Hi Everyone.

I have a question: What criteria is there to know whether RSD is full body? The reason why I ask is that my legs are on fire right now, but I am able to walk. I have RSD in my arms. So, even though my legs burn - not all the time - am I not systemic? Does that mean that the RSD is just not active in other parts of my body?

I sort of feel (please prove me wrong) that when a person has RSD, they really have it everywhere and with any trauma to a certain area will cause the RSD to be active in that area.

I am thoroughly confused.

What is your opinion?

I just asked about this a week or so ago.

I bumped my thread to see if it helps answer your questions.

Jules

I personally have RSD in my right leg and lower back but I know for me... if I trauma any part of my body it hurts really bad in that area for a few days (RSD burning pain) soo.. I know for me, I don't always have pain in other parts of my body but if i have a trauma it does cause a flare up in that part... does that help???

heather

I don't know if there is an official definition of full-body. I have always thought I was "lucky" because the RSD seemed to be confined to my left leg and foot. As painful as it got, I had pretty good health/strength/pain levels everywhere else. This lasted for many years.

A couple of years ago, I started to get pain in my right leg, then my hands, then my shoulder. etc. Now, there are times when I hurt all over and any little trauma (like an injection or blood test) will cause a flare-up. I suppose that is what people refer to as full-body. It is almost a comparative thing.

I still have the worst pain in my left leg. I am not being treated any differently for the full-body, other than the SCS does nothing for any other areas.

I am still lucky because I have not had to quit my job (yet.) Good luck to you.

Mike

Hi Mike,

Yes, I'm lucky too. I also work FT. Mine is primarily in my left arm/hand/shoulder. Although, I have signs in my right arm. My legs burn occasionally too. But, they don't look like they have RSD.

When it's going to storm (like tonight) I'm absolutely miserable. I'm a secretary so typing with my left arm is horrible.

Today is just a hard day. I wanted to stay home because I hurt, but to make matters worse, I was just given a dictation to transcribe which should take me about 3-4 hours....

Can I kill myself now????

Thank you everyone for responding.

i looked everywhere and could not find a real definition of 'full body' rsd, but i did see that it was called full body and systemic interchangably on one study so that is what i had said to jules.
i also said who cares? if you have a little rsd, that is too much, and it does stress ones entire body mind and soul. i said it was like being a little pregnant ... ha!
and please don't kill yourself! my goodness, don't even joke about that.
joan

Hi everyone,

The question here was "systemic --or not"
And by what criteria do you become classified as full body or not.
It appears to be entirely up to personal interpretation as I would say I have 'full body" as all my limbs are involved but systemic is just too strong a word to use as by definition that would imply that every part of my body , including all organs are involved.
Not every single inch of my skin hurts, nor are all my organs, in fact not too many are but I will still call it "full body" as in the scheme of my daily life that is how it feels.
My career has taught me that no two people respond the same to pain, what is one persons 9/10 is another persons 3/10. There are so many factors that account for that, fear and stress are just 2 but whatever the pain score, to that person it is a real pain in the butt (and everywhere else if you have RSD)
What I see from this thread is how pain can affect mood and tolerance in us all----just ask my family
I think we are really good people who in our own way are trying to deal with something that we would rather not, some of us are definitely better at coping, it is very much a personality issue and how this impacts our life is such a variance. I can imagine that someone who was a professional ballet dancer as a profession who develops RSD in their feet may feel the impact more than an architect who develops RSD in their feet. It does't mean their pain is less but when we lose so much of what is intrinsically us and we see our financial and professional security gone then coping levels go crashing down.
It is horrible but it doesn't have to be how we define ourselves, I have admiration for many people and their coping skills, I aspire to be like them and will continue to try and take control of this rather than the other option.
Cheers to all and hoping today is a good day for you all.
love Tayla