Thanks for the warm welcome, all!

It's such a relief to have people who experience all the craziness associated with this mess. My family and my sweetheart are beyond supportive, but there's just no way they can ever fully understand.

I'm 28 and was diagnosed with CRPS after a labyrinth of pain specialists and PTs and orthos, yada yada yada. It was a simple game of laser tag that took my life away and replaced it with this sizzle-foot and a hot pink cane. I had a successful SCS trial in September, but when I went for the full installation in November I didn't see the same relief. I've actually had to turn it off because now it adds to the pain. Not cool, man.

My "multidisciplinary" team includes a balding, yet pony-tailed therapist who urges me to calm myself by tapping my forehead over and over, a chipper blonde PT who could be a Cheerio on Glee, a ghost of a pain management specialist who floats into our appointments for 2 minutes, and a genius neurologist whose calendar can only book 6 months between appointments. Now I appreciate a good, kooky character in my life, but to have them responsible for my pain? C'mon. Thank goodness for my Primary who understands the "Care" that's in his title. It's been like herding cats trying to figure out how to get them to work together, and they all seem to be throwing different medicines at me. So 1) Does anyone have suggestions on who runs point in their care team? A neurologist? Pain Management? Primary? 2) Does anyone have a medicine combination that really works for them now? I'm allergic to NSAIDs, so anti-inflammatory meds are unfortunately out.

I'm really looking forward to meeting you all and finding the funny wherever we can!