CRPS Flare up help

Posted by asteeleks @asteeleks, 5 days ago

I have diabetic neuropathy in both feet and CRPS in my left foot. I have been in what I can only describe as a CRPS flare up for almost a month now. I pain is unreal, like to the point I want my left foot amputated. I've worked with my care team and I'm either in complete agony or so drugged up I can't function or both. The other day I passed out from the pain. Nothing seems to help. I take duloxetine, pregamblin and oxy. I also use an ALPHA STEM machine. (Kind of like a TENS UNIT). heat and cold both make it worse. I'm lost, please help

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Chronic Pain Support Group.

dlydailyhope | @dlydailyhope | 4 days ago

@asteeleks
I’m sorry to hear you are suffering. Did you have an accident/injury, surgery, stroke, or heart attack before the CRPS started? How long ago did you start getting CRPS symptoms and did you get treatment right away?

Have you been prescribed prednisone for inflammation or have you tried topical gels/creams like lidocaine?

1. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/crps-complex-regional-pain-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20371151
2. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/12085-complex-regional-pain-syndrome-crps
3. https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/complex-regional-pain-syndrome
4. https://med.stanford.edu/pain/about/chronic-pain/crps.html
5. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/complex-regional-pain-syndrome
6. https://www.ninds.nih.gov/sites/default/files/migrate-documents/CRPS_FactSheet-E_508C.pdf

asteeleks | @asteeleks | 4 days ago

No accident or other health condition before my CRPS started. It took about 2 years to get a diagnosis and start getting treatment. I've used lidocaine patches but found Tiger Balm patches help better. About a year into treating my CRPS, I was in a car accident and crushed my affected foot. 3 surgeries and a lot of hardware later my foot was reconstructed. My CRPS went wild. My care team and I have not gotten under control yet. Recently everything that has been help seemed to stop helping. My foot is so oversensitive that every step is excruciating. It feels like my foot is frozen, standing on a porcupine, been warmed up with a blow torch and being crushed in a vise.