Hi,

Good news to brighten my day. Hope the good days keep on coming
for you.

Mike is still having computer issues. I'll let him know you are asking for him.

So...yesterday was day 2 at work and today I have the day off. Yesterday was a very physical day for me. I was there for 10 hours and on my feet 100% of that time. I was moving shelves around, moving product, putting a lot of product out to the floor from the stockroom, helping customers, etc. The only breaks I took were to use the bathroom and to get something to drink a couple of times. By the last couple of hours I started to feel the pain and by the time I made it home after my 1 hour commute I was definitely in a full blown flare with my ankle and could hardly walk. BUT...I was grinning ear to ear...I was so happy. Today the pain flare is already gone and all I have in addition to me normal pain levels is soreness (which I expect I will have for the first month or two until my body adjusts to these sorts of activity levels).

I definitely think all of my "suiting up" for work paid off yesterday. I wore lidoderm patches on both knees and both forearms and I had my TENS unit on my ankle. My arms swelled up pretty bad yesterday (which they didn't do the first day...but that was mostly spent in the office)...but there was no pain flare in my arms last night...just the swelling. My ankle got a lidoderm patch on it after I got home and a heating patch. Definitely experienced a flare there but by the time I woke up this morning that was gone. I still got 8 hours total of sleep...though I did wake up several times during the night in pain...but fell back asleep pretty quickly each time.

I was still able to do 2 tdcs treatments each day for my first two days of work and should be able to for the next two days too. I'm off today (definitely a good thing with the soreness) and tomorrow is a meeting so that will give me an extra day to rest up with less physical activity. Friday will probably be another project day but then on the weekend it will be no projects (though I will be on my feet all day probably). This weekend though I don't think I will be able to do two treatments...probably just one each day. But I'm going to keep at it because I honestly think that tDCS is the only reason the pain flares are so minimal given the amount of activity.

But today it's all about the soreness...and I cannot express to you my joy despite tha pain. I can still do it...I still got it. I will be able to figure out ways to make it work and more than anything I am just so happy to be working with a great team of people. The more time I spend working with different people and talking with them about the business the more I feel like this is really a place that I will fit in well as part of the team. I feel very very blessed and lucky right now.

You are an inspiration to me!!! I don't know how you and others on this board do this. I have trouble finding enough time in the day to do drs. visits, aquatherapy, tdcs, organize my medicines, overcome my fatique, and TRY to keep up with my life.

Hi,

Great news Catra. You say you felt Joy. Let me say this. you are a "Joy "
and in reading your account of yesterday with tne hours and being on
your feet 100 percent of the time you even sound a lot like " super girl" .
but also please take care of yourself.

So tell us how the trip went for your dtr. How did she like Doc Fugedy? Did she get a treatment while she was there? Does she understand the treatment and instructions? I hope it wasn't too overwhelming. I'm sure she'll do well and rest assured we're all pulling for her as well as ourselves. We want to put a major whole in the process of this disease and imagine the impact we'd have on the rest of the RSD community if we all had some major improvement.

I did talk to doc and he's changing the protocol this friday. Wants me and Deb to take a few days off of treatment. Guess he thinks we've fried our brains. LOL. We'll hang in there and keep our fingers and toes crossed. Hope your daughter is doing well and you got plenty of rest over the w/e. OOps, forgot you got to take care of the kids. No rest for the weary. Luv Ya

Hi,

Where do I start? Yes both my husband and daughter had a favorable
impression of Doc Fugedy. While she was there she was having a migraine
headache. Of particular note, I had read somewhere in research, migraine
headaches put one at risk for CRPS and indeed prior to her surgery which
led to CRPS she was taking Topomax for migrane headaches. Suffice it
to say the Doc gave her two treatments. One protocal for the CRPS and
one for the migraine headache. Until she speaks with the Doc she is
uncertain as to wheather she is supposed to do both protocals or just
the one for CRPS. Thus far she is doing only the one, for CRPS.

She was treated on Saturday, flew home on Sunday was so exhausted
she did not treat on Sunday but started on Monday. She is having some
problems, she and the Doc are currently playing phone tag. The problem
seems to revolve around burning. From the feedback I have recieved if
indeed I have understood the feedback it would appear the treatment
would tend to work better without Saline solution. By this I mean only
water. Conversley if I am understanding correctly from other souces, most
people have burning issues. I consulted with ballerina who shared with
me a weak saline solution and did make up a batch for her which is has
used. Again she and the Doc are playing phone Tag or more recorrect
E-mail tag. At one point she believes he called while she as giving herself
a treament but feared to use the telephone while using and electrical devise.

She did turn the current down due to the burning but the Doc had covered
that. She thinks she will need to use the full strengh saline solution. I
suppose that is the question. To Saline or not to Saline, but hopefully over
time she will make an adjustment and can at least at one point alternate with
saline and not saline.

It has only been three days of course and now having to turn down the current this may have an effect when it comes to seeing if she is responding
etc. She will know more when she and the Doc touch base. She has
adopted a visual aid while she is doing the treatments which in essense
is she is visualizing healing energies are passing into her head. Since thoughts are things and have power, I think she instincts are a good thing.
Wiill report more to the group when more is known. Luv you all back

So glad she's accomplished this so far. I know about the burning also. But, I can tell you I use both. I dampen the sponges first with water. Then since they are not wet enough I have a saline spray can I then add saline to the sponge to get the right dampness. They of course leak as you place them on with pressure but I keep a small towel around my neck to catch the drops. I also get the burning and tingeling but I assume that's from it not being wet enough. Then if it's too painful, Doc has Debbie doing less power at a 1.0 and run for 40 minutes so you get the same power. So keep that in mind if she can't reach Doc. I had never heard that there was a problem with using saline. I know Doc said he started with saline but has accepted water is just as useful. Also the tightness of the head band she's using may play a part in the burning. Cut it back until she reaches tolerance level. Hope this was helpful. Three cheers for your daughter she's on the right track.

Hi,

Thank you for your response. To date I have not been able to be present
during treatment times due to a conflicting schedule but I had mixed a weak
saline solution for her at one point then a mixture according to the instructions from the Doc. She said she had a better outcome. She has
in fact been able to turn the current up to the orginal setting. She has
also changed treatment time since the time she had was her more active
time of the day and it was difficult for her to add more tasks.

Of particular note, while this may be just meaningful chance. She mentioned
the treatment made her sleepy. She feel asleep during the treatment. This
may turn out to be a one time event or it could mean the treatment is having
an effect on one of her major problems which is insombia.

Question? You say you have a saline spay in which you spray onto the pads
after you had wetted them with water. Would my understanding be correct
to assume the additional saline spray is one which comes from a pharmacy
or is it one you have mixed.

It is in a spray can from a pharmacy I think. I use a Rite Aid pharmacy. I bought it awhile ago to have on hand if I needed it to clean a wound for my grandson. So when this came along I found it handy to keep with the tDCS unit so if I needed to add more liquid I had it without having to get up to get water. I don't know if I'm doing anything wrong by mixing water and the saline. I never heard there was any reason not to use saline. I find doing treatment in the evening so much easier. It's the best time to do it when the day is done and there's no pressure to get something else done. Just turn off the rest of the day and sit and relax. I do it when there's a program on tv I like to watch. Sitting and relaxing for your daughter is probably why she falls asleep. If she's not watching tv and she's meditating she's got to be doing the best possible plan for the tDCS to do it's job. Lots of luck to her and your family.