Hey Renee I'm so sorry you've got all that to deal with at the moment, that stomach pain must've really scary, and of course you're stressed out worrying... It's a viscious circle.

I agree that you need to get some of these things checked out, although I completely sympathise with you not wanting to have them. You need to know what's causing all the pain, and at least the tests will rule out some stuff. You do need to try and de-stress yourself a bit though if you can, because all this stress will be making everything worse for you.

Don't beat yourself up about the meds thing. We all are different, and have to work things out the best we can. What works for one of us might not work for another - you and your docs have to work out your treatment in the end. I'm sorry your docs might not have been being as careful as they should. Hopefully you can get that sideof things sorted soon.

Take care Renee,

Bram.

Ok I've been off Advil for almost two days now. I still feel nauseas, but not as bad as before. I ate chocolate and chuckles last night too which is a big no no for my stomach especially if I have an ulcer or gallbladder attack, but I really love them so much. I didn't love the nausea I felt all night from them though. I'm hurting more without the Advil because of my osteoarthritis and the cold weather, but am trying to take it slow and stay off the advil as long as possible. Next will be reducing percs and zoloft. I hope it helps and that it's not too late for my stomach to get better. Hopefully with the help of the pm dr that I like, I can handle the rsd pain or maybe it will go into remission. I do believe in miracles. Thanks for listening to me vent again. I hope you all have a blessed day. With love, Renee.

Hello Renee,

I am sorry you are having such a tough time!! Don't worry many of has probably had melt downs at one time or another, that is normal under the circumstances.

Try not to stress to much about your upcoming tests just because they are 'looking' doesn't mean there will be anything to find..yes optimism is in my blood little story along those lines.. my father-in-law had been having issues for months with his GI/Colon and he isn't the type of person to ever mention a thing unless it is bad. So, after his first doctor appointment they told him he had a hernia and that his gallbladder needed to be removed. He was actually ecstatic because his guts were full of cancer.. then they did some blood work and other testing and warned him they were highly suspicious of pancreatic cancer. We were all worried sick especially because his Dad died from that. So while awaiting for the CT scan that was a week away, he and his wife were literally worried sick. To make a long story short after his CT scan the next doctor said he didn't have a hernia (I still find it odd how that could be misdiagnosed) and his gallbladder was fine, and most importantly NO cancer!! All of his pain was from diverticulitis for which he had been dealing with for years, it caused an infection that caused the worsening of symptoms and larger area of pain. All that worry and stress for nothing. The take away from that story is... worry will only add to your pain and harm your mind.. try to tuck your worry away, what will be will be.. but until then you don't have to fight against a ghost. I hope that made sense. This is of course easier said than done, please try for your own sanity.

Ya' know I was thinking.. with CRPS GI/Pelvic/Adominal issues are known issues. As I understand it our stomach can slow down the process by which it digests food (very simple description) which can cause many problems including abdominal pain and nausea. Medications only add to this slowing. I don't know if they are testing you for that along with your other tests but, it might be worth bringing up to your doctor.

In another post you mentioned Fentynal (sp?) patches. I can't comment on that one but I can comment on the Butrans patch - this has helped me greatly in terms of less stomach problems from pills and it does help with some of my pain symptoms. I have also noticed less irritation/agitation that was clearly caused by pain.. my husband is thankful for that Giving your stomach a rest may help you between now and your testing in March, possibly.

Sometimes it is harder to tackle all the pain and effects of pain as a whole. I have found that it is easier to work with my doctors to tackle things more individually. For instances sleep deprivation is a huge problem because it reduces your ability to cope with pain that you could otherwise cope with better, it adds to depression and agitation with yourself and others, it makes our brain fog and ability to concentrate even more difficult etc., So addressing sleep would seem a good place to start since that alone would trickle down and help some of the other issues. My doctor gave me a "counter" that I was to touch every time I awoke due to pain or other reasons during my sleep. I was amazed as was my husband that in 6 hrs of sleep I was waking between 16-24 times. This confirmed many of my issues were being exponentially increased due to lack of sleep. So we looked at my meds and one thing I was doing was taking the amytriptilyne at bedtime instead of several hours before. By taking it so late it didn't have a chance to start working until half of my sleep time was already over. I've only switched dosing times for 2 days and already I've noticed a difference.

As far as I know there isn't any medication or treatment that will eliminate or reduce all of our symptoms at once. Maybe if you can isolate the ones that cause you the most grief and focus on how those can be relieved (even if only a little bit) it might give you a little more hope and cause less stress while trying.

