newbie question about symptoms
 

hey all,

i am brand new to this site & i am so very glad i found it! i know i'm going to be doing a great deal of reading for the next few days... i was diagnosed with rsd/crps in my right calf, foot & toes several months ago. i have had the same symptoms that i was diagnosed with until last night. i was not able to get a hold of my dr. today to ask if what i experienced last night (& now today also) can be contributed to the rsd/crps so i thought i would try asking here.

it feels like someone is sticking me with a needle on the top of my big toe, pretty much on my cuticle, right where the toenail meets the skin. it will come & go, lasting probably 30 seconds to a minute each time. it is so painful that i probably jumped off my bed the first time i felt it. after about an hour or so of that pain starting, i got the same sensation with the same amount of pain on my calf. it seriously feels like someone is poking me with needles.

does anyone know if this kind of sensation & pain can be attributed to the rsd/crps? i appreciate any & all input on this issue.

thank you in advance! :)

macartums

I've had literally thousands of different symptoms over the years. Most of them come and go.

My husband has commented on those same types of needle like pain. But again, it comes and goes.
Praying for you!

Absolutely what you are feeling could be attributed to the CRPS, especially if you have a solid diagnosis of the condition in that extremity.

How are you treating it? CRPS generally responds best to a "multi-disciplinary" approach. Meaning meds, physical therapy, self treatment, massage, etc. You have to find a management program that works for you and that involves a lot of trial and error....

Good luck and welcome to the forum. This is a good resource for information and a good place for support. Something we all need with this condition.

welcome to the forum, this is a great place. I agree with Birch lake. I have also had stabbing pains in my toes, on top of the foot. So there is a good chance this new feeling is RSD.

Yes it is, I got RSD from a motorcycle accident a year ago! I get pokes all over and its mostly in the evening when I am trying to relax. I have a lot of different kinds of pains all day long! Luck for me I have a wonderful husband that makes me laugh and helps me get through this, he is my best medicine! He help me think positive!

I also had stabbing pains. Prior to being diagnosed I would wake up screaming. Unfortunately when I reported this to a top CRPS doc at Johns Hopkins Hospital, having been referred there by an ER doc who suspected CRPS I was referred for a psychiatric evaluation rather than given an aggressive treatment plan for CRPS.

The stabbing pain has since moved to different parts of my body but now is under control.

Please don't ignore you stabbing pain and don't settle for a doctor who does either.

Hi Lobster and All,
I agree. Just when you are trying to calm down at night to sleep the twitching gets crazy and the burning pain goes crazy too. I agree with Lobster and her hubby that you have to laugh at all the stuff we go through (and praying helps me too) or else you will be bonkers real soon from it all. I also try not to let anything negative get near me as it seems to bring me down.

Poor Ballerina...you have rsd pain and they sent you for a psych eval??? What idiots. RSD is so painful and if these docs could feel what we feel they would be in agony crying like babies curled up on the floor!!!

Macartums...I hate to say this and pray that I am wrong but it sounds like the rsd is moving around. I have full body for almost 7 years and it can go internally where certain body parts hurt so much and then the next day it is externally...or both. It is like electrical currents moving up and down our bodies going where it wants to go. And we have no control over it. I do try meditating to bring my pain down...it is probably one of the only things that has helped me over the years...along with praying. Good luck to you all and hope you have a less pain day tomorrow.
kathy d

Oh my, Yes. When I had to originally explain my symptoms I thought the doctor looked at me as if I were a dragon or something. I believe I said something to this affect " it feels like pins and needles, pin prickly with knife stabbing and being on fire 24/7, then going stiff, numb and ice cold out of no where!"

Those were just the immediate symptoms I noticed. There are a bazillion more that people get and some people don't. Some remedies work for some and not for others, that is one reason why this beast is hard to tame.

But welcome here, lots of great people with great knowledge and great support/understanding! :grouphug:

Your best chance is aggressive treatment early. Most successful remissions occur in the first two years. It can come back.

You'll find many activities and things exascerbate the problem or bring on flares. You'll also find that many things tend to be helpful. Learn your triggers and try to do the things that help.

This isn't a death sentence if you can't beat it. It will change your life but there is still life after RSD.

Best of luck.

I have had this fill body for 17 years. I survived by a mad exercise program but now have a back problem and cant train. Its gone into my spine and brain giving me night spasms that throw me around. I believe other people have had this but would like to know because as usual the British doctors havent got a clue. They still think the pain can be stopped by brufen.

I had my RSD spread into my back after a lumbar sympathetic block last January. From there is went into my neck, down my arms, into my hands, to my sides, my chest, and stomach. After this spread I started to experience a whole lot of symptoms which included the full body spasms, loss of balance and coordination, nausea, blurry/double vision, and a whole laundry list of other things. What other types of things have you had since it spread? Just the body spasms or other things too? We tried a lot of different things to get all this under control...lots of trial and error. Maybe one of the things I tried could help you...

I went through a bad bought on Tuesday. Monday my clondine patch came off. (my change day is wednesday) so I was trying to hold off. Well by Tuesday afternoon, I was taking muscle relaxor's my lower back hurt so bad. I am wondering if I have spread, but my patch's are blocking the pain. :confused:

I'm so sorry Alt...does not seem like a good couple of days for you. I am so paranoid about my clonidine patches coming off...since getting them I have been doing so much better with the nausea, dizziness, poor balance, blurry vision, etc. And just overall I feel better because I don't have those things happening as much...not unless the pain gets up to that 9-10 level. So if I have any trouble getting the clonidine patch on I put the little pad over it that came with the patches...same goes if it feels like any of the corners are loose or anything. I hope you feel better soon...and hope to God that you are not experiencing spread.

Hello macartums
 

I am glad you found Neuro Talk too! This site has some wonderful people here. You will make some new friends. You have found the RSD and CRPS forum and I know there will be some people to answer you questions and talk to you. Sorry you have the condition. There should be good information here, and direction. Take care. ginnie

catra,
It's funny because my husband woke to find the patch was on him. lol.Yeah! I hope its not spread, I can't afford it to be in my back. Just the thought scares me.

Hi,

I found your post because just this morning I had the most intense and awful electric pains right through my right foot and less so in my left. Deep stabbing needle pains. Eek. Lasted about twenty minutes, and made me jump each time. My hands felt tingly and numb as well, but that faded and I think was just shock!

I was diagnosed with CRPS in October 2011. It started in my left knee following a simple arthroscopy, but is now having some dark fun in my left foot as well. I've not had symptoms in my right foot before, although have had a few instances where the big toe went very hot red and painful for a couple of hours. I've been hoping that was just freaky rather than more spread, but these pains this morning scared me!

So no, I think the CRPS can do terrible things to you at times, normally just when you think you're starting to get somewhere :rolleyes: I'm on Pregabelin 500mg a day in 2 doses, sometimes unsure what are symptoms and what are side-effects!! Hope you're feeling a bit better now.

All the best to all of us :)

Brambledog