Thank you Russell for the birthday wishes....and thank you for your kind words. I know that if anyone can relate, it's you all in this forum! Thank you again!

Thank you Purplefoot....it means a lot to me to know that there are people who truly know my struggle. Thank you for letting me vent, it's rare for me but I think I had enough at that point. I wish you a great New Year as well with little to no pain as possible. Thank you for your caring heart it is truly appreciated!

Thank you Zinnia...I'm so glad to know I have people here who won't judge me and will allow me to be me, who encourage and support me thru this. It truly means a lot to me!
I hope that the New Year brings us ALL blessings of better days! Thank you again!

HUGS! Sometimes the days that are supposed to be the happiest end up being the worst because you are reminded of how much you can't do or how much things have changed. Know that everyone here understands and we are here for you. I am blessed to be surrounded by very supportive, loving people in my life...but there is no way for them to ever truly understand what we struggle with no matter how hard they try. And I wouldn't want them to...I wouldn't wish this disease on the people I hate most in this world and certainly not on the people I care about which is the only way someone can understand the daily, constant struggle we go through. The support I've found here on neurotalk has been life saving for me...so please let us be there for you. Take care and hopefully you get some relief soon.

Mahalo Jenn,

I am glad you have a therapist. I agree it can sometimes seem like just venting. When I sought a therapist I knew myself and the modalities well enough to realize that a traditional talk therapy wasn't going to get me all that far. At that time I could talk all day about what happened to me and not really move through it.

Different types of work benefit different people. I did exceptionally well with EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing. It bypasses the conscious brain, works quickly and is used a lot with trauma and pain. I didn't notice as dramatic an effect with hypnosis but did feel it helped with pain in general.

If you are not feeling the love with your current therapist or their technique it may be time to try something or someone else. I really clicked with my therapist and that feeling of safety and rapport helped me do the work. I found her on the Psychology Today website's provider database and just looked for people with experience with illness and pain who did EMDR. That limited the field significantly but I feel fortunate to have found someone I worked well with on the first try.

Keep up the good work,

hope you had a Happy Birthday Jenn! and i hope you know that you have found a great place here at NT for comfort and support. having friends here at NT has helped me cope so much better with my rsd and i am sure they can do the same for you. i hope you new year is better for you. take care.