Originally Posted by Gymjunkie

Hi Trime

Why don't you ask your doctor to explain his reasoning for reaching his suggested diagnosis? That might put your mind at rest and will be one less thing for you to be worrying about just now. It is a potentially serious condition which can be extremely disabling so the last thing you want is to be worrying about dealing with CRPS if there is a chance that you don't actually have it. It is impossible to say over the internet why he might have reached that conclusion but you have every right to ask for an explanation. Your posts don't seem to describe the sort of range of symptoms that most medical guides dealing with CRPS would nornally list.

CRPS is a diagnosis that is reached by ruling out everything else and by applying a set of clear diagnostic criteria which require certain signs and symptoms to be present before a diagnosis can be made. The "mildness" of your symptoms wouldn't necessarily prevent a correct diagnosis of CRPS but I suppose it may make it less clear cut.

Lyrica is not a drug that can be prescribed for a week "to see how you react". It is a drug that has to be gradually introduced to and then removed from the body and you need to give it a few weeks at a proper therapeutic dose to see if it is working for you. It is an anti-convulsant drug that is commonly used to treat various types of neuropathic pain. If your doctor has prescribed it in the way you have described - ie for a week to see how you react then I'd be concerned about his prescribing knowledge and I would be questioning him on that as well. If you look on the net there is a great deal of info about Lyrica (also known as pregabalin) so you can read up and understand how it works before you speak to him.

I hope that it turns out you don't have CRPS. Either way, at this stage I'd recommend you do what you can to get some explanations and justifications from your doctor asap.