Hi Eileen...

I am so sorry for all you are going thru. I am a firm believer that RSD does spread . I was diagnosed last year and it started in my right shoulder ( along with TOS ). Then the left shoulder froze up, now my right foot is in trouble ! I did see a podiatrist last week and he asked me " You do know RSD can spread right ?" and I said "Well, it is certainly nice to finally hear those words " and I started crying ! He said that he has dealt with RSD for years !

I don't like to take to many meds either but I am firm believer that if you take a particular drug like Hydrocodone (Vicodine) and you keep it at a constant level( if you can handle it ) your breakthru pain is lessened because you have that level of meds in your system rather than taking them when you feel the pain . It takes longer for the meds to work at getting the pain level down verus attacking the pain at a constant level. I take a half 4 times a day no matter what because when I do have breakthru pain and need to take something else like Ibuprofen it doesn't take as long for the pain to go away or subside. Does this make sense ?? I know it works for me .

The one thing you need is a good support group and maybe sitting your family down, printing out an info sheet on RSD and explaining to them that your in pain all the time and you need their support to work thru this. That's what I had to do and it worked for me. They now know that I am not the person who used to work 50 -60 hours a week selling snowplows and dump trucks and was running around all the time, but I am someone who has this awful disease and just needs a little help along the way !

I hope this helps a little and hang in there! You have all of us here for you !

Dolfinz