I wanted to thank you all for your input. You were very helpful

What I did was print out something about the "drawing up of muscles", "muscle contractions" and "dystonia" for my physical therapist. What we decided to do is take short rest periods in between my excercises at PT, so that my body won't get so overloaded. It's helped somewhat, but...

I have been having these attacks of heavy harsh breathing, incredible pain and the feeling of faintness. I feel as if I am going to pass out, and I cannot see straight from the pain. I try and get my breathing under control, and relax a few minutes and it will fade out. Does anyone else know what I am talking about? I HATE the feeling- if I overdo it and the pain rises and rises this will happen.

Hi Vanessa,

Worrying, that breathing problem - I'm wondering when you were last checked out for things other than RSD...sometimes the RSD can be so overwhelming that it masks other things that might be going wrong. Many of us, sad to say, have other conditions coexisting with RSD, and some of the conditions overlap as far as symptoms go... perhaps you should ask the doc to check you out next time you're there, just in case.

But, btw, I agree with Di that when PT starts to present its own problems, the time has come to ease up; she's right, not all PT is good for RSD - I'm not saying they're getting it wrong, at all - just that the body can only cope with so much, and you've gotta give the brain a chance to cope too.

You're a real trooper, though, I take my hat off to you - and I love your enthusiasm - sometimes, though, we need to stand back, take a breather and rethink a little. Maybe time for a small pause - in general, I mean, not just the PT?

Just a thought, do take care, we love having you here,
all the best

I too get those periods of harsh breathing and feeling like the pain is so overwhelming that I am going to pass out. After much testing to rule out anything my Dr. and I decided that it is anxiety. I take ativan for it when it comes up quick like that. It helps get mme calmed down and get my breathing under control, then i can deal with the pain.
Lack of oxygen in the blood actually will increase pain, or at least make you less able to cope with it.
Just my opinion.
Tracy

Thanks for the sweet caring words, and for the kind advice, Artist.

I am going to mention the whole breathing thing to my Dr., and see what she thinks. I didn't even think about it being something other than the pain... because it happens when my pain is through the roof.

I have since changed the way I do all my PT- I take breaks so that my muscles don't do that strange contraction thing... it has helped, and I realize that I can only tolerate so much. I do know that all PT isn't good for RSD, but there is some that is. My physical therapist has worked on changing the whole program so that it is tailored for me, not for just an RSD patient, but for my RSD. Some of the things I was doing there we both realized needed to go and they were serving no purpose (and just increasing my pain).