I sure feel really silly asking this..but can someone explain to me exactly what a flare feels like????????????? I am trying to pin point what it may be but my RSD pain is constant and continual..same heightened mean pain with the hot/cold temperatures never ending..Ole' KS need some straightening out.....I am RSD totaled!!

luv, Kathy

Well, it pretty much, to me feels like, all the little symptoms of RSD that you have magnified by about 100% plus...I stiffen up...I hurt, the blood pressure, goes up, I burn from the inside out and of course my main source of injury goes nuts...stinging. burning, pain shooting through my leg into my thigh and then I get deep bone and muscle ache...during this time the heating pad is my very best friend....these are just some of the symptoms that I have, but they have been know to change...I journal a lot, so I can go back and see what has cause a major flare....sometimes when I get really excited and happy, I go into "mini" flare mode where everything burns and hurts until I calm myself down....hope this helps

Okay..loud and clear..you did great clearifying what a "flare" feel like.. Thank you!! And please..please..not to minimize anyone's pain here but I wonder if that is why my Dr. has classified my RSD as so aggressive RSD and why I didn't know exactly what a flare is because... I always have to burning..deep bone pain...stabbling knife pain to the point of pouring sweat all over my body cuz it hurts so bad... I am a nut..so stubborn not letting it break me down.... not being able to take any meds.. makes it worse as I always grit my teeth and try to stay in a good mood... ain't easy!!!

I am sorry for your pain and I hope today you don't suffer any flares..or for a very long time for that matter!!!!

Hugz, k

Kathy - it sounds like you live in a flare - I'm so, so sorry.

What is the date of your appt with Dr. S? Hopefully it is less than one month away, so you are counting the days. Is this your first appt with him? Or are you already lined up for treatment? Do you know that you are going in for a certain ketamine treatment when you go to Drexel in March? Have you tried any other treatments so far - like blocks or lidocaine infusions? How did they work? How about PT or OT to keep things moving?

There is a lot of evidence that suggests that aggressive PT can help RSD. My RSD spread to my right leg last year, but I have never stopped moving (I walk as many miles a day as the cold weather permits) and it remains mobile (but really painful). Of course, my original injury wasn't to one of my feet, so I am not walking on a neuroma like some other RSDers would have to do in order to stay mobile - I wouldn't want to say that I could do something as incredibly painful as that might be...however, the motto is "use it or lose it."

One thing that I have a real problem with because of the chronic pain is my blood pressure. Have you had yours checked? In the absence of meds yours could be out of control because of your pain - just be careful.

Have a good day - the sun is finally shining..hopefully my head will stop throbbing soon..hopefully...

Peace, Sandy

HI CINDI, That describes pretty much me during a flare. I may get a couple lesions-which last year got infected, takes a long time to heal and hurt -I can't even describe the pain of cleaning them. Last year I said if I get another one I'll go to the hospital. Do you have full body or generalized? I was diagnosed that 6 years ago. I've had this 15 years. I also have the intense heat from the inside out ,lots of sweating. I can't even think about a heating pad during the pelvic heat which is really everywhere. I'm going to address this next visit to my neuro and gyn and internist.
Are you on any anti-anxiety meds? I take Lorazepam 4 1mg a day. they help a lot. You know hot tubs are not good for us. too hot. How long have you had this? How did it get started etc?
I used to have the jolts,jerks, electric shocks go thru the body thru my brain. Would scare me to death. During sleep my head would jump right off the pillow. He put me on 3200 mg of neurotin. I hated it but they stopped. If you are on that watch your weight gain. I did change to Lyrica 400 mg. it seem to work better with the pain. I slowly went off and don't have the jerks any more.
Do you have a foot tub with jets? that with warm water and epson salts helps the bones! So does the Warm Waxing of the hands and feet. you put the plastic sacks over the hand and feet and then in the soft towel gloves and when it cools it peels right off. That helps the bones too. You can get both at Wallmart or Discount cosmetic stores.
I forgot to look where you live. I'm in Arizona, so the winters are nice, but the summers are terrible, especially since I went internal pelvic region. That's why they changed the name from RSD to CRPS. The word Regional applys to the burning pelvic region.
Well, I hope you are knee deep in snow. My son in low left this morning for Chicago for his 4 day shift of flying in the north northeast or Dallas. He had a lot of flights he couldn't do last week. Really cold in Chicago.
Take care, your AZ buddy, loretta with soft hugs