Hi tos8,
Couple of things caught my attention right away.
1) "My new PM doesn't know anything about CRPS/RSD" - HUH? How can he/she help you out? You need to arm yourself with information and find someone who is knowledgeable about this condition because it can do some pretty weird stuff. (I apologize if this is coming on too strong)
2) Can CRPS affect internal organs? Definitive answer is "yes. Please see link from Dr. S. :
"The sympathetic nervous system supplies all of the body structures — including muscle, tendon, ligament, dura, disk, synovium, bone, and even the internal organs."
Source:
http://robertgschwartz.homestead.com/page2.html
3) At the same time, in terms of a "spread" of RSD to a new site Dr. S indicates that caution should be used, as the damage caused by RSD/CRPS may reveal the previously hidden condition:
"New symptoms in different body parts should not be assumed to either represent spread, be totally unrelated, or psychosomatic; an aggressive and objective assessment of the situation, without prejudice one way or the other, should occur. While a significant minority of RSD patients can be proven to have bona fide spread of their dystrophy most often, new complaints represent co-morbid medical disease."
Source:
http://robertgschwartz.homestead.com/rsdandspread.html
4) This last site is a little dated as the physician is retired, but I frequently refer to Dr. H's page when I am doing research. Here is what he has to say about the kidneys and CRPS:
"The next structures being involved (***after visceral ***) in some cases of CRPS are the blood vessels to the kidney with resultant episodes of sudden brief and temporary bleeding through the kidney accompanied by a marked elevation of blood pressure. The same principle can cause attacks of nose bleeds, severe headache, dizziness, passing out spells as well.
Application of Clonodine Patch in the area of the kidney in the flank (in the back) usually results in good relief of such spasm and inflammation of the blood vessels. The patient should be treated with Dibenzyline or Hytrin which are life saving in such patients."
Note: these comments are found on page 2 of the document at:
Source:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q...GpAgWUT0rQiwdw
5) The connection between the vascular system and the sympathetic system cannot be overlooked. I hope you can find a physician(s) who can work alone or together and who understands crps and how the sympathetic nerves affect the body. After all, it has been demonstrated via functional MRI's that our our brains and spinal cords are all physically altered due to this condition. As a result, they send altered messages to many areas of the body. Such discordant signalling may be a contributing factor to the re-appearance of your hypertension and kidney problems.
Hopefully you can find a physician who can treat you as a whole body, not separate parts.
Please let us know how it goes - wishing you the best. I hope these links will empower you with a little more knowledge when you go to see your doctors.
Aloha,
Jenny