NeuroTalk Support Groups - Is pain hurting more with RSD?

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- Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD and CRPS) (https://www.neurotalk.org/reflex-sympathetic-dystrophy-rsd-and-crps-/)

- - Is pain hurting more with RSD? (https://www.neurotalk.org/reflex-sympathetic-dystrophy-rsd-and-crps-/20458-pain-hurting-rsd.html)

Is pain hurting more with RSD?

Hi all,
I was just wondering if anyone else is very sensitive to pain now that you have RSD. I used to be able to set my own broken bones,and go about my day. Now, anything that happens just seems as if it is the worse pain. Several years ago my horse fell on me and pinned my left leg under him. (he is about 1300 lbs). My foot got stuck between the horse, ground and the stirrup. after he got off of me, I got back on, rode another 20 min. to make sure he was ok, and not scared, then i removed the tack, put him back into the pasture, carried the tack to the barn, put everything away, and drove home. when I got home, I took off my riding shoe and the bone was broken..poking the skin out, but not through. Now if I hurt anything, I'm crying and going on as if I was dying. this is not like me. Hubby commented yesterday when I went in with a broken toe and torn ligaments that it was so "not me" to be crying like I was. Just wondering if it is me or if anyone else feels they are losing the ability to cope with pain.
Mary
:grouphug:

Hi Mary. Little things seem to hurt me more too. I think I'm just psychologically overwhelmed and any little thing exacerbates everything. But your toe ordeal seems to be no little thing and you shouldn't be so hard on yourself over your pain response.

thanks for that answer. I was afraid it was just me giving into every little thing that happens. Even now, as I sit in the recliner, my left foot(rsd) is hurting and the right foot is trying to kill me with the pain. Oh well, Just took some percocet, and hopefully it will dull it a little.
Mary\

when the exercise machine broke on me the other day i was crying - then shaking until i got morphine in the ER. when i saw my ortho the next day she told me to just go back to therapy - little setback. whatever. apparently she didn't think it was anything to fuss over.

i'm back on my methadone and gabapentin and had 3 shots this week. i think my pain response was appropriate - although no one else seems to think so. i hate people when they think i am a baby.

i am super sensitive these days.

Mary,
Yes, I think that our pain tolerance seems less once RSD (or other chronic pain syndromes/diseases/problems for that matter) come into our lives. I think that happens because we are so busy dealing with the pain that we already have, that it doesn't take much to send our pain levels skyrocketing.

Like you, I used to also have a very high pain threshold. Not so much anymore. Or...maybe I do, but it is just already pretty filled up with my "normal" pain.....the pain that I try to ignore each and every minute of each and every day. Of course I don't succeed in ignoring ALL of it (oh how I wish I could!!! :p LOL), but I am sure that there is some that I do ignore (:rolleyes: I have been scolded by family members...even my own kids...about doing this), in order to get the things done each day that I need to get done.

I think that it takes having a pretty high pain threshold to start with, in order to deal with this (and other chronic pain problems). I think that everyone here has a pretty high pain threshold, rather they used to or not. But, like I have said a couple of times now, that capacity to withstand pain is just about maxed out, and so it doesn't take much at all to bring anyone of us to our knees crying and hollering in pain. I know that is the case for myself. If I so much as stub my toe (and I am NOT talking about any on my "bad" foot here.....I have done that, and the whole scene was just...well....awful to say the least:eek: ), it will bring me to my knees crying my eyes out and feeling like the toe was ripped off or something. Sad thing? I have kinda gotten used to that too. Not too long ago, I did injure one of the toes on my good foot, and caused it to bleed (it was an injury involving a toe nail....that almost got detacted....enough said, right? LOL), and I didn't even LOOK at it for a long while, because I just assumed that it felt worse than what it was. :rolleyes: That is because it usually DOES feel worse than it is when I hurt something, anything. I got a pretty good surprise on that one.:o

So, it isn't just you. :) I think that this happens to lots of us here.

I hope that your day was a better one today, and that your meds worked to dull some of your pain. I can't imagine dealing with that toe injury. I just have this "thing" about feet/toe injuries now.....I am very sympathetic, and have sympathetic feet! (:D ROFL..no pun intended, either!!)

Feel better
:hug:
Jose

I agree that I feel pain differently now than before...but I believe that I handle it better than I used to. I find myself shrugging off incidents that would have sent me to the ER in the past.

But I find any new injury to be harder on me emotionally. We all know how it is to wonder if this new place is going to be another "rsd spot". There's a form of dread that goes along with each episode. I find myself checking the "boo-boo" often, looking for bruises or bumps or red or blue spots... the list is endless, I'm afraid.

I'm glad it's not just me. i have never felt pain the way others seem to. My last baby was over 10 lbs. no meds at all..It was so easy..most of my accidents and broken bones have come from my horses. If I ran to the doc's every time I broke and finger or toe I'd be there more than I would have been at home. lol. this is just getting the better of me and I don't know how to get back to being in control of the pain. Oh well, I guess I will figure it out given enough time.
Mary

Increased sensitivity to pain is part of having RSD, in fact it is the definition OF RSD. Your nerves have actually changed so that small injuries are causing huge damage to your pain centers ... you are not imagining it! Please please be extremely careful to avoid injuries from now on, even "little ones" like breaking fingers and toes." (?!!!).
The problem with RSD and your nerves is that your body has lost its ability to shut off the pain at the site of the injury, or to match the level of pain to the level of injury. So, a bumped toe is going to feel like a Mack Truck is parked on your head... for 3 months. And the devil of RSD is that sneaky spread that you mentioned too. You can never tell if an accident means it's going to move in permanently! I HATE RSD!
<sorry, my Pollyanna soundtrack ran out of batteries today and I haven't replaced them yet. my friend's RSD is so much worse this week and I'm afraid it won't reverse itself :(>
I used to be a "toughie", too, and had a whole different pain threshold (went "bare" during childbirth, too, & had a big fat baby with 4 chins down to his belly button!). but now I'm so fragile that I walk around like a little old lady. I hope you can know that it's ok now to be very gentle and protective of yourself. It sounds like a whole new identity for you - and a new woman for your husband to meet - but please don't accelerate that nasty RSD through more injuries and accidents. Full body RSD is a living hell ...
xxxxxxx

mollymcn,
You are so right. I will tell you tho, you got me laughing with you description of your baby. at least yours was a boy, mine was a girl. (luckily she is now an adult and is or normal size.)lol I know what you mean about everything being so much more sensitive. because my left foot has most of the rsd, it sometimes sway when I walk, or I just stumble. I know I have to be more aware of my surroundings, but I'm so used to moving at warp speed. I will just try to move slower, I don't want this to happen again. I was going to give my horses a bath this weekend as it will be in the 90's. I haven't given them one in almost 3 years. Oh well,summer is ahead of us, I will have more time to do it. (I want my old life back). I'm ready to order jenny craig, color and cut my hair, and become someone else..lol..actually, not a bad idea :)
Mary

Molly, that was a great description! Thanks for the first laugh I've had in days :D

I am so very lucky not to have full body crps, obviously. I only have it in my legs, with spread becoming apparent in my hands. I said I handle pain better than before, but I think that I worded that wrong. It's not that things don't hurt badly, it's that I manage to keep from showing it to others. I guess I've become more stoic... is that the word I'm looking for? :confused:

You all with full-body crps have my utmost sympathy... and respect. It never dawned on me just how awful that would be until this thread started, I am ashamed to say. I am such a clutz, I bounce off of doorways and the like. If I had crps in my shoulders or trunk, I'd be a serious mess. Makes me feel like a total wuss complaining about my legs!