for sparkey

[sillyme]

Hello sparkey, I was wondering how the nerve blocks are working for you? I had my first this morning and so far my arm feels so mutch better. I was not sur however how long they are affective before they no longer work ?

[sillyme]

Well after posting this question at about 5:30 pm pain came back worse than before for the rest of the night. Is this what happens to you?

[sparkey]

I have only had one before a few months back. I think that it only lasted a few hours because of the medication they gave me for pain while they were doing the procedure ( demerol) and also because when they injected the medication into the sympathetic nerve it numbs it. It only lasted about 5 hours for me. Did your eye droop after the procedure? If it did, it means they did get the medication into the nerve. They also measured the temp. in my hand after the procedure. Was this a gangloin block??

I will be having my next one on the 19th this month. I planned it for 1pm seeing the way my right side of my face was droopy after and I did not want to be like that in the morning and try to work after. So I planned it for afternoon so I can go home and relax. The doctor told me the best thing to do is to go for PT after the injections if at all possible. I have no idea why he said this and did not ask. He also said that it would take many more blocks to have this hopefully go into remission. Not all people have relief from these blocks and hopefully I am one of them that will. Good luck and just try to time how long you were pain free so you can tell the doctor how long it lasted.

[sillyme]

Hello sparkey, Yes it was a gangloin block, you got to love that eye droop...lol mine did that too and numbed my voice box. I'm doing the same thing, just keeping track of how long pain is gone for. This first block lasted about 5 hours. Lets just pray for remision.

[sparkey]

That is exactly the same amount of time mine lasted. I am hopeing that it last longer than 5 hours next time. The injections were suppose to be two weeks apart but I keep having a hard time finding someone that does not work to take me there. It is 250 miles round trip from where I work/live to have these injections.

I hope they work for you, and pray we both will get relief from these treatments. Do you have RSD in your arm/hand?

[sillyme]

Mine started in elbow but the symptoms seem to have traveld to whole arm, wierd thing is latley my other arm feels the same way. My blocks are done 30 minutes from my house but I still need a driver because I opt for sedation and mine are going to be once a week.

[sparkey]

That unfortunatly is the effects of RSD to mirror the other side. I also have pain on the other side of my body which has to do with the RSD. I may even have a start of carpal tunnel on my left side now. There are days when the other side hurts more than the injured one.

I also get pins and needle feelings in my elbow area and feels like a nerve. I was told from PT to take some cream/oil and to massage the upper forearm and it does take away some of the pain along with the TENS unit. My problem is nerve damage, but for some reason just using the TENS unit takes the pain from my brain for awhile. If you do not have one, try to get one as it works wonders for some people. The ic paid for mine and always pays for the electrodes/pads whenever needed. Also the rechargeable batteries have been sent to me a few times because of possible defects when the machine would not stay charged. The machine I saw was over 800.00 and is wonderful to use because it clips onto your belt buckle or pants while you walk around and do things if needed.