new trauma to initial site of CRPS II presentation... yikes!
 

Something stupid happened the other day while coming in from the garage. I knocked over a fire extinguisher (big and heavy) and it fell off a table and hit my Achilles tendon just above the heal or Calcaneus. :eek: $@&*^%$%!!!!!! :eek: :holysheep::hissyfit:

Once I regained my breath, I have been trying to be patient and tell myself that it’s bruised, but there’s no bruising or swelling.

Now, several days later, I am having all those nasty CRPS symptoms in that area and in my leg and foot too.. BAD. My symptoms in that area are letting me know it’s angry. Last night it was burning so bad in the specific spot it hit and my toes SOOO sensitive, crazy sensitive.

While sitting at the table last night both my legs from the knees down went numb. I couldn’t feel my feet on the floor. I haven’t had a ton of burning since the few years that followed surgery. But I am now. I’m a cold CRPS. I have hypothermia type cold in my limbs. I am having spasms like crazy, but that has been pretty bad for a while.

Worries me because I have been regressing for some time now, moving in the direction of what things felt like right after surgery back in 2004, only with more spasming and additional places on my body to deal with that are now riddled with CRPS, etc.

I see a new neuro doc on Friday, but I’m really starting to worry that the increased pain and sensations won’t be temporary. :(

As I typed this I thought.. irony… a friggin fire extinguisher.. :rolleyes:

Crumbs I'm so sorry Vrae, that's scary stuff...:confused:

I really hope this settles down for you quickly, remember there's still a chance it's not spread, and that the madness you have in the hurt area is your CRPS affected pain centre overreacting and going crazy. It could still settle down. I'll have everything I can crossed that it does... Are you taking your vitamin C daily?

Take care of yourself and good luck with the new pain specialist. I hope they can help you get some control back over the symptoms.

Hang in there chick.

Bram :hug:

Sheesh Vrae.. you need a vacation from everything!! lol.. can't you use the fire extinguisher to put out the 'fire'??!! hahah seriously, the irony of what hurt you :( not laughing but laughing :winky:

I'm so sorry really. I hope it is like when you hit your funny bone really hard which can hurt for days.. epsom salt soaks and warm moist heat would be prudent for now, I think?.

I hope your new doctor will be able to help you get a handle on pain!!

Hope you feel better soon,
Tessa

Oh, Vrae! That's some nasty news! :(

That's exactly why I came back here and started the Remission thread because I'm so concerned that another trauma at the earlier site could set off that vicious RSD again!

I really hope this is just a temporary thing for you. :hug:

Vrae, what the beck are we gonna do with you?! January has been one thing after another! BUT - let's not panic and assume the worst about this injury. Take care of it, show it some love . Follow the Brambledog prescription - Vit C and warm epsom soaks. Take care my dear.

I know, right?! I swear, just wham, and then another something, bam. I'm trying not to panic but I am worried. I have been giving it love, and it's angry as all hell. Perhaps in another week or two it will settled down. Just sucks is all. :(

It certainly does. And that's the very very polite way of expressing the feeling....:rolleyes:

Here Vrae, have a lovely cup of coffee and a slice of homemade chocolate cake and give yourself a break girl. You're doing an amazing job just holding it (even roughly!) together at the moment with everything that's been going on.

Nice, hey? I made it myself :D. It's zero calories, completely free of any allergens, and won't upset even the most delicate stomach... I hope you enjoyed it. I'm having a piece myself after my much more boring breakfast lol.

Hope you have a better day. I'm thinking of you and have my fingers crossed.

Bram :hug:

Vrae, so sorry you are going thru this. Like you weren't dealing with enough lately, let's throw in another problem...right?? That is how I feel sometimes. It's like how much more can one take???

I hope you get some relief VERY soon and this new injury calms down quickly.

Nanc
:hug:

check.. check... check... 1-2-3 .. check
 

coffee... check.
chocolate... check.
another beautiful sunrise.. check.
music... check.
comfy clothes... check.
meds... check.
everyone else off on their way.. check.

now, let's see if I can get something accomplished today.

Thanks for the support! I sure don't mean to wear you all out with all my moaning and complaining. The balance of the week will be nuts, according to the "list". I've got a ton of stuff stacked on my desk.... distraction... CHECK! :rolleyes:

Hope you all are okay and have a nice day! :hug:

Vrae, I hope your day goes better today and that your pain subsides. I will pray that you feel better soon. Take care.

