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Living with RSD
by: TAK on Wed, Mar 25 2009
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I have had RSD for the past 15 years. It happened after I fractured my right shoulder (scapula). While the shoulder was healing I fell down a flight of stairs and tore the main nerve that runs down my right arm. This has caused me to have extreme pain in my right hand. The worst part is that I am right handed and a computer programmer.

Fifteen years ago, RSD was not common and I went through several doctors that told me it was all in my head before I was referred to an anesthesiologist who then gave me nerve blocks once a month for two years along with prescribing pain meds. I was tired of the blocks and we researched another alternative which was a sympathectomy, which resulted in 1 year of recovery and the RSD pain didn’t go away and since has become worse.

I have since learned through research that surgery is not the answer. By having the sympathectomy, nerve blocks are no longer an option. The only option that I have been given is pain meds. Currently I am out of work with no insurance and my doctor will no longer prescribe any meds to help. Therefore, I am dealing not only with looking for a job but trying to get through each day as best I can with the pain. Using over the counter meds, like Tylenol, Advil, Aleve or any of the other pain relievers doesn’t even touch the pain. I do know that for me that stress makes the condition worse and there is nothing more stressful than looking for a job right now the way the economy is.

If anyone knows of any over the counter meds that might help, I would appreciate the information. After living with RSD for as long as I have, I feel for anyone that has to live with it. RSD is not a pleasant condition and finding doctors that understand what it means to have RSD still isn’t easy to find.
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March 2009

  • Still Wondering - by Toni-Lynn - (Mon, Mar 30 2009)
    Hi, I am Toni, a 28 year old female. I have been going back and forth to several doctors about my condition and no one has any answers for me. I wanted to share with the users of this site my symptoms because after researching RSD I really feel this is what I am suffering with. [more..]
  • NOT DIAGNOSD YET - by ROBIN - (Mon, Mar 30 2009)
    I haven’t been diagnosed with rsd yet, but I am pretty sure that is what I have. [more..]
  • My New Life with RSD - by Dana - (Thu, Mar 26 2009)
    I became a widow at 48 and I have 3 sons 2 are autistic. [more..]
  • Living with RSD - by TAK - (Wed, Mar 25 2009)
    I have had RSD for the past 15 years. [more..]
  • melisA - by MA - (Wed, Mar 25 2009)
    I have been mis diagnosed now for over a year and the finally have said that I RSD. [more..]
  • The Evil Disease - by Clara - (Wed, Mar 25 2009)
    My name is, Clara White, I have had RSD since 2006. I have done the nerve blocks until they no longer help, now my pain management Dr. wants me to have a spinal cord stimulator implant. [more..]
  • RSD - by Lou Anne - (Wed, Mar 25 2009)
    I feel as though I have found a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. [more..]
  • Spreading RSD - by Robin - (Tue, Mar 24 2009)
    Does it ever stop! I am a nurse and was working in a nursing home and of course short staffed. I was helping with rounds at night and lifted a patient back into a wheelchair to prevent a fall. I felt a pain in my shoulder and after three surgeries later developed RSD that took over my right arm. [more..]
  • Hello I have total rsd - by Debbie - (Thu, Mar 19 2009)
    I have went through 29 doctors before i was blssed with a rsd doctor. [more..]
  • Having babies while having RSD - by Marlador - (Thu, Mar 19 2009)
    I had not been dianosed with RSD at the time but finding out later that I have had it. [more..]
  • A MINOR SURGERY - by wendy - (Thu, Mar 19 2009)
    I had alot of discomfort in my right foot,it felt like i had a rock in my foot.I went to a foot doctor and to make a long story short he said i had a small tumor in between my toes.I had the surgery and found out by his own words that he misdiagnosed. [more..]
  • RSD has overturned my life - by angelicrose - (Wed, Mar 11 2009)
    Hello I’m Angelicrose. I’m going to be 32 on Fri. I was disabled 2 1/2 years ago from a work injury. I had slipped on water. Comp had told me it was a simple sprain! I had gotten so bad that I couldn’t walk. [more..]
  • These Seven Years - by Lee-Lee - (Tue, Mar 10 2009)
    Hey. I’m just like you- trying to make the best of these hard times, and trying to have a good life- Except that I have RSD. [more..]
  • Yes, RSD can be fatal - by Mary Jane - (Tue, Mar 10 2009)
    My husband suffered from RSD/CRPS for 8 yrs. [more..]
  • rsd - by sr - (Mon, Mar 09 2009)
    i have had rsd over 10 yrs many people don’t understand the pain that comes with this disorder. [more..]
  • freezing legs - by L. W. - (Fri, Mar 06 2009)
    I had surgery 2 yrs. Ago. Vein surgery the kind with the new laser technique. [more..]
  • Living with facial RSD - by DB - (Fri, Mar 06 2009)
    I too have facial RSD. My came about after nose surgery. I broke my nose in two places and required surgery. After surgery, my forehead was extremely swollen and I could not move my right eyebrow. I was in excruciating pain for years. [more..]
  • My daughter has RSD - by Drew Anne's Mom - (Thu, Mar 05 2009)
    Hi, my daughter has RSD. [more..]
  • 12 years of living with awful pain - RSD - by Sandi S. - (Wed, Mar 04 2009)
    It was a normal day like any other day. I was canning tomatoes and ran out of lids and got in the car to go to the grocery store just 5 blocks away and while sitting at the stop light with the grocery store the very next turn I was hit in the back - hard - by a drunk driver. [more..]
  • Diagnosed with RSD - by Leona W. - (Wed, Mar 04 2009)
    I wrote before( Do I have RSD?) but forgot my user name and cannot get back on.I was diagnosed with RSD today, had a Bone Scan. Now the pain and stiffness is going up into my arm! [more..]
  • My Walk Through Icy Hell - by Misty - (Tue, Mar 03 2009)
    March 2006… That is when my life changed … slowly turning into my own Icy Hell! [more..]
  • springdaisy - by kelly - (Mon, Mar 02 2009)
    I was diagnosised with rsd one year ago some days seem good then the burning pain starts and I have days of misery. [more..]
  • Not myself anymore - by Ss - (Mon, Mar 02 2009)
    I stumbled across this site while researching this “condition” that I have. As was stated in a previous posting, not really a group that anyone WANTS to belong to but you all sound so nice! [more..]

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