Dear Mary,

My beloved dog, Sammy, is a mix of long haired doxsie and King Charles Spaniel. He is one of the best things that ever happened to me! I rescued him from the pound a little over 2 years ago on my birthday. I have 2 teenagers so I need my doggie to make me feel loved (my husband is pretty good, but nothing beats the welcome a dog gives you when you come in the door after a long day at work).

I did have a short haired pure bred doxsie that passed away when he was only one and a half from congenital problems, I loved him dearly but he was not always very well behaved!! (He was a yapper!!) His name was Oscar Meyer and I still miss him.

I love doxsies!! do you have a picture?

Take care, Sandy

Welcome and sorry about your crps. I have it in my left foot and ankle not as severe as others. I contribute that to getting treatment early enough, although i struggled and ended up very depressed and anxious. I wish i had boards to help me i didnt know then, i read alot of bad stuff, not to say having crps is bad, but once i dealt with the anxiety and the depression i now can go on. I am currently on Cymbalta, serequel for sleep. No pain meds, but use a tens unit occassionally. I did take neurontin and had a reaction to it, and took keppra for a time as well. I recently was able to go off of it and am doing pretty well. Hope to get ot know you

Jolene

Yeah, it's a lot of Neurontin -- I can't wait to come down from it, but the pain is already back up at 9 and I cried today (it's been awhile that it's been so bad that I actually cried!!). I'm really hopeful the Topamax will help, but it makes me sleepy, too. Thank goodness for my husband, Geno, and daughter, Zoe. They take care of me -- family is awesome. Have a blessed night, Wordgirl

MominPainRSD: A cape -- I want a cape. I'm a 37-year old woman, with the Word Girl theme song as my ring tone, and I want a Word Girl cape. I may not be able to walk anymore, but I can still have fun, darn it!!!

I will send you the link!!! Seriously!!! You have to have it custom ordered.....it takes a few weeks to get it. It was only $20!!! You may need to extend the velcro around the neck (it's only like 6" around.....SUPPOSED to be for kids), but it's well made and shiny and red......and COOL!!! You may not be able to walk, but you can fly!!!!

I'll send you a PM with the details!!! You are too cute!!! Word up!!!!

Poor thing.....I am so sorry you are struggling so much right now. I hope the Topamax works for you as well. Give it time.....try to hang in there and over the next few days, you will begin to notice a slight improvement, then a little more, then you will feel like you can at least tolerate it. Topamax is proven very effective for many people with RSD. I hope and pray this is a quick process for you. The sleep may be a blissful escape for a short season while the meds work into your system.

I am SO glad you have your loving supportive family there with you. Let them love on you and DON'T feel guilt about receiving from them. They're only passing back to you what YOU have given THEM through the years. Please keep us posted on your progress. PM me ANY time.

Hello and Welcome to the forum Wordgirl - you will meet lots of great people here who I am sure will be more than happy to help you in anyway they possibly can!!

I'm so sorry to hear that you also suffer from RSD and really hope you can find something to help you and ease your symptoms real soon!! I have RSD in my left leg and right arm - I developed it when I was 12 years old after an ankle sprain and am nearly 14 now!

If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask ... I am more than happy to help you if I can and I DO understand some of what you are going through and how frustrating and scary it is dealing with such an awful condition!!

I'm so glad you have such a loving and caring family who would do anything for you! Many people with RSD aren't so lucky unfortunately because many of our family members don't "believe" in RSD and think that we are faking it ... even though they can obviously see that our legs are swollen and blue!! I honestly don't know what I would do without my mum ... she has helped me through a lot of the real tough times and is the person I can turn to whenever I need someone to talk to who actually cares. My dad doesn't "get" RSD that much and refuses to go to hospital appointments so it is really frustrating for all of us as he would sooner bury his head in the sand and pretend that it isn't happening - that's OK for him but I have to deal with the RSD on a daily basis and so does my mum!!!

I'm keeping you in my thoughts and prayers and hope to see you round here more real soon!! If you ever want to talk, know that I am here for you!

Alison.