Hello

Where to start? I am a 27 year old female who lives in the high foothills of California about 40 minutes down hill from Lake Tahoe. Forgive me this is going to be a long post. Four years ago i was in a car accident somewhat of my own cause...

I had been having car issues where it would just spontaneously lose all power including lights, a computer issue I later found out. That morning my shift at the deli began at 5 am so I was out on my way to work . At 4:50 my car lost all power on the spiraling off ramp , it was very dark as the moon was only a little more then half full and I was afraid I was going to be plowed into if I left the car on the middle of the off ramp like that. So being the 180lb, independent, belly dancing, weight lifting, horse training, two jobs and college girl I was. I decided to push the car the rest of the way off onto the thin shoulder of the off ramp.
This off ramp spiraled at a tilt like a race track and I was very close to having the car all the way on the upper shoulder. So I put it into neutral , opened the door and began to stand in the lee of the door with one hand on the steering wheel to direct the car. I had done this many times before and didn't think it would change my entire life. It did. The car rolled back on me dragging me pinned by door and car frame down the steep grassy knoll that made up the back side of the spiral. If the car continued its path I would have been dragged out onto the freeway below , I had the brief thought I was going to die. I had luckily landed partially inside the car on the floor board beneath the steering wheel. Nearly dislocating my right shoulder I was able to engage the emergency brake and the car slowly came to a stop leaning its weight on top of my pinned scissored legs.
I must have done some good deeds in my past life because that day , I had the most luck and the worst . My luck continued not only had it rained the previous day, the grass was waist high to buffer me and I also had my cell phone in a buttoned jacket pocket. I was able to call 911 emergency. I was hysterical at first the dispatcher didn't believe me and actually hung up! I watched as cars headlights skimmed past briefly lighting the ceiling of the car. Somewhere between one breath and the next I began to panic. Somehow I wrenched myself free from under the car, I couldn't stand. Finally the Dispatcher called back and believed me, she sent the ambulance finally , telling me not to move, to late.
The paramedics arrived after what seemed to be forever. It ended up being the same ones I made breakfast for every morning. I was in shock but Brian the youngest paramedic made an inside joke about how my thunder thighs saved my ***. He had been in the deli with his comrades and they found out he likes them chubby, somehow my upturned rump was chosen as an example of the body shape he liked. It broke the shock I laughed briefly then began to cry all the way to the hospital.
At the hospital they found no lacerations or bruising, visually checked my pee for blood and sent me home , no xrays , no nothing. Which later helped me a little as i used it against them to reduce my bill with them. I took the pain killers and had my dad take me directly to the impound as I knew I would bruise and be immobile in pain the next day.
I spent four days on my dads couch then went home when I finally could walk. after another day or two I went to see my doctor Wy ling Go, and was given a brief exam bruised from hip to toes on the left outer side, go home say off a week your young you will heal. Week after week i went back for three months I still was in more pain then I had ever felt, the swelling was immense and ice hurt like hell. More symptoms followed eventually I gave in and selected a cane to help my unsteady gait.
I quickly lost my job, my fiancee, my apartment, I racked up debt after that trying to get treatment with out insurance. I moved in with my father who lived with his girlfriend eventually even that went sour even my own family didn't believe me. Some days I was mobile others bedridden. I changed doctors saw specialists even was homeless for two nights before my grandmother took me in to sleep on her floor in her one bedroom studio granny flat.
I searched for jobs everyday but its very limited when you can't stand for more then an hour and only have a high school diploma. So I went back to school trying to finish my aa. I was in more pain then ever and i had lost even more my independence, my figure, it seemed I even lost hope .I kept trying new things my new doctor wanted test and more tests. I was in the whole for 12k I had no medical insurance and no relief from the pain but hot showers. I slept less then an hour straight at night. I lost hope and nearly tried to kill myself. I learned to avoid pain causing things, exercise, dance, stress, beans, and walking.
Eventually though I found love which led me to a job but by that time it had been two years since the accident. I had made no headway to a diagnosis or even a little relief after my suicide incident they put me on flexeril, naproxen and one 500mg opioid at night time. These medications made it possible to go to work but I was useless afterwards it seemed to take all my toughness, endurance and after work i gave up to the pain.
My boyfriend and I moved in together, worked together, cried and laughed together, over the next year. I don't know what I would do without him. I am unable to live alone, I cannot do ...so many mundane things even when I was off for a few days in a row.
February 2013 I was driving my monte carlo and we were plowed into from behind. Totaling both cars and sending me to the ER not only was I out for a month with a severe concussion but my leg was worse then ever it even seemed to spread. By this point I had changed doctors so many times did so many test it was unbelievable and I still had no diagnosis or even a clue what was wrong with my leg. I developed a deep fear about driving not that the pain would let me some days anyways.
Finally the ACA went into effect, I got kaiser Permanente February 2014. It is set up like socialized medicine in japan it is everything all in one big hospital like building. I went in to see Dr. Z( insanely long named doctor) unfortunately my pain was around a 5 that day on the typical 1-10 score, five is a wondrous day for me it is the lowest pain point i have with the exception of when i get sloppy drunk. Dr. Z accused me of drug seeking.
A week and a formal complaint later I have a new doctor Dr. Goodil and she on my very first visit after listening carefully, reading the summary of my medical records and asking a few pertinent questions diagnosed me with RSD. A condition which I had heard of only once before with the second physical therapist I saw but it fits perfectly and even explained the giraffe pattern (livedo reticolaris) that comes and goes on my thigh. After four years almost to a day I am finally getting treatment that may really help. Then thankfully I get laid off... why am I grateful the side effect of my new medication would make work impossible.
Dr. Goodil has put me on gabapentin which am a slowly increasing by one 100 mg every three days. I am now at 1200mg and have now seen either a further spread of the RSD from low back hip knee to calf and ankle. Or the possible side effect of edema it is so hard to tell because the ballon tight swelling is a normal symptom for me just not normally that low. The gabapentin has been helping me sleep by its other most common side effect after I reached 800mg I had the first solid night of sleep in four years. I sleep well if i can get to sleep in the first place. I still take the flexiril, naproxen and opioid as they help the other symptoms. The clamping muscle spasms, the sharp stabs and some of the pain at bed time for now until we get the dose right for the gabapentin I live like a had during the days before in pain sometimes debilitating pain.