leg weakness from crps in the arm
 

hi, everybody, hope you are having a good day since the end of the world did not come as promised. i am new here, so maybe somebody could answer this question- I had a severed sensory radial nerve branch 6 months ago and apart from the pain in the arm developed the systemic symptoms of shortness of breath on the affected side, increased heart rate and palpitations, lack of facial mimicking on the right side, basically if anyone had done yoga, it is like the energy is not moving through the right side. the right arm gets tired really quickly but now the right leg is doing the same, so i cannot stand on it for too long etc. so, the question is if this sounds familiar to anybody and maybe what should i expect, since my md says none of this makes sense. also, how do you cope with insomnia. i will be really grateful to any answer, thank you and wish you liberation from all suffering. paul

Welcome to the boards though sorry for your condition. Did a neurologist dx you? What is the dx and what tests were run? Sorry if I am confused. I think it is important to rule out other conditions. Some people like msyelf have RSD but I also have PN. If you have ruled out other conditions seeing a pain doctor who deals with the condition is very important. As for insomnia that is my middle name. I have tried so many meds for sleep,anxiety I could go on. Have you? If not I would encourage that because the pain and lack of sleep issue is very bad for the body and mind obviously.

REMERON oral disolving tablets 15mg
 

Remeron the 15mg oral disolving tablets is a dream come true for sleep. I break it into 1/4's you dont have to take more than a 1/2 of a pill as it works the same as a whole one.... and it makes me fall asleep within 15 minutes, and I sleep through the night MOST of the nights. It is the one med i recommend to all and you take so little that its awesome. and make sure that you get the oral disolving tablets. its not marketed as a sleep medicine, but my dr uses it as one and dear goodness 2 1/2 years later I am still happy sleeping majority of the time. And i have tried MANY sleep meds and therapies, and this works by farrrrr the best. Hope it helps!

hi, thanks for the advice i do take clonazepam. coffee makes me worse.

hi, thank you very much for your answer, i am in the process of being diagnosed but my md thinks i have a ptsd and pain-wise the symptoms remind of those of crps2. however it is not easily diagnosed in early stages. paul

Paul

If your nerve was cut like you said then you have CRPS Type II. You only get this with cut nerves or by shot gun wounds, knife wounds, surgery gone bad and the Dr. cut a major nerve, ect. CRPS Type I is when someone spans their wrist, or can get it after many surgeries and so on.

CRPS Type I is more difficult to DX because of the unknown that can cause it then Type II is.

thank you dear hurting, but that is my whole point-i tell my md that it hurts upward from the wrist into the shoulder and kind of spills into the other arm and the same side leg and they tell me that it should not be happening.
i feel like telling my md that yeah, i SHOULD be in costa rica sipping cocktails but that is just not happening. by the way, does inability to relax come with crps as well? i am always anxious-is it the injured nerve sending the alarm signal to my brain? thanks for your answer, peace, paul

Being over anxious in most cases is from the meds that you are taking for the pain. As far as your Dr. not agreeing about the crps spreading 70% will tell you it does not spread. It takes time but you need to fine a Dr. that knows and understands crps to get the right treatment. It's hard but keep looking until you fine the right one. I have been at it for 4 years now. Good Luck.

Hi, Dennis, i was wondering what you take for sleeping and does having crps make your sleep very superficial? thanks, ll the best. paul

Due to all the different meds that I take daily for pain I do not take anything to help me sleep. I get anywhere from 2 to 4 hours of sleep a night. Some nights I am up all night because my pain is to great.

I just don't like to take any more meds then need be. I no longer work so sleeping every night is not that important anymore. Dur ring the day I am in a fog from the pain meds. What a life hu ! Each month my crps keeps spreading. I have know fight left.

Hi Paul -

I too had my radial nerve cut. It was in my right wrist. The pain moved up to my shoulder very quickly but didn't move into my leg until the nerve blocks started (a few months later). But, I completely see your point about the energy as you could draw a line down the right side of my body (I still don't know if that means it has spread or something different as the pain is different).

I was extremely anxious and had some heart palpatations (felt weird and faint) at the onset but I think that was from all of the meds as my body was not used to them.

I can sleep thank goodness. But, I do take a muscle relaxer, topamax and a nortriptilyne at night that pretty much knock me out.

I've had this nasty thing since 2007. And, the weird thing is that while the terrible burn has gotten a little better, I can now feel the soreness in my right leg. I'm hoping that it doesn't get worse.

Have a great day!
Tiffany

hi, Tiffany, thank you very much for your reply. i hope your leg does not get any worse. do you do any stretching? do you still feel anxious? what helps? sorry to ask so many questions, but it is not an easy thing to cope with, it feels that that damaged nerve is restructuring the brain in a strange fashion, like making it unable to turn down. thanks again, paul

hang in there, dennis. what helps you to pass time? tv? it is hard to get used to the fact that you cannot do much anymore. paul

Once in a while I'll get anxious but as long as I don't start a new med I seem to do ok.

I do stretch and usually go to physical therapy every year until my insurance runs out. My challenge is that the pain in my arm causes me to tense up so I keep getting disc bulges in my neck. Good times. ha. I've tried biofeedback and that does seem to help if you haven't tried that. You can either go see someone and/or buy cd's.

It's not an easy thing to cope with and you'll probably have some doctors tell you that you don't have RSD and some tell you that you do. It's frustrating and scary. Please continue to seek good treatment as there are some fantastic doctors out there who care but you just have to find them.

Please let me know if you have any questions and have a great night.

Tiffany

thank you, dear Tiffany. may be you would remember how your crps started-first the pain and allodynia and then sleep problems or vice versa-first the anxiety and inability to sleep and then pain? or may be it went hand in hand. in my case it appears the anxiety and insomnia were first and then as if the body is not repairing itself, the pain appears. it is probably still pretty mild, but the nature of it is really hard to bear, seriously, any somatic pain seems like a bliss compared to the sympathetic type. i admire you and everybody here for the courage of living with it. Are there any strategies or techniques to deal with night time restlessness and such? would be grateful for any answer, all the best, paul

Hi Paul,

The only effective method I have found so far for ensuring that I sleep is MEDS. I take 800 mg of Skelaxin at about 8:30 and then 12.5 of Ambien CR when I want to fall asleep.

That will work until 4 or 5 am. Unfortunately, I usually don't get as many hours of sleep as I would like, or as I used to get before I got sick. And if my ketamine has worn off, pain will wake me earlier. an additional Skelaxin sometimes knocks me out again for an hour or two.

good luck, Sandy

Hurting I can relate to lack of sleep. I don't sleep at night anymore so if I do it is a few hours during the day. I have tried many meds though for sleep. I had sleep problems before rsd and now with it even worse. You may want to look into some meds though for yourself and sleep. I do feel lack of sleep and a rested body increases pain so maybe if you got better sleep you would need less pain meds?
Maus I also have severe anxiety. The pain and limits often set it off but I have anxiety in general. There are meds that are used for anxiety but also help in sleep. I did biofeedback which I do suggest for others in self coping skills to calm the body and mind down. Also relaxation and guided imagery tapes.

I meditate the BARRY LONG way[this NOT an advert]. I posted an expaination of it on another pain site and received a lot of views.Maus,your medical condition is similer to mine .It had to do with BP and the narrowing leg arteries. gook luck. please see your dr. first

hi there, Chiron, could you please elaborate on where you posted the meditation part?

Hi Maus,a brief expaination is on the discussion forum CHRONIC PAIN IRELAND under topic [ things that help].Click that,and then click [mind over matter].Ithink you will it interesting and i hope it will help a bit. regards