Question about possible spread...
 

I've had CRPS for almost 4 years now. It started in my left leg and has traveled up my leg. Now I'm feeling the same kind of pain starting in my right leg. Can it be spreading even though it's not having the horrible swelling or the color changes?? The swelling in my left foot and leg isn't like it was, it went down after the 2nd year. My right leg is swollen some. I didn't injure it, but I use a knee walker, using only my right leg. I haven't really walked in almost 4 years. At first I thought it was just tired and overworked. Now with the pain being almost constant, I'm getting worried. I don't really want to try to get into my doctor if there isn't even a possibility that it might be a spread...I'm only wondering if it can be a spread without all the symptoms or not...

It's possible. When mine spread, I went through the ringer with different tests and doctors to find out what was happening and at the end it was diagnosed as spread. Though some of the symptoms presented differently than when things started in my leg...the one thing that was the same was the way the pain felt and the things that triggered it. My initial CRPS site is still more severe than the spread areas...more prone to flares...higher baseline, etc...but the pain FEELS the same (if that makes sense). That is why I am so frustrated with my current issues in my shoulder after a fall off a ladder last October...this pain is different and doesn't FEEL like my CRPS...I can differentiate between the two pains even though they are in the same area. As much as I didn't want to admit it when my CRPS spread did spread...deep down I knew it because it felt the same.

Bottom line...I would see a doctor because you may want to rule out other issues...because one thing I do know is that when you aren't walking correctly and are over compensating that it CAN throw your whole body out of whack and cause other pains. So without being you or being a doctor...I can't say for sure if it's spread or not...but it is possible that it's spread...and it's also possible that it's not.

Thank you so much for replying to me. I will try to get into my doctor as soon as I can after the holiday...

I had my original injury in 1995 (started in knees, traveled through both legs toes to hips because of late diagnosis and treatment), so it spread throughout.

Then in 2008, so roughly 13 years later it spread to both my arms/hands.

Yes, it can definitely spread!

Thanks for replying. When yours spread, was your symptoms the same??

I had the temperature changes most of all, esp. my right arm was getting pretty icy. My right arm = worse than my left. And the pain. And the limitations of movement. And the color changes in my hands. My fingers were sometimes a bit thicker than normal, my hands too. So yeah, pretty much. I didn't always have them, though, the color changes & the swelling. The temperature changes and the pain were the main issue. It felt the same. The same feeling as if your arm is stuck in a vice. That feeling ran up to my shoulder!

Each of us are different, though, and it's up to you and your doctor to see whether or not it is what it is.

That's good to know, thank you so much...