Hi everyone,

I've had RSD for a few years, it started in my right shoulder after rotator cuff repair, and spread after a series of doctor snafus (RI doctors -AGHHHH) to my neck and the back of my head. I can't really use my right arm for anything other than working on the computer (THANK GOD I have a desk job). I have also had horribly cold, stiff numb hands and feet that often feel like concrete. They have been like that most of the time since the onset of winter, and I have learned to sleep with gloves and 2 pairs of socks and an electric heater to keep comfortable and warm (Ambien CR 12.5 mg helps, too!). Add facial, neck, chest, shoulder and back flushing and perhaps I getting close to being defined as full body RSD?

What is scaring me is a new symptom - a deep horrible pain in my lower right back. It started a few days ago and it's almost always there. I take 325 Percocets - 1/2 a pill at a time totaling maybe 4 full pills or so a day. They don't touch the pain in my head (when it hurts) or now the pain that has started in my back. Not sure what this is all about.

I walk a lot - maybe 3-4 miles a day, and I am still in pretty good physical shape (a lot of people who know me don't know that I am sick). I am scared to death that this new pain is a sign that the spread is now hitting the trunk of my body in the lower end, opposite where it started. And I am having difficulty sitting - not good when you have a desk job and have to drive to work every day.

Thanks as always for listening and for letting me vent, I needed to write all this down. I see my PM doc tonight. We'll see what he has to say.

Take care everyone, Sandy