Firstly, I am so sorry that you have been diagnosed with CRPS.  It's truly a horrible condition and if caught late there is no cure just control.  However, opinions seem to differ about this.

I was suspected of having CRPS but didn't believe I had it so I researched this for a while in order to make my case.  In the end none of the Pain Consultants I saw thought I had CRPS, but because the pain was persisting at a level that was unexpected I was offered a number of approaches to pain management. 

One consultant prescribed lidocaine plasters for topical pain, another set me up with a list of medications I could request for my 'pain management cabinet'.  This included morphine sulphate to be taken for breakthrough pain.  Another consultant set me up with pain patches (e.g. Duragesic).  This is an opiate-based medication that is released continuously at a set dose for up to 3 days.  This was fantastic and I felt liberated from the regime of ensuring I was taking meds on time.  Yet another consultant offered me a guanethidine block if nothing else was working.  This is meant to help reset the pain feedback loop and there are other nerve blocks you may have.  My newest consultant (BTW, if you're counting I'm now on No. 5) is also referring me on to the Pain Clinic which is run jointly by a psychologist and physiotherapist for one-to-one and group sessions.

I don't know what stage of CRPS you are at.  If it is one of the early stages then if you get appropriate treatment then you may get complete relief from pain, but if it is later then you may find you need to be on medications long-term.  Since you also have clear nerve damage then it would be appropriate to ask whether there might be any options that help to correct for the nerve damage.

One alternative treatment option to look into might be SCENAR.  This is a Russian-based electrotherapy (developed from their space research technology) which is non-invasive and is somewhat akin to interferential combined with acupuncture treatments.  The system has been widely used in Russia but has been released elsewhere since around 2000.  There are some medical research programmes in the US looking at the efficacy of this.  There are certainly some astounding testimonies about this treatment, e.g. one English rugby player had his career finished by a back injury and could barely stand or walk for pain.  Treatments with SCENAR not only enabled him to return to walking but he also got back to running and returned to rugby as a coach.

Anyway, I am really very sorry you're in this position.  I hope that you can explore some of the options around for pain management and find something that can help you.

Best wishes

Hi,

My doctor (pain specialist) is now telling me that I have some sort of neuropathic pain, caused by nerve damage inside my knee joint. So the problem is not saphaneus or infrapatellar nerve, but nerve damage in soft tissue, inside the knee joint. Precise location of nerve damage is for the present unclear, because doctors don't have small enough ENMG equipment to put inside the knee joint.

I'm now discussing with ortho surgeon about another arthroscope as soon as possible. Hopefully second scope will point out location of nerve damage.

Pam, check out this article about a comparison of diagnostic methods in CRPS.

As MRI allows to visualize the structure of soft tissue and bone with a high resolution, it has become an important tool in diagnosing various disorders of hand and wrist. Hence several authors suggested its application for diagnosing CRPS I. MRI examination in CRPS I patients revealed a variety of findings that change during the course of the disease in a characteristic manner. Skin thickening and bone signal intensity changes in carpal and metacarpal bones as well as effusions of adjacent joints are strongly related to the acute and early phase of CRPS I.

Sounds like your CRPS2 is spreading fast.   That is because the drugs you listed do not include an opiate.  There is a lot of fear mongering out there about opiates.  Of course they are addictive if you use them to get high.  We are talking about pain relief, here.  I do not have the same nerve damaged as you, but I do have a nerve damaged like you that is affected by the normal movement of the leg.  I have had this injury for over 25 years, and it began spreading about 15 years ago.  I was in a lot of pain prior to that, but the doctors felt since they could find nothing with MRI it was all in my head.  Finally I got a doctor who knew what they were doing and understood what I was explaining about the pain spreading.  Started me on morphine sulfate timed release (ms contin) and my life has been livable again.  DOn't believe all the anti opiate hysteria.  Morphine is the gold standard for pain relief.  All other opiates just do not cut it.  Morphine is very special in that if you have severe pain it effects the pain and little else.  MY head is clear and my sex life is better and I can exercise again.  But most importantly, it has slowed down the spread of CRPS2 dramatically.  In the last 10 years i have been on the MS contin I have only seen some minor spread.  I suggest you look for an article on the internet from Practical Pain Management on Howard Hughes as it is very informative about CRPS and opiates.