Hello everyone,

I am a CRPS sufferer, a female 34 years of age, who has been dealing with this disease since July 2012. May 13 of this year I developed bladder problems. May 11 I worsened my condition by applying Rogaine to my scalp when my initiating injury was an occipital nerve injury/scalp irritation. My scalp got worse and my entire body reacted with a return of neuropathic deep aching pain and new symptoms as well such as circulatory changes that were more dramatic than before with all four limbs turning blue/red if away from the heart and increased intense spotty burning, previously it was diffuse over my upper body, and some burning over my legs and feet, which was new. That weekend after May 11 I took more Ketamine troches (lozenges) than normal and did so on an empty stomach while drinking barely anything. I had been using these lozenges (which are placed below the tongue) fairly frequently daily for about three months with some days when I increased my dose. That weekend up upped the dose to maybe 1000mg over a couple days. Then I started to have incontinence, some bladder pain, and frequency. The pain I would describe as aching with some burning. I had normal bladder capacity at that time. I thought it might be the Ketamine so I stopped using it and over the course of some weeks it seemed to be improving. Then a month after onset it worsened again, perhaps because I had a nutritional drink with potassium, or perhaps because at that time my bodywide aching worsened too due to stress. Then I made my CRPS arm worse so I turned to the troches again and my bladder got worse again, though I wasn't able to say confidently it was the troches. Now I have pain in the bladder 24/7 and it worsens with any kind of filling of urine and it's much worse than it was a month ago. I'm looking for any useful information on what may be causing my issues: is it CRPS spreading to my bladder because of the circulatory changes (even though I have not had other internal involvement to date) or is it the Ketamine? It's important for me to know if it is the Ketamine so that I can adjust my treatment... and treat my bladder. I would be interested to hear anyone describe their experience with bladder pain from CRPS: what it feels like, how it started, when it started etc. to gauge whether CRPS could be causing my problem. Thanks! Nicole

Sorry to hear its whole body spread. I have only had CRPS for 4.5 months and it has spread to all 4 limbs in just 3 months. i didnt do anything to help the spread, it just happened. For me it started in my left hand. Im alsofeeling it in my lower back and upthe left of my back.

Getwellsoonerorlate,
I have CRPS of the bladder. It spread there after an injury to my L5S1 and left foot 2nd metatarsal base fracture. After a couple surgeries and minimal physical therapy, I was left with CRPS. I did not know though. I had to wait the precursory amount of time and visit a certain number of doctors. Once the CRPS was diagnosed, my urologist said, oh yeah, all your bladder problems are connected to the neuro problems caused by the CRPS.

My symptoms include frequent infections, burning pain, fever, but I have hematurea (blood in the urine), pressure, inability to urinate/empty all the time. When i get an infection my Doctor calls in an antibiotic for me. In order to prevent the infections, I catheterize 3 times a day. Cathing is really not too bad. You can buy disposable catheters through an online pharmacy fairly inexpensively. Your nurse can describe how to insert the catheter, and in short time it becomes second nature.

Hope you feel better soon.

When mine spread to my bladder it was spasms more like what you would have in your arms or legs. Kinda like a UTI but there was no infection. I had to go see a urologist had test run there while I was having bladder spasms that showed my bladder was functioning normal but the nerves were going crazy. Good luck. This week I had my first spasm in my face scared me to death.