After my car accident back in Nov 07, I was diagnosed w/RSD in my left arm; burning, swelling, changing color, nail growth, hair growth....typical text book stuff. I was on 1800 mg of Gabapentin but chose to stop taking it a while back because of the nasty side effects I encountered. The RSD seemed to have "disappeared". I had slight burning every once and again, but not daily. And the tingling had almost entirely disappeared as well.

Fast forward to 3 weeks ago and the ugly monster seems to have come back with a vengeance. But now the pain is not only from my elbow to my hand. It is now all the way up to my shoulder and is constant. The burning is unbelievable. The pain is excruciating.

I am angry with myself for being in such denial. I should have listened to the warnings here about catching it early and doing "damage control". Is it too late for that? Can it disappear and then just come back?

I have an appt with a new doc on Weds and will have to start this whole process over from square one. A new primary doc, a new neuro, new meds, another EMG, more PT, blah, blah, blah......

I am discouraged, depressed and in pain. Any words of wisdom at this point would be helpful and greatly appreciated.

Thank you.