my wc is not paying for my antidepressent either, in fact they are only paying for one med now. They just can't figure out how it can be that I am depressed. UMH!!! I wonder who hires these people.

As If having RSD isnt enough suddenly you have to pray you will get Social Security and a Doc who will work with you ,sleep might be nice the list goes on and on ,and the trauma of RSD can be the trauma inducing PTSD or Depression etc. if you were fighting it off before its much harder to fight with RSD but all of you do it shows strength of character and talking to others to see if you can get help or if you missed something to help the RSD ,I just see very brave and strong people who hurt but find there own path (hopefully with a lot of help)but outside of the RSD community it is hard to get people to understand . I am proud to stand with you all
Gentle Hug
rsdno

I'm too paranoid to give a lot of details but I went through hell the first few years. It was no big problem at first and just a lot of pain that the doctors told me would go away if I was patient but there were other little things that also were very troublesome. I could have continued except I finally noticed that there wasn't any pain if I hadn't done any hard work the previous day. That's when things started spiraling down pretty bad. I became afraid to use my hand and it and everything was getting worse and worse. My employer kept dragging me back to work and I was going through hell. Eventually I had a breakdown and now have PTSD. I can keep the depression at bay most of the time with the medication I'm on but the paranoia doesn't seem to ease much and always comes back.

I just try to stay busy and active and it's the best thing for me. Of course "busy" means a lot of time sitting down but I can do little projects and do research on the computer which keeps me distracted and feeling like I'm getting somewhere.

Hi everyone,
This is my first visit to the forum, and I'm really impressed. It looks like a lot of good information is out here.

I found this thread interesting; I was diagnosed with Bipolar I years before developing RSD/CRaPS in both lower legs from a surgery. My pain medicine physician told me that people with bipolar illness and other mental illness are in general more prone to developing chronic pain disorders. Has anyone else had this experience?

K

Welcome KBear! I am sorry to hear that you have RSD and that you are Bipolar...so much for one person to deal with. I don't have any experience with your questions about mental illness leading to chronic pain disorders. I have read that people with RSD often end up suffering from other conditions like gastroparesis or autoimmune diseases. I don't think anyone really KNOWS why this is the case. But one thing that is common in all RSD patients is that they suffer from some sort of emotional disturbance as part of the condition such as lack of sleep, depression, etc.

Sorry to hear of everything that you have beem going through in your life. Neurotalk is a really great place for information and support from people who also have RSD (and other conditions on different forums). It makes such a difference sometimes to talk to other people who actually HAVE this monster and who understand what you live with on a daily basis. If you have any questions or just need to vent...this is a great place for that. Sorry that I don't know more specific to your question...but I wanted to say welcome.

I have been wondering if my CRPS and the frequency of my Bipolar mania episodes are related... But yes, If you look up the medial definitions of CRPS and RSD you will see that there are references to depression and anxiety. That makes sense though, I mean, Being in pain more than the average bear would make me a little depressed. you know?

Hi, I am a caregiver (18 years) and I too suffer from major depression. Looking for caregiver support group.

Hi mchamrad,
there is a depression support group you may want to look at. Otherwise we also have RSD caregivers on our site. neurotalk as many different groups which are all great and filled with alot of information to help each other. So Welcome!

I found that no one believes me ,my father though I was a bum ,a daughter I wanted drugs and social security (it hurt a lot)all these people have a take on RSD though I doubt they even read about it.
You have to be stronger than you thought you ever could and if a relative or loved one ,doesnt believe you (if their eyes roll back is my personal least favourite accompanied with) "yes Mark we all know you hurt, now could you help my brother with the new freezer??Almost all the women I know with RSD says RSD hurts more than having a baby. I was a RN delivered my daughters even my step-Daughters baby and it looks painful ,if I told a woman that who is healthy she would be very insulted .
Now with family or friends I go to rsdhope.org or rsds.org ,and I have gotten a couple to come here.
You did nothing wrong to get RSD,and if you think about it you have helped more people in your life that caused you pain but if you are like me sometimes you feel desperate to help .
You sound like a straight talker from your PM maybe use your strenths like that one . Remember if you werent Depressed about having RSD ,well that would be plain crazy
Gentle Hug
rsdno

I use anger to push most of the undesirable emotions away, and if that doesn't work then I tap in to the boiling, barely concealed rage that dances behind my eyes.