Living with RSD

I had a car accident in May of 2005. I was in the passenger seat of our car when we were T-boned by a car going 55 MPH. I received inuries in that accident. I had 5 non displaced fractures to my pelvis. No surgery or traction was required. I did spend 3 weeks in the hospital.

Since that day, I have had unexplainable severe pain in both my feet and legs. I have been to all the doctors in my area and two in chicago. No one had any diagnosis for me. All these doctors have put me on medications they thought would help with the pain. None of which did. The only thing I have found that helps with the pain is the duregesic patch and tramadol pain meds that my regular family doctor put me the day of the accident. I have been on them ever since.

I have been told by people with RSD that I have RSD I show no physical signs and symptoms of the disease except the severe pain. I have no swelling, no pain to the touch, no change in skin color and etc. The only thing I have is the severe, agonizing pain that I want so badly to get under control. What pisses me off the most is that since I have no out standing signs or symptoms, everyone thinks that it is all in my head. I

wish for one day that thye can feel the pain I go through every single day for the past 2 1/2 years. I have recently seen a podiatrist that has stated that I have RSD and we started treating it with, I believe nerve blocks. He injected something into each of my ankles until I felt an electrical shock in my foot. Then my foot would go numb for about 5 hours. This was my first treatment from the doctor, but I noticed pain relief in my left foot was longer between pain meds. The injection didnt seem to help my right foot much. maybe with time it will.

I now have noticed that I have a lot of “charlie horses” in both my legs, and fear the disease has spread to my arms. I have been experiencing the exact pain from my legs in my arms for about 3 months now. I can go on with my normal daily activities as long as I am medicated. But, when the pain starts to wear off and its not time for a new pain patch, it becomes very hard for me to function. I do alot of crying and praying and wishing this car accident never happened to me. But there is no why of erasing time. I feel that I can live with this disease as long as I can find a way to stay pain free longer. I am at that point that I am ready to try anything any doctor may suggest that might help.

I also wish that there was a way that we can teach the public that a persons pain is real even though there are no signs and symptoms or even no diagnosis for their pain. A little compassion for people in explained or unexplained pain should respected and granted. I do have to say that I have a good friend that has helped me understand this disease better because she herself has it. At least I can breakdown to someone who wont think I’m crazy. And that gets me through to the next day. Until there is a cure for RSD, I hope my story helps someone.