I will just start with that and I am sure you will all get it! Dang, those things urk me. The initial needle going in the front of my neck is bad enough, but then comes the juices being plunged through the tube through my veins AND I feel all of it sloooooowly trickling down my neck, shoulder and hopefully into my arm where it is supposed to go, which it didn't seem to do that today....AGAIN. So my whole chest/collarbone area is still numb from 10 am and it is now 5 pm. But I did get some eye drooping and that is a good sign of a successful block (they say).

Anyhow, I thought of some of you today regarding a prior thread about hand, body temp's and getting things out of the freezer and just holding cold things. Well, on my way to the injection I had my 8 oz. plastic orange juice bottle (which I never carry anything but my thermus cup with handle) and my hand was FREEZING. I seriously took 2-3 sips out of this bottle and drove thr remainder of the 15 minute drive with my hand right up against the heat vent!!! My poor mother was sweating because I had the heat blasting (even though she closed her vents).

So I have a question: Could it be possible that because we have a harder time feeling heat, that we have become extra super sensitive to cold which wouldn't even be considered "cold" to most people? EX: if an average person could feel a burn at 75 degrees and we don't feel it until 95 degrees, our internal thermostat is off so it takes so much more for us to "heat up or get comfortably warm" that something "normal cold" out of the fridge feels like it jsut came from antartic? I don't know, but that is how I feel. Like my showers have to be super hot, my heat in the house way higher than normal folks, so even luke warm water to me feels ice cold. Ignore my rant and craziness, it must be what they injected me with

Sonny,
You're not going nuts. I'm very sensitive to cold too. When in the car I close off the vents when my wife has the A/C on and the house is kept warmer than usual. Once I sat out in the yard in the sun wrapped in my winter coat and thick jeans freezing and it was 95 degs out!
Sometimes I'm hot, sometimes cold, but never the temp as it really is. It's like my body has a mind of it's own. And the flare ups, grrrrr.
I just wanted to let you know you're not alone...

I also have those days but then I have "normal ones" as well...that is why I think I am sometimes! I know it is my body, nerves playing with me and keeping me on my toes all of the time. I just get so frustrated with all of the changes I have to make everyday to my living, dressing, bathing, etc. I have seriously replaced every piece of clothing and shoe to adapt to my needs, all cleaning appliances (which I must say, I am in live with my Shark Super delux swivel carry around vacuum and my Shark floor steamer) they are much more ergonomically manigable for me. Laundry bags with handles from baskets....and the list goes on!

I really am getting more used to it all as it has been this permanent for over a year now, but WOW. Now throw in the hot, the cold...one layer off, two on, I have sweaters and jackets all over the house and about 27 blankets laying around! (slight exaggeration)

Well thanks Jimbo for sharing! Glad to know I am not alone. Sorry I keep rambling, I'm going to lay down, whtever they injected in me today really put me in a mood lol!

Have a good night!

I am definitely super sensitive to the cold and as for the heat I tend to not feel it unless it is REALLY warm. BUT...I also sweat a lot now which I never used to do before and this can happen even when I am cold...very odd. I know it's the RSD messing with me...but I make sure that I always have layers (at least something with long sleeves), always have on long pants, keep a scarf and gloves in my walker, wear socks whenever I leave the house (on the off chance a stray breeze or blast of AC hits my RSD ankle I want protection)...it's nuts. I know people have got to think I am a thundering looney when they see me all layered up like that when it's 70+ degrees outside...but what do I care? I'm just happy any time I am able to just leave the house!

Oh yes...and there are (as I type this) 4 blankets on the couch next to me ready should I need the extra warmth.