Oh, Vrae! No, No, No!. Enough already, you've had way more than your share.
I see you've taken advice on comfort ideas & thats good!

Glad you didn't lose your sense of humor "fire extinguisher":rolleyes:

Maybe wishing some kind of mantra............It's gonna calm down..........
Please keep us posted.

VRAE hang on to those comfort measures - whatever it takes to cope with these things in a healthy way. You can do it, girl!!

Hi Vrae,
I hope your feeling better today.
Thanks for sharing your comfort list.
I especially like the music and beautiful sunrise. I'm trying to listen to more music and take time to watch the sun rise every morning now.
Thanks again for sharing your list and I will pray that you feel better every day. Take care.
With love, Renee.

Awe, thanks Renee. But I must be honest, it's sometimes a minute by minute thing. Sometimes it works, and sometimes nothing works. This particular day that I did these things I felt pretty decent until about 1pm, then things began to unravel and it ended up being a very painful night. It's a can til can't thing for me. Sometimes it works, and sometimes not at all. My best time of day are usually mornings.

Music and nature have saved my life, my mind. Okay, chocolate too.. lol :hug:

....and a nice cup of tea :winky: Never forget the healing powers of a nice cup of something hot when you are feeling rubbish.

I'm best in the mornings. By late afternoon I'm struggling, and around tea-time my feet will flare suddenly. Leg chills, arm aches, blah blah flippin' blah. The bedtime stair hike is the slowest of the day for me. Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch....:rolleyes:

But. Big but. Tomorrow is another day, and I always try to have hope that it will be ok. Like you say, sometimes stuff works, sometimes you can do everything possible and it still becomes terrible, and you just have to survive those times. But mostly, it's ok. No better, but ok is pretty good now lol, and I'll take what I can get!

Hope all you gals (and guys) are doing ok today. iHugs for all! :grouphug:

Bram.

My thoughts are with you today!!
 

Good Morning Vrae,

I woke up thinking about you! I really hope your new Neuro doctor is compassionate towards you and educated in CRPS and the effects of it on our bodies. Hoping this is a giant step forward for you in terms of getting a better handle on pain control.

Wishing you the very best outcome from this appointment,
Tessa:hug::hug::hug:

I hope you're doing okay today too Vrae with your new Neuro dr. I'm praying that your appointment went well. Take care. With love, Renee.

Thank you so much!
 

Made me smile that you've ask. :hug: Thank you for thinking of me! This was a big day for sure. I've waited 3 months to see him and it was worth it I think.

I'm pooped, but the short version is I like him and my husband likes him, a lot. We both left feeling like we're finally perhaps moving in the right direction. This new doc is going to reach out to a few pain docs and call me with a referral. Yay! I'm looking forward to that. He confirmed my Dx (no surprise to me.. but cool) and he's also going to add a drug called zonisamide in addition to the gaba. I have not heard of this drug but I'm all good with one of it's side effects of weight loss. he had a few more drugs that we can try if this doesn't work. I desperately need more relief from tremors and neuropathic pain (shocks). He wants me to have specialized and supervised PT, like water PT, okay, cool. I told him that I would like to avoid a wheelchair for as long as possible, so whatever that means. He did mention SCS and I told him I'm not sure I'm ready for that. He also talked about blocks, and I'm all good with trying that.

Anywho, it was an answered prayer and if the PM doc is as good, I will be STOKED!!

Thanks again! Hope you all are having a good day! :hug:

Hey Vrae! That is great news!! What a relief it must've been for you and your husband!! Hopefully you will get a great referral to a good PM dr. Definitely sounds like he was worth the wait! Wish I could find one like that :)

A side effect of weight loss?? Maybe I need to look up that drug too :rolleyes:

So pleased for you Vrae. Good for you :) about time something went right. And like our lovely Nanc, I love the idea of a side effect of weight loss. That would make a change!

Bram.

Hi Vrae - so glad the new Neuro appt went well for you! :hug:

I am a BIG advocate of water therapy. I have 2+ years experience of working with a Physical Therapist in a warm water (92 degrees farenheit) therapy pool. I am certain that this type of therapy is the reason I am not confined to a wheelchair. No amount of nerve blocks, medicine or other interventions made this level of impact for me. I encourage you to try it out for yourself.:cool:

Vrae - not sure if helpful so many days after re-injury ... but I always use lidoderm patch on a newly injured area if possible. take care,

Vrae, I hope you're doing okay today. My prayers are with you. Sincerely,Renee.

ugh! OUCH! Ugh...
 

son of a _______ ! :eek: This thing HURTS!

