Living with RSDThis section is a place to share stories about Living with RSD Below are entries of those who have already shared their stories. We hope that you find their experiences helpful to your own situation. You may also Help others by sharing your story. To quickly access health information from your website's browser, download RSD carpal tunnel? 
Well back in 1998 i had carpal tunnel surgery (open). I had relief for a few years and slowly started getting that feeling back again. Dropping things, pain in shoulder/elbow etc. Always feeling i had to cradle my arm. My job of 14 yrs. is a phlebotomist. Finally in 2007 i started getting a swelling in rt. wrist and dropping things a lot worse. Things were harder to open etc. Pain was radiating into shoulder so bad i had to leave work. I was put on workers comp. and have been out of work now for 5 months. Had 4 emg’s which all showed mildly distal neuropathy with CTS. I had cortisone injections in the thumb/wrist and that helped maybe a month. Waking every day 24/7 with pain. Nonstop pain. I started going to therapy for PT/OT for 4x’s a week. This has been 4 months now going to therapy with using the TENS unit/ultrasound etc. Nothing seems to work. I was on pain meds prescribed from pain clinic doctors now for 7 months and had no relief. I was so bad that i was lying in bed crying and my life had seemed to be at an end. Nothing helped me. There has been 13 doctors involved and everyone has a different diagnosis. 4 doctors said RSD. Just last week i had another EMG and the doctor noticed my hand color was blue and the swelling was very bad on my wrist. He said i have signs of RSD and if no one can see that, there is something wrong with them. I was at a point that my job tried to find me “light duty” (so they say) and only made me worse. I got so bad i could not even use a fork or pen to write. I am currently on Methadone for pain 20mg a day. What a difference that has made. I do have days where i am in so much pain i need to add a percocet, but then i bounce right back to being okay to have daily function. It still does not relieve 100% of the pain, but is manageable. Today i go to a new doc that is going to try to get me back to work. I am not diagnosed fully and do not feel that is proper to put me back when i am just starting to be able to use my hand again and the doctor refuses to make the diagnosis of RSD although all the signs are there. I have been married to a wonderful man for 25 yrs. and personally sometimes i think he does not really know what i am going through. It is so hard to explain to someone how much pain this can be. Almost seems it is ruining my marriage as he does not seem to want to hear it anymore, and there is so many times i do not want to do things due to the pain i am enduring. I feel for anyone that has RSD as I myself (in my heart) know that i have this disease. I just need someone to confirm it. I do want to work again, but doing something that is not repetitive and painful. I feel my career as a phlebotomist is over. How can I draw blood when i have no control over my hand muscles or have no feelings in my fingers to feel for veins? I wish everyone luck out there, as i understand just what you are going through, and i am sure there is someone out there in the same position as me that cannot get a doctor to diagnose them when all the signs are there.
July 2007
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