Repeated Trauma & CRPS

Hi Andy, I've Had CRPS for over 4 years.  I've been to multiple specialists including Stanford and I'm now under the constant care of a Pain Management Speacialist.  It's extremly important to keep your limb moving and your muscles strong.  My CRPS was due to a fall on my left elbow so all docs were looking for some kind of tear, break or fracture. This led to a mis-diagnosed for over 18 months which then led to atrophy in my arm. Unfortunately, my CRPS is now in my original left arm and has now moved to my left leg, foot, left side of face, eyes and head.  Find the right doctor who listens to you because your symptoms will change as time goes by. This will mean that your meds and the frequency of physical therapy will have to change with it.  I encourage you to look up Ketamine infusion. It's  fairly new but has been used as treatment pretty successfully in Europe.  Of course the costs are something that must be considered as well.

 

hi Andy, i had an accident 3months ago and was diognosed pretty much as soon as the plaster came off, luckily for me i knew of crps as my dad suffered with it for the last 5years resulting from an accident 20 years before , he had been in a wheelchair and using sticks suffering terribly for a long time before being finally diagnosed with crps but he had lots of treatments including phisio ,pain managment, mirror theropy and hyperbaric treatment which he is convinced helped alot, he also has a circulation machine he puts his feet on at home (his is leg injury) he has now been on very little pain killers and is walking again , he is completly possitive at all times and alltough he wont be running marathons he lives a relitivly normal life, i spent 3days in bed crying and deprest when i was diagnosed, feeling scared and thinking id have no life again as i was in a wheelcahir or on crutches and the pain was unbearable even though my foot was fully mended from my broken toes and foot, i then spent a few days with my dad who told me its alot about mind over matter and the sooner you get working on it there is more chance of getting it better or as good as you can, so 4weeks on from diagnoses im off the sticks and allthough limping and in pain im definatly improoving, im on antidepressants that help with my mood and there is some evidence that it also helps with nerve damage, i take ibruprophen and prescribed painkillers and i wear a pain patch on my foot through the day, i take vit c and cod liver oil daily, you have to move the efected area as much as possible ,the sooner you teach your brain that its not broken anymore and trick it to thinking its ok it improoves, i wake up and massage my foot looking at it as i do it for at least 15 minutes, i repeat this as much as possible through the day,i use a circulation machine 3 times aday, (bought off ebay) i do stretching exercises and even when it hurts i keep going because im determined not to stay like this, i am size 4 feet but had to buy size 6 boots just to get out the house but every day i see a bit of diference, some mornings i could cry in pain and my foots huge and burning so its far from gone but all i find is negative things on google and its not true that you cant get better or at least more movement, good luck and get as much help as you can now ,dont be fobbed off or wait untill its to bad to change it ,best wishes Karen

Elaine, i was lucky a student doctor recognised my symptoms but unfortunatly the surgeon didnt and hes been a surgeon for 20 years so its not as known about as it should be amongst hospital staff, my dad was in so much pain he wanted to die but he is living a fairly normal life now so keep going, get phisio and insist on someone that knows about crps, massage the area and push for referals to specialists because you can get better,ask for antidepressants as they have lifted my mood and im not so tired also helps with nerve damage, i just asked my doctor and im on  citalopram, im the same age as you so i know how your feeling , good luck

Sorry you've joined the dark side fellow warrior!. Firstly , stay away from individuals horror stories on the internet . What they have gone through is not nessecarily what you will go throug . This is not a " all in the mind" condition , that's an antiquated opinion made by people who didn't know better. Research medical journal . If you google CRPS and hit news, then it will list all the latest research . Watch out for those spreading false hope . Yes!, they may very well have improved , but to tell another they WILL improve is a dangerous remark . What works for them , doesn't mean it will work for you . I read in the Pain journal of june- July 14 making reference to a faulty antibody . It was very interesting to read that if that's the case then those with it were predispose to CRPS regardless of the injury . Google CRPS , autoimmune . Also CRPS limbic system , and the autonomic system , central nervous system . I've read extensive .