I get anxiety with my RSD
 

Does anyone else find they are having bouts of anxiety, or like little panick attacks, since being affected with RSD/CRPS? I have had anxiety since getting RSD but I notice it is worse lately and I am frustrated by it - as if the pain, swelling, dystonia, etc. weren't enough to deal with. I have RSD in my left arm from two ulnar nerve surgeries.

What has happened to me in the last two weeks is that I had been on Premarin (lowest dose) for five years and had to stop taking it about 12 days ago. My doctor wanted me to do this because I have been having a lot of pain in my liver/gall bladder area and estrogen is known to aggravate this. Since I had my gall bladder removed four years ago, I did not think this would be a problem for me but since I got RSD in November 2006, the pain started in the upper right abdomin about the same time. I have noticed the pain is almost gone since stopping that med but the panicky stuff is nasty. I also was taking .5 mg of lorazapam for anxiety each night and I stopped it at the same time. Could stopping such a low dose at night make me feel anxious and like an elephant was sitting on my chest during the day?

I am going to take the lorazapam tonight just to see if it helps. It is weird, but the lorazapam seems to help the swelling just a little bit in my hand. I still struggle with swelling and extreme tightness in my hand, I wonder if it is permanent.

Thanks for any thoughts on this - I need some help. Oh, I also drink about 4-5 cups of coffee a day (I have for 20 years) could this make any difference with RSD?

adrenalin regulator goes haywire!
 

This is indeed part of having RSD. RSD affects the portion of your brain that processes pain and also other emotions, including the "fight or flight" response. Your adrenalin regulator is starting to be damaged by the RSD.
If you search this forum for "adrenalin", you will pull up some good strings of discussion about this problem from other posters. There are some preventive steps you can take now to prevent the problem from getting worse, or at least slow it down (like meditation, beta blockers, anti-anxiety meds).

At different times I too fight anxiety. I am not currently taking anything for it tho etiher. And since I quit smoking last Nov 3rd, the attacks seem to have diminshed to almost nothing. I do not notice that caffeine bothers me, but nicotine sure did. LOL If I get woke up quickly, man I can feel that flight or fight response kick in like crazy............takes awhile for that feeling to dissipate entirely.

Anyway my PM Dr explained that RSD is what is most likely causing the anxiety attacks I had been having.

DebbyV

Thanks, it is nice to know I am not alone with these symptoms. It just gets really tiring sometimes.

The anxiety started for me in Oct, '04. It took a little while to turn into panic attacks, depression, and a little paranoia. I had three kinds of panic attacks initially but over time these have become more diverse, milder, and difficult to differentiate. While they tend to be mild enough so as not to cause great difficulty sometimes they will not be brief.

Deep breaths help with some.

I took one of my lorazapam last night and it did seem to help. I guess going off of both Premarin and Lorazapam is just too much. I am also diabetic and the switch in hormones has raised up my blood sugars so this is also a factor in not feeling so good. I guess I will force myself to get 10 minutes in on the exercise bike; that usually helps me to start breathing deeper.

Thank goodness I don't have to give up coffee. That is my one and only vice. I have even cut out sugarless gum to get off the artificial sweetners. But coffee is about my only social, fun thing I can do with friends anymore (now that tennis is out).

Glad to have been of help................:) Come to think of it since quitting smoking, coffee & cussing are my only vices......*LOL*

DebbyV

Hi Debby,
 

Coffee and cussing is one of my worst vices too. LOL

Ada

Who could live without coffee? Now that would be hell! Molly's got the right idea- your sympathetic nervous system coordinates your fight or flight reaction-> Increasing heart rate, shuting your salivary glands down, constricting your blood vessels. So having a disorder of the same system that does all of these things can make these functions go haywire. The way that the brain oversees all of these activities is by increasing norepinephrine (adrenalin) levels. And so you start getting an increased heart rate and feeling nervous and shaky. If your body feels like you're having a panic attack, your mind is likely to agree and put in the emotional 'panic' element. And then once you are emotionally panicked, the body will have a physical reaction too. This will increase the symptoms that are already there, that started randomly as a result of sympathetic dysfunction.

