Hi Brittany and welcome!

I'm Kate, I'm 31 and married to an amazing husband too! My CRPS started when I was 23 from a bodged up blood test in my arm. At that point, we had two daughters- Bailey aged 2.5yrs and Olivia just 7 months old.

It's been a tough road where we've also had legal battles but we're still very strong as a couple. We now have two more children- Dayne was born 2 yrs into my CRPS, in 2002, and we had Hannah in 2006. We were lucky that I had a remission of pain during my pregnancy with Dayne, but didn't have the same luck when I was pregnant with Hannah. The success of a ketamine infusion gave me 10 months pain relief, which opened the window for us to have that "just one more" but my CRPS spread to my right leg when I was 5 months pregnant and I didn't get the remission I had hoped for.

It was really tough but totally worth all the pain, as I couldn't imagine life now without Hannah. Bailey is now 11 and Liv is 9 and they are the most amazing girls, always helping me out and they all have had to learn to clean up after themselves and be responsible for their things, as I can't exactly go around picking up after them.

I mainly take the opioid meds now, as I've exhausted the lists of other medications over the past 9 years. But I make sure my CRPS is only one aspect of my life. My husband and my kids are amazing and I'm very lucky, I have a great support network around me who helped me out when Liv and Dayne were babies (as I couldn't use my right arm at all) and who help me out now that I'm on crutches most of the time.

I'm glad to hear you have a really supportive partner- it makes the world of difference to your motivation to keep fighting this thing. My husband just works 3 days a week and the rest of the time he's home as my carer, and a stay-at-home-dad to the kids. But I'd also be lost without the friends on this forum, as it's so important for us to talk to people who truly understand what goes on in our heads, and our bodies, not just our family and friends. And it helps you see you're not alone in the world.

Anyway, I just wanted to welcome you too! Feel free to post topics and questions whenever you like. Sometimes, by browsing a few pages back, you can find your questions already answered or can carry on that discussion, otherwise ask away on a new topic!

Oh, and I second what Mike said about the opioid meds. I'm on oxycontin and a fair dose of it, but it just lets me be "normal", or as close to it as I can be! I don't get any high feelings etc and haven't with the other opioid ones either. If you have the pain that warrants them, then they work on that and that's it.

Oh, and I study from home, too. I do an online Uni course. I finished a 3 year Human Resources Management course 2 years ago, and have been spending the past year or so doing a general Business Administration course. I haven't worked since my CRPS started in 2000 so I wanted to update my skills and keep my brain working in the meantime! There's no way I could get to classes so this suits me perfectly! I study when I'm ok, I don't when I'm having a flareup. As long as it all gets done in time then its ok to be done that way. :-)

x Kate