During my first 15 or so years with RSD, I was the same, as you all say, very susceptible to the cold.
I use to this day, lots of 'Patagonia' underthings, especially shirts, they make t shirts, zip t shirts, long or short sleeve, and of different weights silk weight, to heavyweight.
It's called 'Capaline'.
Don't not get a couple for yourself! I have nothing to do with the company, nor do I even own stock.
But, go to
www.patagonia.com
and search
Capeline. (Sp)
Sorry, someone will pop in to help you in about ten minutes.
I swear by this stuff, it's made of recycled plastic soda bottles and it WIll NOT get Wet!
It quickly wicks all perspiration away, and you don't get that 'Second effect Chill'!
Which is nasty.

Anyway, I had a 2nd accident, which (as you might tell) caused a head injury.
Now,
of all things, I can't stand Heat and Humidity! Figure that one!?

I'd rather dress well, (with patagonia stuff), than hafto sweat in the heat!
I like cool, LOW HUMIDITY. By cool, I mean 60 - 70 degree weather.
I cannot take or stand, 80+ with humidity.

And, we cannot forget the Barometer! When it's falling, or low, it hurts. When it's going up, or is high, better, much better!

Problem is, I've no idea, if this (the temperature thing) is due to the second accident, or if it's just because my rsd is so far advanced. 28+ years.

We Persist, and Carry On!

Be well all!

p
asb

Sonny,

I get the gangloin nerve blocks as well. However, my Dr. has the nurse insert an IV into my hand, and before the procedure, I am given light-medium general sedation with fentanyl. I hardly feel a thing! I feel drunk after and need help walking and I get kinda goofy!!! Thanks for mentioning the eye effect, because I have noticed after my last block last week that my pupils are being weird...they get tiny, then dilate until my whole eye is black! Crazy! I never thought it could be the injections until I read a few other threads and this one. I could not have these injectgions in my gangloin or cervical spine without being sedated! My Dr. is very aware of the pain I suffer and the last thing he wants to do is cause me more! Do you get any sedation at all?

C

No, I do not get any sedation or IV. I literally go in the room, lie on the bed, they insert the needle with the tube at the end (to plunge stuff through it) plunge the stuff through it, they sit me up for about 2 minutes, walk me to a "recovery room" where I sit in a chair with ice on my neck for about 20-30 minutes and then they release me to my ride! The whole thing takes about 5 minutes. I can handle the needle, it is the fear of it going in the front of my neck. The uncomfortable part is feeling the liquid being flushed through the tube into my body! I have had several different "side effects" and sometimes none. Numb hand, arm, head, chest, droopy eye, red face, headache, hot face, glassy eye, stuffy nose, hoarse throat, cough. Sometimes some of these are mixed with others, sometimes by themselves, sometimes none at all!
Everyone is different!

Good luck!

Sonny, is the doc using your feedback to pinpoint the precise location for best results while you're on the table? I always knew the block worked well before the end of the procedure with the last series I went through because of this. It means being on the table for as long as it takes to get it right...

If you're having temp regulation problems, using ice on you seems like a very bad idea.

Hmmm....not sure how to address this all. I have had probably 19 or so stellate blocks starting June 2008; 1 month after the shoulder arthroscopy that started this. I usually get 2 or 3 a few days to a week apart and they last in a diminishing fashion for 3 to 5 months. By then, I am screaming for more. I hate the side effects! But as much as I hate the Horner's syndrome, it is temporary and reassuring to me that the block was spot on.

My PM doc is great....very aware and concerned that I am comfortable and not moving (that part is better for his work!) so I am sedated nicely I might add so I have never seen the needle targeted for my throat and would probably head for the hills if I did. They are always done under fluoroscopic guidenance and would never consider it being done any other way. Accidents increase without imaging. I usually get a suprascapular nerve block at the same time and am awake for that, somewhat.

When it comes to temperature awareness, it is all over the board. As with many here I am sure, cold weather or air blowing across my arm is just really heinous and sends me into seemingly Tourettic gyrations. When the blocks have mostly worn off, I cannot hold onto a warm cup o' Joe for very long before it "feels" like it is scalding my hand. Very weird and a waste of good coffee, no doubt.