Huh ya learn something new each day. I don't have any autoimmune problems except allergies which give me migraines. Shoot before getting rsd I was healthy as a horse. I did everything and anything ate and drank what others couldn't. Now I have hemorrhoids and I get gastroenteritis really easily. I have been checked for most autoimmune problems that my drs and I can think of. After finding out celiacs and lupus run in my maternal family I had that checked to after fighting with them to get it done. I have been checked numerous times for rheumatoid even. I am going to have to really look more stuff up. I am still doing research about this and don't have the knowledge y'all have yet. Just give me time.

I don't know how much experience my own doctor has with RSD. However when I was being Dx'd for PN or RSD, I was told that it was an auto immune disease. She is a physiatrist who specialized in pain management. ginnie

In Jan 2010 the IASP chnaged the definition of what is Neurological Pain and RSD/CRPS no longer falls under that catagory, of course they didn't say exactly what it is now so your guess is as good as mine but one of the things it has been acknowledged as doing is to affect the auto-immune system

Well that seems quite odd considering CRPS II is caused by a 'major' nerve injury and thus affects the nervous system = neurological??? If I understand CRPS I/RSD is exactly the same except that no known nerve injury exists.

Some things just make you go..hmmmm??

They know what it does but nobody knows how or why it does it.
I January 2010 the American Pain Society published an article saying there was growing evidence that everyone had been following the wrong direction for 60 years that is was not the sympathetic reflexs that caused RSD but Arterial Vapospasms. In Oct that year at an International conference in New Mexico it was suggested the cause was activated glial.
Nobody knows

That maybe true but, it is still considered a neurological condition/syndrome/disease as it directly affects the nervous system.

Ok I give up lol . I am trying to follow this and my brain keeps wondering. I'm usually good at following complicated explanations. This is what I know. Rsd affect the immune system, it affects the neurological system there for its both in my book. They do need to find a way to treat it effectively. I know that since having this disease I am more prone to digestive problems and colds. I can also tell by my whole body starting to tingle when my leg is going to flare. I also know it hurts. It has cause me a lot of depression, and anxiety. It sucks royal boogers too. They need to do more research and figure things out. all around for everyone that suffers from this.

My immune system also seems weakened since I've gotten RSD. I was a relatively healthy person until I got RSD. Now I feel like I'm always in pain and sick with something. I'm always going to the dr for something and need a calendar just for dr appts so that I can keep track of them all. I think it's both a neurological and autoimmune disorder, but am not a dr so don't know for sure. These are just my thoughts based on what I'm going through.

Allanira,

It does affect the immune system but as far as any research has shown that I am aware of that the immune system is affected secondary to the neurological impact. In other words it doesn't start in the immune system it starts neurologically. There are many things affected by the progression of CRPS and then there are also other factors like medication, lack of movement and even depression that contribute to immune function but that is secondary to the process not the cause.. I hope that makes better sense.

Also.. the more we isolate ourselves by the very nature of this disease, the less our bodies are exposed to bacteria and build antibodies thus, when we do go to the doctor/ER or the occasional trip to the store.. we are overrun with bacteria that our bodies haven't had a chance to build antibodies for, so we get sick more easily. It is easy to blame everything on CRPS and although it likely is the reason for it may not be "the reason".