Allen,

You, me, AZ-Di and most other folk here I suspect!

I had a little chat with my deepest self last week, mainly about the cold....I'll share it with you. Sorry

I am actually afraid of the cold winter months coming, in a way I wasn't even last year. But now I know what it really means - 6 months of enhanced pain, never feeling really warm, less mobility, all the fun of the fair....

But do you know what, I have also decided that I am NOT going to spend those 6 months holed up in a quilt, feeling miserable. I'm going to make a very rude hand gesture at the winter, and tell it where to get off, and enjoy myself as much as I can despite the CRPS. I've done the misery thing (no doubt I will again lol) and it isn't fun. And I've learnt stuff since last winter, about how my CRPS behaves (or doesn't) and some of the things I can do to minimise the worst of it. I'm going to try to get warm and stay warm - which means wearing warm clothes all the time (fashion can go swing, I WILL wear fleece-lined trousers in the house!), my cosiest socks from early morning so my feet don't get really cold (which seems to set off the burning later), and when my feet start to feel hot, I'm not going to take the socks off - if I keep them on, but elevate and wiggle my feet, it subsides a lot quicker than if I let my feet be open to the air. I have to keep moving as much as possible, especially in the morning, and kick-start my circulation for the day, help to get that oxygen to my extremities!!

Well, that's the plan anyway. I've no doubt all my brave words will count for very little on some days, but I can't hibernate, and I won't feel any better if I try. I feel a teensy bit better for the chat lol.

So basically, good luck matey - find things that help your CRPS parts feel warm, and do as much as you can. You sound like a determined kind of guy, with some exciting stuff coming up. You'll be ok, and we're all here for any times you aren't

I wish you a warm winter Allen, as stress and pain-free as possible

Bram.