I am also over the five year mark.
My RSD started when I broke through a board on my deck at home and was caught between the 2x4's. My husband had to crow bar me out of the situation. The initial days following the accident were uneventful. I went to the ER and had some woodchips cleaned out of my right leg. This is also the same leg that I had ruptured and repaired the Achilles tendon. Wondering if RSD was laying there ready to pounce. Anyway I was in PT for the achilles at the time and after my deck accident my leg broke out in a rash and was red and swelling with extreme sensitivity. I was let go from PT at that time. I continued to have problems with the leg swelling, redness and most of all the pain was huge. It was like a porcupine, needles poking me in my leg and the red hot heat.
I have episodes now where my leg is ice cold or it gets like its been sunburned with redness and actually skin changes to a burnt look, wrinkled like after a sunburn. The pain is high on most days. I have times like today where I just crash and burn. Usually the pain makes me extremely cold all over. I have to go to bed and cover up as much as I can without touching my RSD leg.

I am working as a Special Ed. Teacher only getting this job this year after completing my Master's degree in Special ed. I have a job that has me doing short assignments that are 2 hours in length so my day is flexible in that sense. I have to drive over 50 miles to get to work and 50 miles back home. I think this is effecting my pain level a lot. The vibration from the road is a killer for me. I get home and have to go to bed or fall asleep in the chair. I take pain meds throughout the day as directed but also as I need to get through my task lists.

Walking is difficult especially in the morning. It takes me several hours to be able to get through the pain and to make it to the car. I get up early to just be on the computer while I take the meds to get me moving for the day.

Mentally I think right now I am just scared. I don't know how long I can last with working. I would choose to be at home if I could. Its very difficult to do what I have to during the day. I am having to really ask for accomodations at my new job. I did let them know at the interview that I had some health issues. My house is horrid. I let that go because I can't do it all. If I have to work than I just have to let the house part go. I have a hubby and teen son that help out in that department but not like a how I would do it if I could get it all done in the day.

I take 3x 600mg Nerontin, and 4x7.5/750mg. Vicodan daily for pain relief. This seems to work for me now. I do have break through pain daily and just try to do other things to make it better. Sometimes I have to double the dosage and try to work it out through the day. Hoping I don't run short of the meds at the end of the month. I have had ganglian sympathetic nerve blocks on three occasions. They really don't work much. I do notice that the swelling subsides however. The pain is still there. One time they shot me right in the joint of the leg and that was better than in the lower back. The next choice for me is the spinal tens unit. I am waiting until I absolutly have no recourse but to go in that direction as there is nothing really saying it works.

I am now in a PT program but had to stop due to my leg flaring up. It became red, swollen and broke out in watery blisters. The blisters are large and when they became so large they break and than its water running down my leg. I am just coming out of that and will resume the PT. I do see a chriopracter for lower back pain as well.

I suspect that I will be on disability in the future. This is just a realistic view. I know that I need to stay positive and I do. I just work each day as a new one and take it from there to make it through. I have some memory issues that effect me at work. I think it really cost me my last job of 17 years but I didnt' know that I was having a problem. Now I see a pattern in that so I write things down and keep everything so as to refer to it. that is no doubt the nerontin. I need to be on that med so I just have to deal with it.

Most days are between 5 and 6. The problems I have are night sweating, muscle spasms ( charlie horse type that last for 45 min), burning and temp. changes on the right leg, swelling, sensitivity to anything, hard to sleep in the bed due to touching of the blankets etc, insomnia from pain, deep pain to the bone, stabbing shooting pains.

Hope this helps your survey.