Question: My wife has had sever pain in her shoulder for 6 mo. It radiates down the back side of her left arm into her fingers. Her left arm also is swelling, has a difference in temperature, and does change colors when the pain is at its worst. We have had MRIs of her Neck, Shoulder, and Head which all came back normal. We have had dozens of blood tests, all normal. Multiple EEG, ECG, EMGs which all return normal results. She has periodic minor twitching in her left arm. At one point it was a few times a day and now is more rare. Her current neurologist wants to test for epilepsy, but can epilepsy cause these symptoms? We don't want to waste time ruling out things that don't fit her symptoms.

Thank you for your response. We didn't think it was related to epilepsy either. Her pain is persistent. We have had a Brain MRI completed which did not show any space occupying lesions. While for several months strength in the arm was normal it is now showing significant signs of weakness. She has also had both an MRI and X-Ray of her shoulder, both with normal results. She definately has enhanced sensation in the limb as well. Touch is painful going to the extent that even resting the arm on a pillow can be unbearable at times.

This occurred in January with sudden onset. If it were due to an injury we do not know what it would be.

We have been researching RSD/CRPS as her symptoms seem to fit that the best, but we are having difficulty getting an official diagnosis. Even if we did, what would our next steps be? We are currently going to a pain clinic locally. She has been getting nerve block injections which will help for a few weeks. The injections do not completely alleviate the pain but significantly help. She is also taking 15 mg Roxycodone every 6 hours as well to assist with pain. After an injection she usually only needs one or two Roxycodone pills to get through the day.

Any additional insight or direction would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you again. XXXXXX

The nerve blocks have helped some but they wear off quickly. How often can the nerve blocks be given?

Also, some of our Doctors have been talking about fentanyl as an alternative to the roxycodone. She has tried morphine pills before but they caused mood/personality changes. Would the Fentanyl be likely to cause the same problems?