Seaglass,

I was terminated from my job and in retrospect it was probably better for me. My workplace could never have accommodated me and in the end this was a blessing, because I think it is going to take me much longer than I anticipated to regain enough strength to do every day chores.

Try wrapping your cold limb in thin memory foam, maybe you could make a sleeve and a mitten. I used a heating pad and electric blanket on high this past summer, I still resort to this duo on certain days, but I have found that memory foam slippers helps my foot warm up so I am not chained to an electric outlet all day.

Seaglass,

Try not to get too discouraged. It may seem like forever since your work injury but 4 months out is not very long and CRPS recovery can be slow. Push for the neuro appointment or even better pain management who could do blocks if you are interested (there are risks and they're not for everyone) or ketamine if indicated. Some pain management docs will order nerve conduction studies or imaging if you haven't had them done to rule out and identify any treatable problems.

We have members who work and members who don't. CRPS is a spectrum and has highly variable presentations and outcomes. The people doing the best may not be on a forum. I would make the assumption that our population is skewed.

Whether you get back to your work may depend on your improvement, the type of work and possible accommodation. You may not know for a while.

With my CRPS foot I walk every day, stand to make dinner, drive, go to the grocery, workout, do yoga, stand in TSA security lines. I went to a museum last week and stood and walked around for a good hour. That is up from only being able to stand 5 minutes in the beginning - and that was pushing it and in tears. Yes, I still have pain flares sometimes and I pull back then. But overall my function is way up from where it was in the beginning when I couldn't put my foot down at all.

Be patient and kind with yourself and your arm and keep trying treatments. You might try a lidocaine cream for the hypersensitivity like Mommystime suggested. Aspercreme makes a nice non-greasy one. Other topicals may help too. I used one with ketamine, gabapentin and ketoprofen and really liked it. I also did poorly on gabapentin oral but did fine on a small dose (10mg) of nortriptyline which took the edge off the pain and helped me sleep. Oral sympathetic blockers like clonidine are helpful for some.

When you flared while reading the paper, did you have any coffee that morning? Caffeine is a vasoconstrictor and some of us are sensitive to it. I had to cut it out for over a year before being able to add it back in.

Hang in there,

I am unable to work out of the home, but I also have other medical problems, such as degenerate disc disease and questionable stiff person syndrome