lidocaine intravenous

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone: My husband has diabetic neuropathy and RSD for 3 1/2

years. He has been treated with the antiseizure medication carbatrol

for most of that time. It was recommended he try lidocaine

intravenous treatment. I will try to explain what that is to those

who do not know. He was hospitalized for a week with an intravenous

in his arm while lidocaine (an anesthetic) was given to him through

the iv. They started at 20 cc per hour & was only able to increase

to 35cc per hour by the last day. (Although they hoped to reach

50cc/hr.) He was experiencing too many side effects to make an

increase in the dosage. His tongue and chin went numb. He was

nauseated & lightheaded. Lack of appetite, constipation and fidgety

legs. His blood pressure increased as well as the heart rate. I

believe it had an opposite affect on him from what was suppose to

happen. He was in the telemetry unit & was monitored the whole time

with a heart monitor & nurses checking his blood pressure every few

hours. We understood the lidocaine could affect his heart & possible

a drop in his blood pressure but that did not happen. My husband was

told the lidocaine was not working & because of all the side effects

they would not increase the dosage & stopped it. We were

disappointed it did not help the pain go away. There are not many

other options. I was wondering if anyone else out there has had

lidocaine iv experiences? Any side effects during treatment and how

did it or did not help you?