Hi All,
Have any one try other types of nerve blocks such as cervical or lumbar epidural, caudal, paravetebral and brachial plexus blocks containing local anesthetic and corticosteroids? Did it help you? I have obtained this idea from reading the case reports of venipuncture complex regional pain syndrome type 2 by Hooshang Hooshmand,MD. Dr. H stated in his report that the therapeutic effect of these blocks usually lasted up to 2 to 4 months, rather than a few hours or weeks. I tried to show it to my pain doc today. He did not recommend these blocks to me in part due to the risk and he does not believe these blocks would offer any more benefits than the sympathetic ganglion blocks. By the way, he does not recommend anymore sympathetic ganglion blocks for me because of the limited relief i obtained from my previous block.
Any experiences or thoughts you can share are greatly appreciated!
Numb

Hi,
I've had 2 lumbar sympathetic blocks and 1 lumbar epidural. The first lumbar block helped about 30% for approximately 5 days, then stopped helping. The others didn't help at all. Also, after each shot, my RSD spread. I won't be getting anymore shots. Hope this helps,
Bailey

Since I have systemic, full-body RSD, my Dr started alternating cervical and lumbar epidurals instead of doing blocks to each side because they cover a wider range of area. It would take me so many procedures to take my pain away. I wouldhave to book 4 procedures a week, figuritively, since they cannot perform stellate ganglion blocks on both the right and left side on the same day due to respiratory problems.

So, we decided to try Tues cervical epidural's that have Depo-Medrol (cortisteroid: but very little because I have them so often) and Marcaine (he uses more of this because it seems to work well on me. And Fri's are for lumbar epidurals that are used the same way. They save a lot of time and cover a larger area.

They work better for me than the blocks ever did. I am off to have one right now. Good luck Hun. Please ask me if you have any other questions!


Heather

How painful is the epidural?

Thanks
Rick

Hi Rick!

I've had 5 lumbar epidural blocks....

I can honestly say that I did not feel anything other than the needle that went into my hand for the IV and that was less than a bee sting feel.

I wish you the best.

Abbie