's not easy by any means, but as time goes by your pain can often change and reduce, and your body does get more used to it so that you will find you can do more. Movement is really important, so keep exercising however you can, and don't sit around for too long at any time...

Things often improve, so never ever give up, even on the worst days!

Two things that have really helped me are -
1) Epsom salts they are great with the burning pain, either in a warm bath or wrap in a damp cloth and out on the skin. You can also get a lotion/paste version you can use. Any which way,it helps the pain, and the magnesium is vital to your body too - most of us don't have as much as we should, so it helps reset the balance.
2) A Flare Box. I have a special wooden box that I only get out on really REALLY bad times. It has loads of things in it that help me to feel a little better and brighter when the pain does that melting off the bones thing (I so get that!). Some of the things are: a photo of me with my family, smiling, and on the back I wrote 'the bad things pass, the good always comes back' - cheesy but I like it. A bar of dark chocolate. A funny DVD of Greg Davies. A nice natural essential oil massage lotion that I use to massage my leg when I get bad cramps. A bag of brazil nuts (mmm with dark choc!). I scented candle - I light it and look into the flame while I concentrate on my breathing and calming exercises. An index card with the names of some calming music from my iPod. One of my favourite books that I absolutely love and can lose myself in.

Anyhow, I hope even a bit of that drivel has helped! Hope you have a decent night and feel a bit brighter tomorrow...

Bram