Hi Cake,

This is a terrific thread! Thank you for posting this.

I'm currently separated from my husband right now because of his work so I might not be the best gage of how intimate couple can be with one partner (me) suffering from CRPS. My husband is very good in so many ways. My favorite place in the whole world is to snuggle into his arms as we spoon together as we prepare for the night of sleep ahead. Of course I have to completely pad my entire rsd leg and left side of my body with pillows from any potential bumps or unexpected movements but overall we manage to do quite well at maintaining this level of intimacy.

You are so right ...there is a third person in our marriage and he often gets frustrated with that, so do I. I hate that I am consumed by the thoughts of how I have to manage my RSD every day, that it's always in every conversation we have. I try my darnedest to over compensate, even to the point of ignoring my rsd pain and hurting myself at times. When that happens I try to cover it up and not show the pain. Some days I try to shut out RSD and pretend it's not there (not easy) but a little extra meditation or medication can usually help.

More and more though I'm learning that it's not how the RSD effects me it is how I let it affect me. Instead if I focus on the smell of the flowers, the colors of the sky, the touch of my loving husbands hand on my cheek I generally can deal with the pain much better.

RSD has a bad way of directing us towards the negative so it takes work to focus on the positive, but it can be done.

Sexually - overall we have a good relationship but it does mean we both have to compromise to make it work.

I've learned that communication is the key. Sometimes less is more.

That's why I come here. I can talk amongst you all without feeling that I am burdening my husband. I know he feels my pain, each step I take or each breath that is sucked from my being when the pain becomes too unbearable.
At least here I can speak my mind without feeling too worried about how it will affect him.

Thanks for great thread topic.

Msl