Hi Lema,
I forgot to address your one question about extreme sensitivity. You said "anyone else with rsd, sensitive to the wind, hair touching you, or even the sun and heat? i know everyone is different, but rsd is SUPER hypersensitive. i do however, have some lidocaine but not in patch for, so the rubbing is too much." Yes, I do have extreme sensitivity to everything you mentioned plus water. Taking a bath/shower is a nightmare but I get by. You will learn what things you can do to help lessen your pain such as: stay away from loud noises, bright lights (but you do need at least 20 mins per day of direct sunlight for your Vitamin D), when I take a bath I make sure the bathroom fan is off and bring in a small lamp so as not to make any breezes caused by the fan being on (not to mention the noise), and clothes wise--I dress in layers all the time so if you are hot you can peel a layer off and if cold you can always add more clothes. I am cold all day with a painful cold at night (like right now) but at 2 am heat starts out in my big toes and spreads through my entire body so by the time I wake up I am on fire...which lasts about two hours once I am up and then proceeds to cold again. I have gone through this cycle for many years. Any time I take a nap it restarts the cycle from hot to cold again. It is strange but my new normal. Try not to use ice in PT as it can make your rsd worse. I had a hard time with any kind of patch since going on is ok but having it there drives me bonkers and then to rip it off is horrible pain so be careful where you place it.

You can tell your dad that rsd works like cancer...we are all born with the rsd cells or the cancer cells and they never come out but once you have a trauma to a nerve(like your cheerleading accident) it can make the rsd come alive...just like with cancer too. We all have these types of things in our bodies and certain events trigger it to come out. So, please do not think you in any way did this purposely to yourself...he must be crazy as why would a young lady such as yourself want to have this horrible pain and have your life be changed??? Don't listen to the negativity. It will just make you sad and you need to be positive and keep moving while you focus on getting it into remission. RSD is relentless and stays burning 24/7 and never stops. Most people who get injured have it at one point go away or lessen in a few weeks but ours never stops. If it gets real bad you can see if your parents will take you to see a psychologist to help you deal with it all and maybe then the psychologist can bring your family members in and he/she can explain with you there what you are going through and that they need to be supportive. Or there are rsd support groups in some places so look around and see what is out there. Best of luck to you and hang in there strong!! Be the brave person you are and don't let them get you down. I give myself a timeout once in a while in my bedroom with door closed and lights off and I just cry for about 1/2 hour and get it out and then pull it together and do what has to be done. It helps. Good luck.
kathy d