[asbandr]

Hi. I have not officially been diagnosed with rsd yet, but my pain management specialist says he leaning toward it as other diagnostics have failed.
2 years ago I was a very fit 26 year old with 2 kids. I ran almost everyday, did boot camp twice a week and was active whenever I could. During the course of all this I started having some discomfort. First I noticed that when I did squats I would get to a certain point, feel stiff, then I would feel a pop and could continue the motion. I initially saw a friend who is a licensed chiropractor and he told me to take it easy for a week and ice it and all. After that week it seemed a bit better and I continued working out using modified exercises for my knees.
As time went on I noticed that my right knee wwas sensitive to having my jeans across it. I went to a local orthopedist and he diagnosed me with maltracking patella.

I did the exercises and took the anti inflammatory meds he prescribed but several months later no results. We took an X ray and nothing seemed amiss.
I chose to see a different orthopedist in a larger city and he figured it was an overuse injury. After prescribing anti inflammatories and different exercises with no results we tried a cortizone injection. That did nothing. During this time my sensitivity got worse to the point that I couldn't stand to wear jeans at all, and even having knit pants over my knee was a killer. When driving or sitting I would pull my pant leg up over my knee to get some relief.
When the dr couldn't figure out what it was he did a knee scope. He said he cleared out some debris that I later found out (he did not tell me, I saw it on my medical files from him) that I had a chondroplasty for chondromalacia patella. Anyhow, that didn't seem to help alot, only make things worse as now I also had pain from the incisions around my knee cap. I did physical therapy which helped to a point but never relieved the sensitivity.

that orthopedist referred me to a pain management specialist. I saw him for a while and we did a back mri determined I have 4 herniated disc's and arthritis in my back. So we tried several back injections and medications but nothing helped. We did a knee mri (the first one I had, don't know why no one else did one) and it showed some chondromalacia had come back, and an abnormal meniscus. The doctor wasn't concerned about either of those but didn't know what else to suggest.
So my chiropractor friend gave me the name of another orthopedist. I went to him and he said he didn't think the abnormal meniscus and chondromalacia were to blame for the sensitivity but that it seemed they were separate issues. He referred me to another pain management specialist who did another back injection with no results, then diagnosed me with bursitis as I had warmth, redness, and swelling over my right knee. He gave me some knee injections and drew out the fluid and it was a bit better, I think mostly because of relief from drawing out the fluid. We tried another knee injection but this one produced no results.

So Friday I am supposed to have a nerve block in my knee and after that if it doesn't work he's considering trying a spinal stimulator therapy thing. He's trying to rule out everything else but is thinking it may be rsd.
My husband wants me to see a neurologist but I don't know that they could do anything more for me than anyone else has. These days I live in shorts because it minimizes the pain but sleeping is difficult with even a sheet over my knee of laying with my knee on the mattress. I've always had a high tolerance to pain so I have a hard time describing this. It's almost like a lot of pressure on my knee like a brick were sitting on it. Occasionally I have burning or tingly sensations. The skin is often red and warm though less since I have had the treatment for the bursitis. I can have someone touch, whether firmly or lightly, my knee but i cannot have fabric across it without discomort. I also cannot sit with a book or something on it. If i hit it on something like a table leg it hurts like if i had hit my elbow, that funny aching feeling. Mobility wise I have to be careful or it feels like I've twisted my knee or something.

I know this is long but I haven't met anyone else who has had symptoms similar to mine or anyone with rsd so I was wondering how others described their symptoms. I didn't want the basic Web md symptom list. Thanks for taking the time to read my long boring history. I am starting to feel like I'm crazy.