Molly,

I love, love, love your attitude! It is absolutely critical in hitting this condition head on, which is what you are doing. It took me a year to get a diagnosis, but after I did finally get the diagnosis in 2009 and then after a little bit of "woe is me" feeling sorry for myself, I attacked it and have had reasonable success. Things can get better.

A multi-disciplinary approach is the best one for CRPS. My team consists of a podiatrist, chiropractor, pain management doctor, general practitioner and a physical therapist who I now need to see only occasionally.

I have a "daily routine" which involves warm water soaks followed by full lower body stretches taught to me by my physical therapist. Then I do some yoga and meditation followed up by daily exercise. It's important to keep the body moving but of course not to aggravate the condition. The whole routine of mine takes up a good part of my morning, but it helps greatly and I wouldn't miss a day of it!

Any kind of hydrotherapy is great. I swim a lot too as I live on a lake. I think some sort of exercise is a great idea when it can be tolerated; just be sure it is something that you can handle and of course, ease into it and ramp up a little at a time. You could start by walking, then running very short distances, etc. and see how your body handles it; might be a good idea to check with your doctors before starting it.

You really need to find out what works for you. I've found that a combination of conventional western medicine as well as some complementary holistic therapies like meditation, massage, yota etc. are helpful. Below is a link to some complementary therapies to consider. Click on the link and then scroll down to the section titled "healing therapies A-Z".

http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/

Keep an open mind and don't be afraid to try things. (that includes different medications too) If something doesn't work, try something else. Nothing ventured, nothing gained as the old saying goes.....

Good luck to you and keep us updated!