What medicine is good for RSD but doesn't have major side effects?

I have RSD (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy) and sometimes my pain is unbearable. I used Neurontin for 8 years but then i started having double vision so my doctor switched me to Trileptal but its not really strong enough. help!

I know how you feel about the medications having severe side effects. I have had RSD/CRPS for a year and a half, and unfortunately none of the medications worked for me and all of them had terrible side effects. Lyrica is a new medication on the market and often times works very well for people only with a few minor side effects. Lyrica didn't work for me, but then again none of them did. I finally had to have a Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) implanted because it was the only thing that helped my pain...I had to have several surgeries to get it to work because of the rare scarring condition that I have. It basically is a unit that uses electrical stimulation to block the pain signal from reaching your brain so you receive a pleasant slightly tingly sensation. It has been nice for me because there is no medication involved with the SCS so there is no awful side effects. I am not pain free, but 80% relief is great for me. Some people do get better pain relief though (up to 100%). You can look more into SCS's at www.ans-medical.com Good luck!

Morphine,Fentanyl,Oxycodone,Codeine are used for pain but these are narcotic drugs. Corticosteroids are also used to decrease the inflammation causing the nerve pain.

One other option requires no or little medication for pain. It is called a TENS unit, this unit sends electrical signals to the pain receptor sights which helps decrease pain. You are able to control how fast and direct the signal is depending on your pain. I have used one for my back and it did wonders.

Mirror therapy is a drug free/no side effect method of dealing with the pain and symptoms of crps. I've had crps for over 8 years and last year found relief from mirror therapy. In the UK a drug company has given over $100000 to place mirror boxes in pain clinics throughout the UK. Ramachandran, a USA neurologist discovered mirror box therapy. Now many countries are conducting research and know that it relieves the pain and symptoms of phantom limb pain and crps. It's also been used to rehabilitate stroke victims. I don't know what country you're from but in the UK go to www.mirrorboxtherapy.com, For Australia, USA and some European countries go to www.noigroup.com.au and click on the relevant links. I have a blog about what I do and have many links to research if you are interested. http://www.crps-rsd-a-better-life.blogsp...
I suggest you click on Archives August for photos of what I d.
Hope this helps you. If you need more help consider joining the google group linked to my site or post a question on my blog and I'll get back to you.
jeisea

I have RSD in my neck and upper back, so I have pain through out my body. In the past three years I have tried a lot of pain meds and muscle relaxers, all of them non-narcotic. It has been real trying. My neurologist explained it is usually "hit or miss" with medications that treat the pain symptoms of RSD. Unfortunately, not much is known about RSD so many doctors have to try different meds and therapies to see if it works. Right now they have me on a combination of Neurontin and Flexeril which works okay but still makes me woozy. You just have to keep trying to find something that works. Just remember that different meds work differently for everyone, some may work for some people but not for others. Also remember that so far no one has found a definite treatment for the pain RSD causes so you may have to keep trying to find a good combination of meds or therapy. Good luck and I hope everything works out for you.