Have you ever looked into meditation? This was one of things that really helped me control my panic attacks. When you start learning to be able to control your breathing and heart rate through meditation you can learn to do so in other situations. It has really helped me. I rarely have panic attacks anymore, and when I do they aren't as bad as they used to be. And I don't take Ativan anymore. I used to make sure that I always had one in my purse, just in case, and now I don't even think about it. So check out the meditation thing- it can really make a difference. Hopefully it will help you too!

Linnie :hug:

from my experience
 

hello there!

You are absolutely correct, as are the people who responded to you, that anxiety, and moods/mental mood changes, are a part of RSD. This is why it is suggested that psychological treatment, and or medication, play a crucial role in the treatment of RSD (always remembering that RSD came causes the depression and anxiety, not the reverse).

I, like you, had, prior to my RSD had problems with anxiety. I had been on Diazepam (very similiar to the medication that you mentioned ) 4 YEARS before my RSD. However, as time progressed, I noticed that my anxiety was not only greater/more frequent, but it was anxiety "out of the blue" and for no reason or known trigger. Previously, though i was taking anti-anxiety meds, at a low dose, even then, the anxiety I felt was in proportion to a situation or related to something I could put my finger on (ie, a job interview, driving to a new place and fear of getting lost). However, after RSD, my anxiety was constant, and usually was triggered by nothing at all. I talked to my doc about it, and he explained it much like those below have written about anxiety, moods, emotions period, and how the lymbic system ties into all that and regualtes it. To make an already long story short, my doc doubled my dose of anti-anxiety meds (which still is not a high dose by any means), and I have had no further problems since....

hope this helps..

Hi,
 

My anxiety has been worse lately again. It seems like it comes and goes. I try to control it myself anymore due to not being able to do most meds.

This past week, I fired one of my caregivers which was my son-in-law's sister. She got to where she wasn't showing a lot nor doing her job. I was so stressed yesterday when she showed, I called up and let her go. That's stress for me not guts. LOL

I have tightened up on my boys and what they do when they are here and they keep asking what's wrong with me. I get so stressed from too many kids around, I finally told them, just the two of them come and go.

I think too, it is when our pain level is higher. Mine has been lately and we have gotten most of it calmed down with TPI's and I am now off of my Methadone. My next thing is to get off of my prevacid. It seems there are too many side effects for me no matter what I take.

I do think though as I said when we go into flares our stress and anxiety is much much worse.

Ada

Ada,

...trying to lend my assistance with the issues that you mentioned about anxiety. Which meds are you unable to take? Are you talking strictly about anti-anxiety drugs that you are unable to take? Let me know which ones you have taken that don't work, and I can easily offer you some alternative meds to try and some good dosage recommendations to recommend to your doctor. If you have a good doctor, this can be easily fixed and decrease your stress dramatically.

:)

Hi Jcrew,
 

What I am running up with on meds, is that they cause me chest pain.

This has been going on for over 8 years. I cannot even take heart meds for the pain. The more I take the worse it gets.

I do know I have Fibro, Costo, angina, CAD, and Esopogeal reflux and I see my heart Dr. on the 24th. He'll want to get me back on my heart meds and I can't do them. I can't do pain meds, I can't do depression meds, you name it.

We raised my Methadone only to a 5 MG 3 times a day and I got the chest pain and it hasn't calmed down. The Prevacid doesn't calm it down either.

I have seen several Drs. and none of them know what is going on nor what to do for me. I think it's an ulcer in that area but they keep saying it can't be. It's around the heart area.

I do have other side effects also too and with depression it adds on. Actually the reason I am in the shape I am in is due to meds. From falling while on them.

I don't even ask for them anymore due to what I go through on them.

Thanks,
Ada