Strange thing happened...
 

Hi all,

Last night my family and I went to a local fireworks show for Canada Day and the strangest thing happened. At first when the fireworks start going off I didn't notice anything but about a minute into the show and some of the louder fireworks started going off... I began feeling shots of pain each time one went off. It was a mix of shooting pain and a electrical sensation up my arm. My fingers also began sweating more and more after each loud bang. When the fireworks finished, I was sore but the shooting pain and electrical sensations stopped.

I know in the past I have noticed when my 2 year old is crying loudly that I have had a similar reaction, but I just thought it was due to the fact that she was upset and I had tensed my shoulder muscles. (as my CRPS is in my neck/right shoulder/right arm/hand

Has anyone else noticed that loud noises affect their CRPS? Is this a common symptoms of CRPS?

Take care,
Karen

Hi Karen, Absolutely YES any type of sound or vibration sends my rsd (full body) through the roof! Being around kids is the worse (and I love kids) but I just can't handle all the sound and jumping around making noise. Kids act so quickly and their movements are quick so I have a hard time keeping up with them.

Even dogs I have to be careful about because of barking and jumping up on me. MOST dogs (if not all except mine) are scared of my canes and esp my wheelchair. They get nervous and anxious around me at first esp if they are not used to such things.

Even people talking to me loudly I have to stop them and ask them to please talk more quietly. THe tv drives me crazy and the people driving by my home that have stereos on in them cause me to have more pain...motorcycles are the worst! It is all about balancing things and watching out for things that cause us more pain. Almost like having an allergy to something...if you are allergic to peanuts you avoid eating anything having peanuts in it.

I stay in my room with a HEPA filter on and the tv on whenever there are holidays with fireworks. Plus, my dog and cat freak out at the noise too so it works well for all of us haha.

Funny thing just to tell you how aware I am of sound...I was at my doctor's office a few weeks ago and she was standing across the room and her cell went off in her pocket by vibrating and I felt it/heard it before she even knew it was even buzzing away. She had no idea it went off! However I felt it across the room!

Our sympathetic nervous systems are messed up and sound/vibration and temperature make our bodies go crazy. You are not going crazy or tensed up...it is the rsd. My sensitivity has gotten worse as the years go by. Good luck to you. You are brave person to sit through a fireworks display!!
kathy d

Well don't know if it is "brave" just lack of knowledge... As I did not know my arm would react like that. If someone were to ask me to go see the fireworks again...I would say "No" lol...

Feeling the after effects today, that's for sure. Hand/arm is twitching lots and a bunch of muscles spasms/shooting pain. Lesson learned!

Thanks for the response!
Karen

Actually that is what it feels like in my feet sometimes, like fireworks going off. I prefer mine in the sky, not my feet!

I am from Canada and just diagnosed June/11.
 

[QUOTE=cndangel;783187]Hi all,

Last night my family and I went to a local fireworks show for Canada Day and the strangest thing happened. At first when the fireworks start going off I didn't notice anything but about a minute into the show and some of the louder fireworks started going off... I began feeling shots of pain each time one went off. It was a mix of shooting pain and a electrical sensation up my arm. My fingers also began sweating more and more after each loud bang. When the fireworks finished, I was sore but the shooting pain and electrical sensations stopped.

I know in the past I have noticed when my 2 year old is crying loudly that I have had a similar reaction, but I just thought it was due to the fact that she was upset and I had tensed my shoulder muscles. (as my CRPS is in my
neck/right shoulder/right arm/hand

Has anyone else noticed that loud noises affect their CRPS? Is this a common symptoms of CRPS?

Take care,
Karen[/


I am in Canada also. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and feelings. I don't feel so alone.

It's a normal side effect of your nerves jumping.
Like when say, a police car is next to you, and the siren goes off.
You 'Jump"
Sort of right in side your own skin.
It's not good for normal folk, let alone RSD'rs.

So, it's a normal reaction, and nothing that a small dose of diazepam won't take care of, but better yet, AVOID those kind of situations where excite ment will drive you to that higher level!

