"Complex regional pain syndrome is an uncommon form of chronic pain that usually affects an arm or leg. Complex regional pain syndrome typically develops after an injury, surgery, stroke or heart attack, but the pain is out of proportion to the severity of the initial injury, if any."
Sounds exciting right? Here's my experience:
I noticed swelling in my right ankle around the end of April/beginning of May. I was training for the half marathon at the time & just assumed it was a sprained/twisted ankle of sorts. Even though I didn't experience much pain at the time.
The swelling didn't go down.
I started to feel pain during & after my runs. I was using ice, elevation & ibuprofen to "treat" it. It was not getting any better. It got to the point that I had to reduce my mileage & would take 3-4 days to recover after a run. At this point I assumed I had a stress fracture. I wish.
I promised my Mama that I'd go to the doctor the day AFTER my race. No way was I risking someone telling me I couldn't run. Again.
I completed the race. It hurt. I knew it would. I knew my ankle would be extra swollen. Figured I'd limp for a few days, up the ibuprofen & get on with life.
The race was on Sunday, July 17. By that evening, I couldn't walk & my entire foot was swollen. By Monday, I'd lost all range of motion. Couldn't even move my toes. I've been on crutches ever since.
The first doctor I saw on Monday informed me(without looking at my foot) that it was a sprain. Ice it, rest it, take some more ibuprofen & if it's not better in 2 weeks, come back & we'll talk about an MRI. Thinking it was a stress fracture, I pushed for an x-ray. "I'm pretty sure it's not a stress fracture so I wouldn't rush out to do the x-rays." Thanks bud, give me the req. I left the office & went straight to the x-ray clinic.
Followed up on Thursday with another doctor(Dr.P). He informed me that there was no break or fracture. I was crushed. I had no idea what was going on. He actually looked at my foot & said, "The lack of movement & sensitivity lead me to believe it's an infection of some sort. Except it's ice cold, infections usually produce heat." Knowing that something was wrong, just not sure what, he sent me for blood work(to rule out gout, arthritis & rheumatoid arthritis) & a bone scan. I thought for sure the bone scan would pick up a fracture that the x-ray missed.
I returned to Dr.P for results, fingers crossed for a stress fracture, cause they can fix that. On a time line no less. Alas, it was not meant to be. At this point, he decided to refer me to a Sports Medicine Specialist. This gave me great hope.
In the meantime, my swelling hadn't gone down. My pain was through the roof. Like nothing I've ever experienced before. Burning, pins & needles, stabbing pain, throbbing pain, EXTREME sensitivity(I mean don't-let-the-sheets-touch-me-wind-hurts-don't-even-TALK-about-it sensitive), ice cold pain. Bizarre.
When the clinic called me about my appointment with the specialist, I was excited, it was quick! But my appointment was booked for the 21st. Of September. I spent the rest of that day in a funk. Cleansing myself with my tears. How was I going to deal with this for the next 6 weeks?! I called to get on the daily cancellation list & by the powers that be, I was able to get in at 9am, THAT MORNING!!!! Off to Dr.G.
I white knuckle resisted the urge to punch him while he touched my foot. Barely. He informed me that he was pretty sure it was CRPS. Said I should try Lyrica for the pain. Come back in a month & we can talk about the next step.
I've been on Lyrica for 3 weeks now. My dose is up to 75mg twice a day. My sensitivity is down from a 10 to a 5. People can mostly talk about touching my foot without my stomach dropping now. The swelling's also gone down some. (I learned that icing is not only futile but rather painful for people with CRPS.) The pain...is less, but still present. Still constant but not as noisy. So now what?
Now I rest, wait & try to cross the hurdles that this is presenting. Just ride the wave...
