I had read somewhere that if Howard Hughes were alive today, he would be diagnosed with RSD. We know Paula Abdul is suppose to have it.

I watched a movie with Montgomery Clift and before the movie started they talked of how he was injured in a car accident before the movie was finished and he never was the same physically nor mentally. He suffered from pain for the last 10 years of his life dying at 45. I read up on it and I do believe he had RSD and most likey wasn't diagnosed with it. In his time, it was most likely really hard to get diagnosed with it. Raintree Valley was the name of the movie and his face was so changed because of the accident that they didn't think the movie would be a hit.

Another one I thought of was James Arness. He was wounded in the war and never lived without pain in his leg again.

I wonder how many others there are that we don't know of.

Ada

I just do not understand why Paula Abdul will not step up and put a name to her condition. She has been labeled a goofball, drunk and pill popper at times. Why wouldn't you own up to it and set the record straight? Everyone is entitled to their privacy but she could do some much good by coming forth and by hiding it, it does not seem to help her.

Interesting idea and yes there are probably many people famous and otherwise that have or have had this monster. As for Paula, you just struck my last nerve!!!!!!! I want the kind of RSD that she has!!!!!!!
In my opinion she has done more harm than good for this disease. Yes she treats it her way as you stated drugs , alcohol etc. I wish she would have never said that she has RSD.
She has done NOTHING to spread awareness,or for research etc. I will stop now.Carol

I totally agree with you on Paula. I have read many articles on her and have seen her on tv and I have never once heard her say she has RSD. She has talked about her injuries she sustained in the airplane wreck and from dancing but never heard her say RSD.

She is not creditable to be a spokesperson for it. If she went to Washington they would think she was there to talk about drug and alcohol abuse.

There has to be another actor out there due to the stunts they do on their own. Injuries come with a lot of the stunts. I wonder though, if we just had a person that could go to Washington, even if they weren't an actor could do some good. Not all fighters for causes are famous to start with.

Like you, Carol, I will stop now.

Ada

Through the years I've often heard what a drug addict Howard Hughes was, Lost his mind because of drug abuse etc. It dawned on me sometime ago exactly what this guy went through. He was in 4 separate plane crashes, the last, I believe, was a crash doctors to this day can't figure out how he survived. I truly believe this man suffered physically for decades.

This article is a few years old, but thought it fit.....

Jerry Lewis entertained doctors, nurses, firefighters and other people at a seminar at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center. Between jokes and video clips, Lewis told of the agony his estimated 1,900 career pratfalls caused him. One physical gag in 1965 – a flip off a piano – landed him spine-first on a steel cable. The accident left him paralyzed overnight and then caused overwhelming pain for the next 37 years, Lewis, now 78, said.

Four failed back surgeries, steroids and narcotic pain pills did nothing to relieve the pain, Lewis said. He became a workaholic to try to take his mind off the agony he felt. But the pain never went away. He was minutes away from shooting himself when his daughter, now 12, caught him holding a handgun, he said.

The entertainer now uses “a pain pacemaker” – an implanted device called a spinal cord stimulator. The device, made by Medtronic Inc. of Minneapolis, consists of a palm-size battery encased in plastic, which is placed under the skin in the abdomen or buttocks. Coated wires run from the stimulator to the spine. Tiny electrodes at the end of the wires lay on top of the spinal cord and produce an electric current. Patients experience the current as a tingling. The tingling blocks pain signals to the brain. Patients control the intensity and duration of the current with a remote control.

For Lewis, the pain relief was instantaneous and complete. But his “Jewish guilt” doesn’t allow him to fully enjoy his pain relief knowing that others are in similar boats, he said.

“We have 75 million people suffering with chronic pain in this country. It is an epidemic,” Lewis said.

For 2 1/2 years, Lewis has toured as Medtronic’s spokesman, touting the benefits of spinal cord stimulation for people with chronic pain.

Lewis intends to start a Chronic Pain Association similar to the Muscular Dystrophy Association he began nearly half a century ago. His telethons have raised nearly $2 billion for muscular dystrophy over the past 48 years, and children with the disease often are referred to as “Jerry’s kids.”

The most common reason for getting a spinal stimulator is chronic pain after back surgery, said Dr. Gregory H. Smith, an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist at Pain Management Services in Des Peres. About 400,000 people in the United States undergo back surgeries each year. Up to 15 percent of them may develop chronic pain, Smith said.

Doctors are not sure how the stimulator blocks pain. Some researchers think the electrical currents may stimulate the body to release endorphins, a natural type of painkiller akin to morphine. Another theory is that it swamps out pain signals to the brain by overwhelming those messages with more pleasurable tingling sensations.

“It’s like having a phone line that’s busy. Now these pain fibers can’t call in the pain message to the spinal cord and the brain,” Smith said.

The device is usually a last resort, said Dr. Robert Swarm, an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist at the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Washington University Pain Center.

Only about two dozen of the 1,500 new patients Swarm sees each year get the stimulators, he said.

Medtronic and several other manufacturers make the devices. The stimulator may cost $15,000 to $35,000, depending on the size of the battery and the number of electrodes. But the device is not necessarily more expensive than pain pills, Swarm said.

Even though the stimulators don’t work for all patients and may only partially relieve pain for others, patients often report functioning better in daily life, pain doctors say.

“It may make the difference between having normal relations with the family and being a recluse moaning in their room all the time,” Swarm said.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Now I dont endorse Medtronics or spinal cord stimulators, I had a trial with one and it just wasnt for me ( that and it caused more pain) although everyone is different and that may/maynot be the case for you.

Mr. Lewis has done so much good in his life, a real hero in my eyes.

be well,
Dee

Because I don't believe she has it. I think some of the other things are very true. He appearance on the Dr. Oz show was to sell her products, for no other reason.

I think if anything Paula Abdul used RSD as a Whipping Boy an excuse for taking too many drugs ,I doubt many of us are on enough meds (if we decide to go in that directions)Now we RSDers are synonymous with Addicts to the people who would watch the show she was on
I can't remember not having RSD must she cause more p[ain and confusion ,if I was a lawyer I would start a class action suit against Paula and her Doctor if he made up this RSD Dx ,I have friends who have been told they had RSD also Fibro one friend instead has MS but it wasnt treated and another has ALS which is aka Lou Gehrigs Disease .
I sometimes don't think I am going to make it through another night I hurt so bad ,I tried Avinza (Morphine made a different way but in Oregon it is only for the rich and Im SSI and dont think I can afford $15 a capsule
I hope you are all doing well
rsdno