It all makes sense!


Pete
asb

I can't go to movies, gave away my stereo, wear anti vibration gloves and use a thick foam like anti vibration thing on my steering wheel when I drive. Thank God I live in the country and don't have much noise out here.

I found that I can set my TV audio to custom setting so it has very little base and that helps.

Also, I didn't listen to the radio, or music at all for years because of vibration. Then I found out that I can use the ear bud type headset for my iPod and it does not have the whole body vibration, so that is ok. But, now just the music itself bothers me. So I listen to podcasts, books on tape, or if I am trying to drown out house sounds when trying to meditate for pain reduction, I'll listen to nature sounds.

Tried going to a concert a few months ago. Doc Watson. Fiddle, Guitar, Mandolin. Thought, ok, not much vibration there! Very small local theater. HA!!!! Did not take into account 800 people clapping! I stuck it out, because Doc is almost 90 - not like I was going to get to see him ever again... but boy, did I pay for it!!!

I had something wrong with my ear several years ago. I had to go to an ear specialist and they put me in a booth to take a hearing test. The vibration or something from it was SO painful!! I was crying and shaking --- they thought I was nuts.... I finally begged them to stop the test. They just could not understand why a hearing test would be painful. :-(

When I applied for disability, I made sure to note that I could not stand to hear a radio or feel the slightest vibrations of machines running etc. They probably thought I was nuts too.

Elevators and escalators -- I hate feeling the vibrations they make!

I can't handle loud noise at all. Not only the vibration issue but also it causes me severe ear pain and even body pain. I wear ear plugs again most of the day which I know in turn is making noise more of an issue.
I can relate too for the everyday things that hurt. Even a speed bump I hate in the road.
Hope all feel better. Happy 4th by the way

Yes. Absolutely. For me vibration is usually worse and especially low frequency high amplitude vibration. High frequency noises are especially problematical as well. My hand will hurt if I drive into the sunlight and even noxious odors can have an effect. Getting uncomfortable is the worst. So long as I'm engaged in something and able to move around a little I tend to be OK but anything else and there will likely be anxiety and pain.

It's interesting, in the words of my meditation teacher, Shinzen Young, any problem is just a solution to another problem. Take noise sensitivity for example, which I have, although the "bombs" on the 4th of July didn't seem nearly as loud as I remembered them from my childhood: I sense the hand of the Consumer Safety Products Commission. :D Seriously the medical term is "Hyperacusis," which Merriam-Webster defines as "abnormally acute hearing." So, we may be irritated but at least we hear it! And as to its relationship with CRPS, check out the following:

Hyperacusis in patients with complex regional pain syndrome related dystonia, de Klaver MJ, van Rijn MA, Marinus J, Soede W, de Laat JA, van Hilten JJ, J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2007 Dec;78(12):1310-3, Epub 2007 Apr 30, FULL ONLINE TEXT @ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...3/pdf/1310.pdf

Abstract
INTRODUCTION: In complex regional pain syndrome type 1 (CRPS-1), patients may have manifestations of central involvement, including allodynia, hyperalgesia or dystonia. We noted that more severely affected patients may experience hyperacusis, which may also reflect central involvement. The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence and characteristics of hyperacusis in patients with CRPS related dystonia.

METHODS: The presence of hyperacusis, speech reception thresholds (SRT), pure-tone thresholds (PTT) and uncomfortable loudness (UCL) was evaluated in 40 patients with CRPS related dystonia.

RESULTS: PTT and SRT were normal for all patients. 15 patients (38%) reported hyperacusis and this was associated with allodynia/hyperalgesia and with more affected extremities. UCLs of patients with hyperacusis were significantly lower than UCLs of patients without hyperacusis.

CONCLUSION: Hyperacusis is common among severely affected patients with CRPS related dystonia and may indicate that the disease spreads beyond those circuits related to sensory-motor processing of extremities.

PMID: 17470470 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] PMCID: PMC2095603

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17470470

Mike