Hi heartbeatmom,
I have had RSD for 13 years, mine was following surgery. Was a benign breast operation. Got frozen shoulder, with 100 physical therapy treatments, it went away. A year later showed up in other shoulder-more therapy went away for another year. Was water skiing and felt a nerve pull on original limb. Was misdiagnosed - then correctly diagnosed after several months. My hand is permanently paralyzed-about 50% usuage.
Then went to other hand-started therapy right away and have full use of right hand. Then moved to one foot-leg= then the other foot leg. I keep moving, swimming, stretching and have kept mobile all this time. It 's so important to be on right meds and have a good Dr. overseeing this. I see my Dr. once a month. I have been helped so much by my psychiatrist. WC should be allowing you to see a psych. a couple times a month. Mine just happens to be a neurologist, and pharmacologist. I found him in the yellow pages, can you believe that? It's true-the best Dr. I've ever been to.
If you don't have a Dr., you could give the general area where you live, and ask for Drs. names. Also, RSDSA may have some names. I was correctly diagnosed in 1 minute by flying from Arizona to a sports injury group in Oregon. That's how I found a sports injury Dr. and physical therapist here in AZ. Diamondbacks Baseball Team Orthopedic Dr. and the former pga (golf) therapist and he retired, set up his own physical therapy business. College or Sports Teams Base is a good start.
I attended the annual RSDSA meeting this spring, and they said there are 50,000 new RSD patients being diagnosed each year. There were 135 in attendance. One day was for patients and the next day was for medical professionals.
I hope you find some peace, medications do help with nerve pain. Anti=depressants, anti-anxiety, pain meds, sleeping is imperative to keep the nerve pain under control.
Take care, loretta