It's been 3 maybe pushing 4 weeks now and well, it's gotten better in that it is not constant burning, throbbing pain, but sheesh, when I use my legs/feet or my body is just stressed out in general, it fires up (literally) and feels like an open gaping blister that has gasoline on it. The foot is also having way more sensitivity in it along with electric shock, spasms, etc. This sucks! It's my driving foot. Driving continues to be an issue more and more. Even quick little rides. <sigh> And it's no longer just because of my foot/leg. The muscles in my upper back and my arms are now getting so riddled with disease, that just to move my arms (you do that while driving :rolleyes:) can take my breath away.

anyway, this damn injury is just one more SCREAMING pain on my body that won't seem to go away. :mad: This has been truly insult to injury!!

Vrae, you deserve a frickin' medal girl. Grit and determination should be your new middle names. I'm really proud of the way you just keep fighting this disease, despite all it is doing to try and stop you...:rolleyes:

Hang in there. I know we say this a lot, but just keep doing it anyway. You still have such a lot to give, you maybe just need to take it down a notch and give yourself a little more breathing space - this could all be your body protesting that you're asking a little too much of it. Maybe, maybe not ;) Just something to consider.

I really hope this calms down a bit for you soon, it's so exhausting when everything takes so much out of you, and causes so much pain.

Take care of yourself x

Bram :hug:

I can't stress how important Lidoderm patches have been for me avoiding spread. Accidents do happen and with RSD/CRPS related balance issues some of us are now accident prone!

The one area that I had a very difficult time with was my mouth because Lidoderm patches just wouldn't work in that area. Fortunately, a series of blocks resolved that problem.

VRAE--this might be a good time to consider Ketamine as well...

Awe.. thanks Bram! but I think we all deserve medals, or some sort of consolation prize for how hard CRPS can make life. It is as annoying as all hell how much it is getting in the way of my life lately. Your advice is good I think, and really I’ve been trying. Well, I guess I’ve been trying. I’m giving in a bit more; resting when tired or when pain gets to be too much. As much as my life will let me rest. It’s either do that, or I am going to have to start taking some sort of big gun pain killer daily. Boy do I war with myself about that. Only because of the massive headaches, and just overall how they make me feel. The upswing to that I guess is that they typically work well when I do take them.

Anywho, thanks for the kind words my friend. I hope the weather is better and consequently pain levels are too! :hug:

Hey Lit Love! So good to see you here! Yes, I do need some of those. I see a new PM doc next week and I need to put that on my list of things to ask for, or about. They should make one that is a body wrap lol. :D Ketamine is on the list to ask about. I agree that it's time. I've got to do something. Disease is taking me over and getting way out of hand.

Oh yes, I wobble around for sure, so you bet, accident prone is becoming accurate. I wonder if you couldn't use Lidocaine hydrochloride oral topical solution. They gave me this once to swallow in the hospital once for what I thought was a gallbladder issue. I had to swallow it and it made everything numb. WARNING!! It is some nasty tasting stuff! But I am thinking why couldn't you just swish it and NOT swallow it? Maybe that would help, idk.

Luckily the blocks did the trick and my mouth is normal again. At the time it was in my jaw as well, so I think they were the best answer. I was off my regular dosage of meds when the spread happened. Thanks WC... ;)

I use Lidocaine patches every day. The only downside is that it doesn't help with deep pain. Mostly numbs the skin and maybe a little bit of small muscles. It is worth trying. You wear them for 12 hours followed by 12 hours off. ~Lottie

Yes it's a real Hobsons choice Lottie - I hated having to choose whether to sleep at night or have less pain during the day... But then they stopped being effective anyway so it didn't matter! I don't know, it's all so hard isn't it? :rolleyes:

Bram.

Thanks Lottie! I've had them before, I just don't have any right now. They are good to have though. I have used them for spasms too.

Bram - tell me what"a Hobsons choice" is ?! ~lottie

Okay Lottie :D

'Hobsons Choice' just means that there isn't really a good choice, both options are equally bad. Just another way of saying you can't really win lol.

Take care and hope you are having a good day.

Bram.

can you get them anywhere???

They are an Rx.