RSD/CRPS

Emsxiety — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 14:49:10 -0600

A subject very close to home for me. It's what my husband was diagnosed with that turned our whole world upside down.

Thank you!

puppybraille — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 17:01:52 -0600

Thank you so much for posting about this Denise! I'm glad that this topic is being blogged about here. Hopefully it will be helpful to other BlogHers.

Nickie's Nook
and Nickie's Nook the Book

November is RSD/CRPS Awareness Month

Denise — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 12:23:02 -0600

There's nothing good about RSD/CRPS as far as I can tell - except that I get to share one of my favorite bloggers with you. Nickie, from Nickie's Nook, has RSD/CRPS and is spending the entire month blogging about RSD/CRPS awareness.

RSD = Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy and CRPS = Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. They're pretty much the same thing - CRPS is really just the "new name" for the condition. These are the symptoms.

1. Constant chronic burning pain.
2. Inflammation
3. Spasms-in blood vessels and muscles of the extremities
4. Insomnia/Emotional Disturbance

There's no one size fits all treatment for RSD but here are some of the common treatment options.

1. Physical therapy
2. Nerve blocks
3. Medication
4. Complementary treatments

A sufferer of RSD wanted to help during the Sand Diego Wildfires.

I want to help. I feel bad that I cannot help. I would be more than a hindrance to the many people who are able to help. Not being able to stand long amounts of time, or even sit for that matter, without extreme amounts of pain, doesn’t afford me the opportunity to volunteer.
Also, as I am on disability and funds are tight, donating money is not an option either.
So this is what I have done. I went through my home and found stuff we do not use, or did not need, and dropped it off to a shelter. In fact, as stated before, I will be an aunt in February. I have been collecting baby items for the arrival for of my nephew. I donated them to a shelter that had babies with mothers and fathers who had tired arms.

Lisa, on Gather, shares her RSD/CRPS story.

I have been living with CRPS/RSD since Halloween, 1999. I fell down a flight of stairs and shattered my ankle. They did surgery and put in a plate and 13 screws. It should have healed normally but, it didn't. While I was recovering in the casts, I noticed that my leg was burning and I was having sharp, stabbing pains. When I say burning, I mean BURNING!!! When I got out of the casts, my foot and ankle were red and purple. The skin had changed and my foot was shiny skinned and purple and red.

Jeisea, of CRPS/RSD a better life, shared her story on the Wisdom for Coping with Pain blog.

The other most difficult thing has been to accept what has happened. I’ve had to redefine who I am. I can’t do physically what I took for granted before. I could do fine portraiture. I now struggle to hold a pen. I’m no longer the person I was then. My relationship with people has changed. I find it hard to concentrate when people are talking. I am dumbed down by lack of concentration and forgetfulness. I thought I had dementia. I was tested for it and am grateful that I don’t. In reality I sleep poorly due to pain. At present I’m learning to accept and delight in the things I can do.

Keep reading those blogs all month long, awareness of this almost invisible condition is important.

~~Denise
Flamingo House Happenings and Fast Times @ Homeschool High

BlogHer - November is RSD/CRPS Awareness Month - Comments

RSD/CRPS

Thank you!

November is RSD/CRPS Awareness Month