Originally Posted by KristinB77

Hi everyone. So I was just diagnosed with crps in nov 2013. My history is back injuries. I had spinal fusion 2009. A screw was lying on my nerve so 2 mo later I had another surgery to remove the screw. After that I did great. No more leg pain. Back to working full time etc.

then in 2011 while I was 16 weeks pregnant I was rear ended on my way to work. Long story short, that accident led to another spinal fusion in 1/2013. Because I have such good luck when it comes to anything medical, I of course developed an immediate complication. I had a very large hematoma. So, finally 3 months later the hematoma was small enough to show my nerves on MRI. Turned out I had a large bone fragment in my nerve causing all of my issues. So in 4/2013 I went in for a quick removal of a bone. Turned into a 3 hr surgery with removal of multiple bone fragments and scar adhesions.
So now I have chronic nerve damage and pain in my left leg. So in November I went to my pmd for numbness and tingling in my left arm. I also spoke to him about my leg. It was always numb feeling and to touch, I had horrible pains...especially in my foot and ankle, my foot was turning purple, it was swollen...but not terribly...my hand was also swollen... I also had developed a bunch of little red petechiae on my body. So, he diagnosed w crps.

I am a nurse and had never heard of this before. At first, I just kind of ignored it. Then one day I had put a post on Facebook describing my pain and the fact that my son touched my leg and made it fly up. A colleague of mine asked if I had rsd. That started my research. So lately, I have been doing a lot of reading about this disease, however I still have a lot of questions. Hoping maybe this forum can help me.

So, here are some of my questions..... First, most of what I have read describes the pain as burning, mine feels more like a stake is being thrushed into my foot over and over, or deep sharp pains in my calf and thigh. Does the pain vary depending on the severity.

2.. So I think that maybe I have a mild form of it because I do not feel like my pain is at a 10 all of the time. From what I have read it seems like this disease is 24/7 excrutiating pain. But mine comes and goes. I mean I have pain either in leg, back or foot at all times, but not always at that level. I'm wondering if that is because this is new, is the pain going to continue to get worse?
(Btw...so far I have done a nerve block, which made things worse not better...waiting for approval for SCS).

3... My cold foot/ ankle comes and goes also. It seems that all of the symptoms are worse after activity. I am currently not working due to all of this. 3 days a week my son is in daycare, so all I do is rest. Those days are my good days. But days like yesterday when I have my son, who is 2, and I run errands...for 2 hours....then I suffer greatly that night and the next day. But I still am not sure I would call it a 10. I mean the first 2 weeks after my surgery now that was a 10. I screamed every time I had to move.

4..... Do all of the symptoms get worse...because the cold foot is driving me crazy. I wear 2 pair of footies, a hiking sock and a slipper with no help. Sometimes I wrap a heating pad around my leg. That seems to help.
5.... INSOMNIA. Omg I feel like I want to blow my brains out. My pain is always worse at night but still not a 10. I take a Percocet ( sometimes 2 depending on pain) and melatonin, but I still struggle to sleep. But I can sleep just fine during the day...the few days I can. It is weird.
Ok. Lastly, I have become pretty depressed with all that has happened this year, is it beneficial to see a psychologist to help deal with all of this?
I appreciate any help! Thanks so much