Thanks everyone.
Im still feeling positive, however i think im getting a little nerve pain in my other hand and left foot. Its minor and im hoping that that is all it is. Plus im starting to get a little rash on my upper left arm. Im feeling good considering though. Being on Amitriptyline is probably helping considering its an anti depressant. I have also upped my dose to 50mg and its really helping with my pain. I have moments where i can forget there is anything wrong with me.

I have decided to improve my diet, and although i am supposed to be on a gluten free diet, ive been quite naughty since my accident so im focusing on improving my diet. Ive been Vegetarian for 12years as well so I have no excuse for eatting badly...... bread is just too easy though. lol.

Im looking into meditation and gentle yoga for excersise. and i went for a walk this morning and it felt good.

I am starting to feel a little annoyed with the fact that im going to be stuck in a situation that i was ready to get out of. When i was burnt i gave up my rented house and moved into my parents place so that i could afford to recover and live until i was ready to work again. I was ready to move out and restart my life. Now im stuck here again and i dont know how long for. They are fine with this but i turned 30 last thursday and this is not where i wanted to be at this stage in my life. so i cant help but feel disapointed even though i can see the bigger picture.

Today im in a bit more pain and the Amitriptyline has left me a little sleepy, so im planning a quiet day resting. but latter ill go to the beach to soak my arm. At the moment im really interested in how people have mannaged their day to day lives in a positive way. Ive been looking at the resourses listed in the sticky posts. Im really glad to have found this site. I joined another before i found this one and never recieved a reply. So again thankyou for the support.

Do you take the Amitriptyline in the morning or at night ? Because it can be so sedating, may find it helpful to take it at night....then it has the added benfit of helping you sleep better while not intefering as much with daytime fatigue.

Keep a close eye on the other "potential" areas. RSD can spread.

While I was a little older than you when my RSD started, I can identify with the frustration of feeling "stuck" and being dependent on others. I was used to having more than enough to support myself long before I got married. Now that I am disabled (and on SSDI, I don't know if there is an equivalent in your country) and in desperate need of a divorce, I feel trapped by my financially dismal future. My SSDI income might be enough to afford a modest future if it weren't for the $500 a month I'm paying for uncovered medical.....and that's with my husband's very good health insurance. I'll be out even more when I lose his insurance with a divorce and have to pay for Medicare plus a supplement. My parents had planned on being able to help me, as PATHETIC as that feels, at least it WAS an option. Now my mother's health has deteriorated and they will be looking at nursing home placement for her, which costs about $100,000 a year here. The frustration of being "trapped" here is even worse because I would like to live nearer to my parent's, who live an hour away, so that I could do something to try to help them. The family joke was always that they didn't need long term care insurace because they paid it by sending their daughter to nursing school. This isn't working out for any of us

I LOVE your attitude and hope that you will be able to get the pain issues fully under control so that you can get back to work and out on your own again soon. Hitting the "big" 3-0 doesn't help the feeling that you want to move on NOW. Give it some time.....and keep doing the positive things that you are doing for your health !

Regarding the running, I would start out with walking and see how it goes. With extra meds, I am now able to walk up to 4 or 5 miles a day, although I usually keep it to 2 miles to limit the pain/use of meds. My RSD is from TOS which is near my neck with heaviness and numbness sometimes going down my arm, but all the pain is near my neck, not down my arm. After 1/2 mile, I can REALLY feel more heaviness,numbness down my arm (which at rest I don't feel at all). Much of the time, I can feel a "click" as my arm swings forward and back and at about 30 degrees rotation in the pendulum swing I go from feeling my arm to losing feeling. It has occured to me that might not feel as bad if I wore a sling. I've ruled that out because a traditional sling would rub the bad area on my neck. I don't know if you could tolerate wearing one if you have a lot of allodynia on your arm between the burns and RSD.....just something to think about.

Thanks Finz I take my meds at night. About 20min before bed. Before i started them i was averaging 2hrs sleep a night. The night before i started taking them i didnt seep at all and the next morning it hit me hard. I thought i was going to collapse i was just so tired. Im sleeping really well now. I thought it was just the pain keeping me awake, but ive been reading about the insomnia that comes with RSD. Plus i still had it after my burns. When i was in the Burns Unit I didnt sleep much and it set a pattern. Esp when i came off of the pain killers i was on. Im loving having sleep. Im starting to hae energy now. Yay!!!

One thing that im really grateful of here is the support we get here in Australia. I dont have insurence, but i am able to get assistance from centrelink, which is our welfare system. Its about $500 a fortnight for me. Living with my parents makes this not to bad to live on, i cant imagine paying rent as well with this. I used all my savings when i had my burns. I do hate being on this system though and having to answer to the Gov to keep money comming in. We do have a good medical system here so most medical bills are payed through that. My stay in the burns unit (one of the best in the world), and further treatment for my burns were covered. Plus now im only paying a small gap for doctors bills, I get meds that are covered by the PBS (pharmaceuticals Benifit system) at a cheap rate and i get my first 6 Physio appointments for free. I only have to pay for traveling because i live in a rural area with little resources. Im just lucky to hae a new GP here that understands my problems and i dnt have to travel for that. I think this probably is playing a big part in my mental state because i dont have these pressures. Im really sorry that you do. I know we pay greater tax here, but when you reap the benifits you really appreciate it. Especially after reading some of the stories on here. I really admire your attitude considering the pressures you have. Im not sure i would be so positive in your situation. But i guess we all have our difficulties.

