Got an appointment this morning after a hellish 4 days and the problem with seeing my doctor is I think I've become too good at masking the pain that he can't see what I'm feeling at all

Now it ends in nothing I know I need to be tried on a stronger/different medication but how do you get it across that you are in bits? he can't see how swollen things were on Saturday today

Worried it will be another 'chat' appointment with no result or resolve to reduce my pain

You name the modality I've either tried it or incorporated it into my existing pain relief program

Advice?

Hope you are all feeling low levels of pain

I've had those concerns as well. When I see a doctor, especially early in the morning when my foot is at its best, it can be perceived that things are going better than they truly are. My foot is at its best (visibly) early AM and then gets progressively worse through the day with the hours of "weight-bearing" increasing the visible and pain symptoms.

What I did was take digital pictures of my foot on different times/days and then printed out LARGE color pics on my printer and brought those pictures along to the appointment.

As the old saying goes......"a picture is worth a thousand words".

I brought a few pics of my foot when it was very angry/red/swollen along with me when I saw my podiatrist this past week. Those pics generated some helpful discussion between us and he thanked me for bringing them along. Luckily, I have a great relationship with my podiatrist, which is so very necessary as he is the primary doctor on my treatment team.

As your appointment is this morning, this strategy might not work for this appt. but might be something to consider for future appointments. All you can do is to explain how you have differences in visible symptoms at different times / different days. If the doctor doesn't believe you, (not unusual) it might be time to consider a different doctor.

Good luck!

i wish you the best of luck, i have done pics and gone in late in afternoon and have gotten no where, if you find a answer please share!

There are no words to express the hellishness of this condition and its pain to others. This might be because we don't really understand it ourselves. The pain is just another symptom of everything that's going on and it ebbs and flows like the tide. Sometimes it's the problem and other times it's just a part of the problem. Most of the time it seems like all of the problem leading us to misapprehend its nature and importance. Fear of the pain can be worse than the pain itself and this problem can increase as if we protect the affected limb and use it less and less.

There's little doubt that the solution is to try to find a way to use it and that the means is to find ways to lessen the pain by distracting oneself and through medication if any help. There always seems to be a heavy toll on the mind and the self and this effect seems direct even though doctors are unanimous in saying it's indirect. The disease is largely about coping and, God help us, we sometimes only get help to the degree we fail to cope. Good luck in finding relief and keep fighting. There should be some better medications down the line and it might not be too long till it can be eradicated altogether.

I have done pics. on my iphone and even made a disc for my dr.'s, lawyer, etc. Because it does change through out the day. I find pics work well. But sometimes you get that, well it doesn't look like that now so you must be doing better. That's when you explain that it can change at any point during the day. good luck.

Dear Imahotep;
Regarding ygour post above where you said ...There should be some better medications down the line and it might not be too long till it can be eradicated altogether.
Is there some new clinical trials or results that make you optimistic in this statement? This comment stuck in my mind all day today and I wanted to ask you about it. I pray everyday that they can find a cure for CRPS for all of us.
SS

My understanding is there are a few fronts on which this disease might yet be beaten. The most promising now is that the very nature of pain is becoming better understood. I believe that if they could turn off the pain even chronic RSD victims would get well or at least much better. I believe there is a more direct cause of the disease and someone might stumble on it at any time probably leading to a cure. This disease is probably highly preventable and this might be discovered first.

Thanks for this tip, I've been wondering how to solve that problem! My appointments are always before 9.30 am, I tend to 'roll out of bed & into the doc's' needless to say both my feet & legs look ok'ish, I leave think to myself why can't I get an appointment at 2am then they'd look different....... I just bought a camera a couple of weeks back, tonight I'm going to start using it for my legs etc & show them how bad they really are. Thanks again

If you do get any tips on how to explain to your GP, please share them

Advice?

Keep a pain journal. Make it as detailed as possible. Bring the journal with you to your next appt. Goodluck!

CactusFoot says what I think too. I can be annoying and hard to do sometimes but keep a pain diary! Detail exactly what you're going through. And TELL him look I am in severe pain. Detail loss of sleep, or changes in mobility/abilities. Unfortunately it is extremely hard to convey to someone how much pain you are in unless you are bluntly honest!