I have had RSD/CRPS for 5 years now. It started in my right arm/shoulder. In Feb 2008 it moved into my chest wall and left arm/shoulder, neck and later my spine. Since it moved into my chest wall I have had five cases of what the doctors have diagnosed as pleurisy and feel as I am now coming down with a sixth case. I have a terrible sharp shooting pain when I breath in and slightly less pain when I exhale. It feels better if I put pressure on that side (the right) but of course, that makes the RSD pain worse. I am not congested and do not have any other cold-like symptoms, just the pleuritic chest pain. It's always on the same side, in basically the same area. Sometimes you can hear a friction rub with a stethoscope sometimes not. It generally lasts about 2-3 weeks whether I take antibiotics or not. I am wondering what keeps causing this. Is it possible that I am breathing too shallow because of the RSD and chest wall pain and that is leading to the pleurisy. Does anyone else have RSD in the chest wall and are you also susceptible to pleurisy? I know a lot of theories out there say RSD is an autoimmune disease and I have read that there is a connection between pleurisy and autoimmune diseases....maybe that's it. All I know is I am already in enough pain I don't need anything else added to it. I just got over my last case about 4 weeks ago and here we go again. I am so frustrated. If there is something I can do to prevent it I want to know what it is.
Cricket