[QUOTE=janesvett;358899]Hi

i am new to the site, but have been researching this new disease that i have since 11/07, and i had never heard of it.
i had a car accident, (was rear-ended) and the whiplash triggered the onset of symptoms from my degenerative disk disease...worse on the right side. my neck pain was always worse on the right, and so i had agreed to go through with steroid injections (ugh )...the second one damaged my spinal cord. since january i have had pain in my joints so bad i look like an old woman when i first get up from bed...the skin on my right hand looked like it was rotting, and was so dry my hand would bleed in several places. wounds take FOREVER to heal, and the pain i feel is excruciating, especially in places where i am hypersensitive (the inside of my right upper arm, it hurts so bad to be touched i see stars). i am trying to find some way to deal with it other than all the meds i am on, which have me feeling loopy and sleepy half the time. i had 2 stellate blocks, and am seeing a doc in a university hospital...maybe a spinal stimulator??
thanks to all, it is great reading your stories. when i tell people here what is wrong with me, they just stare at me (never heard of it)
my surgeon (have had many other issues along with the nerve stuff!) has told me that i am a walking symptom for RSD, he says it is very difficult to diagnose. great, right? !

Hi Janesvett, and welcome. so sorry you have rsd. Did the blocks help at all. That being done within 6-12 months is the best shot at remission. I was way to long getting diagnosed- like years. I have it full body now. Please don't tell us you have settled with the other cars' insurance company. This is a very long term expensive disorder.(my daughter is in the legal field.) What meds are you on? I'm very low energy from the meds and have gained a lot of weight. partly from the meds and partly because I can't play tennis every day and water ski and snow ski and aerobics and running and biking. Needless to say I had always been very active. Swimming when I can. I had never heard of RSD either. Actually was misdiagnosed and always sorry I didn't go after the Doc. My mother was misdiagnosed and died at 46, cancer. We sued and won a large settlement, not a easy thing to do. You can't always get justice in the court system, but sometimes. Some Drs. don't like to treat RSD patients, especially if they think a lawsuit is in the
wind. Hope you can get some pain relief. I haven't had a scs, had heard good and bad about them. I sure would check it out and the doc doing the procedure. Again welcome, Loretta