Regarding osteopenia/osteoporosis and arthritis - other than advil there are other things you could try that might not affect your stomach as much. Pool therapy would be one thing. Celebrex is also one that helps with the deep bone pain of CRPS as well as arthritic pain and there are others. Weight bearing is the best for all 3 issues plus Vitamin D3 and calcium. Have you tried taking joint supplements? Just thinking out loud here.

One day, one hour or even just 15 minutes at a time..

Hi Tessa. Thanks for all of your great advice. I am going to check with my gastro dr about my digestive problems that rsd and the meds are causing and have them do tests for that.
I will also ask my pm dr about Butran patches. I really want to get off of the percocets. They are making my stomach hurt alot now, and are also making me irritable. I think I'm addicted to them and I don't want to be addicted to anything. I'll also ask if they can adjust my meds so that I sleep better at night. My rsd and stomach hurt more at night and the pain and nausea keep me up most of the night. It doesn't help to not be able to sleep that's for sure. And when I do sleep for a short while I am woken up by pain and nausea again. I'm going to ask my pm dr to try to put me on less and different meds and the butran patches. I want to get off the advil and percs and zoloft because of the affect they are having on my stomach. I also want to tell my pm dr that voltaren gel and neurontin can cause ulcers per my gastro dr, and then ask him if there is something else I can take for that too. I am going to get an MRI next week too on my hips and back to further investigate my osteopenia and osteoperosis. I am having alot of pain and trouble walking because of them. I am going to go back to beginners water aerobics. That did help, but I stopped when I had my two endometriosis surgeries and never went back. There is a handicapped van that will drive me to the local YMCA to do this so I am going to sign up. I am also going to start taking joint supplements. That's a good idea too. I already take Vit D (50,000 IU once a week) to get my vit D level up so that I can take calcium for my osteopenia. My vit D level was a 9 then a 19 and is now a 33. My dr wants it up to 50. I'm heading in the right direction! I did try celebrex before I had rsd for arthritis, but it didn't seem to help much. But I'll ask my rheum if I could try it again. Maybe now if might help. And I've almost made it another day (day 2) without advil. It's hard on my joints and I'm stiff and sore, but my stomach is starting to feel better. Hopefully I can wean off advil and percs and zoloft all together. I may need something for the rsd pain and anxiety, but maybe the butran patch will help me with that.
Thanks again Tessa for all of you helpful advice. I really appreciate it. You are so kind and I feel very blessed to have you and everyone else on this forum to turn to for caring and support. And I will try to take things one day at a time. I think that is a good idea too. If I think any further than that, I think I'll be too overwhelmed.
Well, thanks again for caring so much and I hope you and everyone else are doing okay. My thoughts and prayers are with you always. With love, Renee.

Hi Nanc,
If my PCP will do it, I think I will ask him to be in charge of all my meds and check ups. He is not too knowledgeable on rsd and seems to think I'm overreacting sometimes, but he always listens to me and tries to help. I like and trust him.He is also only five minutes away from my home. Hopefully he can help me so I can ditch my pm dr. Thanks for the great advice. I hope you are feeling better and your wounds are healing quickly. Thanks again for your kindness and caring.
From your friend, Renee.

Renee, I am so sorry you are having so many problems. I am going to have to have a scope done as well and it really scares me. I am having rectal bleeding every day for over a month now. I am burning in many areas my eyes lids and face are the worse and that is so scarey. I am also afraid of spread from the needles needed from the scope as well as the cause of bleeding. My neurontin has been increased to 1800 mg. and I am still burning. I hope the weather is the cause of worsening symptoms for everyone lately. I am praying for you. You have helped me so much. I haven't been on here as much due to work. I just read your post tonight. Please keep us informed. I hope they find relief or a cure for us soon ,Jan

Hi Jan,
Thank you for your kind words and prayers. I will pray too that you are going to feel better soon and that your tests go smoothly and everything is okay. I am scared too of the procedures as well as waiting for results. I may get a second opinion because even though my gastro dr said she knew what rsd was, I'm not so sure she meant it. She had that look on your face like she didn't know. I liked her though and will still get the tests and surgery done but I want to make sure that they are extra careful with the needles and procedures because I have rsd. I'm scared of needles and punctures because I don't want spread. I will also get vitamin C to help. I have to get this done soon though, because I was up all last night with nausea again and in bed all day today with nausea. I'm not vomiting, but have only been able to eat saltine crackers, plain sliced bread, diet coke and milk. I am on day three with no advil and I have also stopped taking dexilant for nausea, because my Gastro dr said that can cause stomach problems too if combined with neuronten. I can't believe my other drs didn't tell me this! Anyway, thanks again to all of you for all of your caring and support and I will pray that we will all be cured from rsd someday. Jan, I will also say a special prayer for you in hopes that you will feel better soon too.
With Love, Renee.