I will give a sling a go. I decided not to run incase it makes my foot worse, but i went for a walk today and it was ok. So i figure ill do that for now. However the dog dosnt like the shorter and slower pace. lol. But because of this she does get a swim each day so she will love that. If i wear my pressure garments on my arm i should be fine with the sling. Thanks heaps for that.

I will give a sling a go. I decided not to run incase it makes my foot worse, but i went for a walk today and it was ok. So i figure ill do that for now. However the dog dosnt like the shorter and slower pace. lol. But because of this she does get a swim each day so she will love that. If i wear my pressure garments on my arm i should be fine with the sling. Thanks heaps for that.[/QUOTE]


Be careful with slings!! Make sure to check with your doctor. My doctor told me that slings can sometimes exacerbate the hypersensitivity, because your body gets use to things NOT touching it, and the allodynia can get worse. I have a friend who (after 4yrs) pushed her RSD into remission, hers was diagnosed about 2 years in so it took longer. She advised me to CONSTANTLY rub lotion (non scented if preferred), as many times a day as possible. I don;t know if you can with your burns I don't have much knowledge with that. But I do know form talks with my doctor that cosseting your arm ,or protecting it, can make the pain worse , and speed up muscle weakness and increase your muscles atrophy. My physical therapist told me to use my arm as much as possible, without doing things that cause pain.

i have been using water based and un scented moisturisers on my burn sites to keep the skin soft. I have been using it after i shower and using it to massage my arm. my arm isnt to hypersensitive, although its heading that way slowly. Until now i would say more the oppostite.
I really think im early days and each day im seeing new symptoms. yesterday i sterted with tremors and the hot/cold feel. So im guessing i have worse to come. Its only just under a month since it spread from just my middle and index fingers to my entire arm. Its also getting into my sholder now. and im really noticing the burning pain. grrrr. But im not needing huge amounts of meds to control pain and i can stil use my hand and wrist a little before the pain starts. I stop once it hurts.

Today is a bad day. I see what everyone means by the weather making it worse. Ive taken extra painkillers and am staying on the couch while its rain and wind outside. I also wonder if i overdid the excersise yesterday. I went for a walk and went to the beach to get my hand moving in the water. It was really good though and i felt great after and could move my hand with little pain. I felt wonderful yesterday and full of energy and today ive hit a brick wall.

If you're at home try soaking in a warm bath. Sometimes that can help combat the extra pain from cold damp weather!! You do have to be very careful about exercising. I've noticed that my pain doesn't start right a way when I "over-do" it. It doesn't take ,much to over do it sometimes, but I usually hurt much after the same day or even the next. Epsom salt baths can help take some of the aching away.

I would talk to a physical therapist or doctor who is knowledgeable in CRPS/RSD before working out too much. It's highly irritating, but sometimes the silliest things can set off a flare.

This is a familiar story to all do us with CRPS I think - trying to find a pattern or control it is a source of frustration. My physio told me to listen to my body and not force things. I think a routine, especially in the morning, is a really good idea - then i can tell what kind of day it might be lol! If the exercise and massage etc cause pain or visuals symptoms then I know to take it careful and not push too hard. If the morning routine leaves me refreshed and energetic then I know I can get on a bit more.

The important thing is to avoid the peaks and troughs life, where one day feels better and we do too much, then the next three days are hell because we overdid it... I have a blanket on my sofa and I sit in it and keep warm during my frequent rest periods, it seems to keep the daytime burning a bit more controlled. Little and often is a good plan! Ten minutes of laundry then a half hour rest lol I've learnt the hard way that if I spend half an hour hoovering, I'll have a miserable rest of my day.

Everyone suffers this thing differently. Listen to your body and try and find that happy medium where the good days predominate...

I've got CRPS in my whole left leg and foot, and it's in the process of spreading throughout my left arm and hand. Yesterday I had pain, burning and swelling in my first two fingers...it is a scary thing sometimes Today I feel as though I've got sunburn on my left arm and spent yesterday waving my arm constantly - it has that dull achy pain of overuse lol.

Sory to ramble on, it's good to talk about to talk about these things with people who actually know what I'm on about!!

Bram.

Thanks Bram
I wish i had taken your advice earlier today. lol im thinking tomorrow will be a bad day! Oops. I took my dad shopping today and he has a bad back so it was easier to do things myself. Plus he dosnt understand whats going on with me. He just thinks my hand hurts where i got burnt. When i was burnt his main worry was that my face might have been scared. Also i think i might be on too much pain meds because the warning pains didnt show and i when "awesome, i can do anything" I feel so stupid now and Sooo sore.
Im not the sort of person to be defeated and i guess this is a lesson i have to learn. Argh. Im back at the PT this week. I have to travel and get someone to drive me 100km (62miles) to see my PT so im doing it at home the rest of the time. but tommorrows weather will be nice so i think a soak in the ocean will be happening.

Im also trying Mirror Box Therapy when i go to the PT this week......and Thai food after as a treat. YUM! You have to have something to get you through the Physio therapy right? lol.

Thanks again everyone. Your the only ones that get this!