The pain doctor I saw this morning did not increase my neurontin, which is a good thing, I am letharigic on it, but it did stop the electrical pain. He did prescribe Savella, which I wanted, but I am not sure my insurance will pay for it. He mentioned Cymbalta, which I just read helps with bone pain. Does anyone have any experience with these drugs?

Also he told me to doctor shop to see if I can find someone will do the pamidronate infusion. How do you doctor shop?

Hi BB,

It would take phone calls to docs office staff, possibly their assistants, to find out if they do these. I think the easiest route might be calling the infusion clinics or hospital outpatient infusion department and finding out whose patients are getting these. The clinics should be giving these on a regular basis for osteo and can tell you who their patients are coming from. Just explain your doc recommends them but doesn't do infusions.

Cymbalta worked well for me for nerve pain. After a few months it unfortunately started causing severe stomach pain.

neurontin helps me with the electrical burning pain. cymbalta made me feel worse. if i were you i would check out rsd sites that list drs who know how to treat rsd before you look into infusions. there are some other options and you may want to learn about them all then weigh the prose and cons and make an informed decision with a dr who knows rsd. hugs.

The pharmacy would not fill the prescription. Evidently it takes 24-32 hours for approval, so I have time to research.

I asked for Savella, because Dr. Pradeep Chopra said he felt it worked the best, with fewer side effects.

Regarding the infusions. The only reason I would consider them is because in addition to the severe demineralization in my right foot and ankle I have osteoporosis in my hip and lumbar spine. I feel as if my options are limited, due to my age and the ticking time bomb in my head. If i can get my CRPS under control I will have brain surgery to coil my Annie. Otherwise I am reluctant.

Hey Bio,
I had been told to have brain surgery too but the truth is I'd rather live, or try to, with my cerebellum shrinking than go through an exploratory in nature type of surgery. The cerebellum had been surgically done before but they need to do the spinal stem side which is new with a very low % of working.
I'm sure you've weighed your options so I hope for the best.
Sorry, I just had to jump in when I read your post...

Russell,

It is awful to read that you had to face the rock and a hard place regarding surgery. You made the right decision.

I try not to think about my brain situation too much because worry doesn't change anything.

Just to add, I asked the doctor to prescribe LDN. The answer was no.