Ali,

You are an inspiration! I can sense a lot of optimism underneath the condition!

School can be a real lift. I remember my college days fondly; they were really some of the best times of my life. And the education I received set me up for 25 years of a great career before my mother's alzheimers and my CRPS set me on a different path.

Life is what happens when you're making other plans!

Sleep is so very critical to handling the effects of chronic pain. I concentrate on it so much, it's become a little obsessive.

I am finally in a "decent" sleep pattern. So much better than it was the last two years. And because I'm sleeping better, I'm coping better. And my attitude is much better. And so I handle everything better. And I do my therapy with more belief.

For me, sleep is absolutely the baseline for me handling CRPS.

Between a different bedtime medication (trazadone) and some subtle changes surrounding how/when I sleep, I've been able to increase the amount of time I sleep from about 3-4 hours to between 6-7. Wow. What a difference this has made in my life!

Good luck to you, keep working on your sleep patterns, and I hope you get into your class!