Want to talk with others. Have you found relief from CRPS?

@speechless623 I agree, one needs to take charge of one's own health. Some Dr's do have compassion, for example my PCP. However, she can only do so much for a potentially serious condition such as mine (SFN) which is, as yet, undiagnosed. What is needed is a coordinated effort by physicians in such and all cases. Instead, one has to go to many specialists as each specialist only looks at one aspect of the symptoms/causes. The results is that the patient, such as myself, and probably you, going to multiple Dr's and wait months between visits. Meanwhile, the symptoms get worse and the patient, like myself again, spends many hours researching the literature on-line and elsewhere obtaining a "self-diagnosis". The patient thus becomes fearful of the outcome and results in developing serious anxiety about the outcome. This can result in years of searching, Dr's visits and expense on the patient's part.

But such a system is, in fact, advantageous to the Dr's as they can bill the patient and the insurance companies and make more money. When one does get the long anticipated office visit, the amount of time spent with the patient is minimal. One cannot even get all one's questions answered because of the scheduling of patients at 15 minute intervals. Some Dr's even admit they have to do this for Medicare patients and all patients because Medicare does not pay much. I can understand this to some degree. However, even if one is self-pay, as I was for many years before I qualified for Medicare, everyone is treated the same. I view this as a serious, expensive problem within the medical system. Coordinated care would help but there are more systemic issues here being debated all the time. Unfortunately, no one wants to address this "wicked" problem (well not as "wicked" as global climate change and wealthy disparity).

I think Mayo has developed a model for this by assigning and involving a team of Dr's in the patient's case and providing a "care coordinator" to insure that the patient's condition and symptoms are treated in coordinated manner by necessary participants. This could serve as a template for other Dr's and specialists. However, there are added costs and outcomes here as well. Mind you the cost of not doing this are even more expensive as this often results in unnecessary surgeries, treatments, prescription drugs (multiple drug combinations that have adverse effects not to mention costs) and other mistakes, once again not beneficial to the patient and those paying for the treatments (self or insurance companies). The bottom line is that health care reform is necessary. There are some very smart people working on this problem and I have read many books (some by the those involved in reform - including books by Dr's who agree with the need for reform and compassionate care) and others. My supposed SFN is my first foray into the medical system having been in good health most of my life. Now I am seeing the problem first hand and am getting an appreciation for what the books and others have been telling about for years. Enough rambling for now...thanks for listening to this long diatribe...Pam

I recommended my doctor read Compassionomics: The Revolutionary Scientific Evidence that Caring Makes a Difference written by physician-scientist team Stephen Trzeciak and Anthony Mazzareli as it provides overwhelming evidence for the healing power of compassion. As a patient very adversely impacted by Physicians callous lack of compassion and discriminatory treatment of me, a handicapped person, I strongly recommend Doctors read this book, put its content to work into their practice and those of their students/staff. Truly, no one knows the human body better than God - He created us. I am praying for our healing in Jesus name. I am praying for Doctors to be compassionate in patient care.

I doubt that a doctor like that would even benefit from the book, let alone read it.

I was finally diagnosed with CRPS Type 2 (permanent nerve damage of the lumbosacral plexus) by my neurologist at 6:30 pm in his office after a six-hour appointment, multiple tests, MRIs, and consultation. He's a Christian and thoughtful, kind man who refused to give up. He was the eighth provider I had seen in a year and a half. I had been told that the excruciating pain, abnormal gait, numbness, burning, well, this list goes on, was "in my head," "would subside with rest and time," "was part of the knee replacement rehabilitation," and of course, "me over-reacting or just being a wimp." I love the last one, don't you?
Within three months of his diagnosis, I was diagnosed with progressive Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, Type 2, high-risk recurrent C difficile infection colitis.
Since May 2017, I have gone from a productive 22-year career pharmacist who provided for her disabled husband to a woman who can't drive, care for her home, or leave her home. I can't walk, stand, sit, or lie down for any length of time. I rarely sleep. Today, I was told by another "pain management specialist" that the answer is to wean off of all "opiates" and I would miraculously be free of pain. All I needed was to change out my Spinal Cord Stimulator leads and I would be able to go back to work! Woohoo! Everything would be hunky-dory. (Sorry, that's sarcasm. I didn't have the temperament at the time to correct him that I take opioids, not opiates.) He actually sounded like the poster child for the DEA agents I spoke to about ten years ago when they thought they had the answer to the Nation's Opioid Addiction Problem. I simply popped their bubble and told them that they were missing the Gabapentin that everyone was using as an additive and stimulant with their opioids at the time and nobody bothered to notice. They dismissed me. Too bad I was right.
The issue is that NOT taking opioids won't make my pain go away. Changing my leads won't make my pain go away. And working as a pharmacist OR anything else will NOT make my pain go away. The issue is that I have CRPS Type 2 and my pain will never go away. When asked, he didn't know the difference between Type 1 and Type 2. He didn't know what the cutting edge treatments were for CRPS. What LDN was... He said he gave Ketamine IV in his OFFICE!

BE CAREFUL WHO YOU TRUST WITH YOUR BODY, BRAIN, AND EMOTIONS. YOU ONLY HAVE THIS ONE LIFE ON EARTH. God gave us a brain to use it. Do so. Get prepared. Listen, learn, and be armed with knowledge and faith before YOU decide what to do with your body. God will be with you the entire way. He will not leave or forsake you. He will walk through fire if need be.

PLEASE, PLEASE, KNOW YOUR BODY. KNOW YOUR DISEASE. KNOW YOUR TREATMENTS. KNOW WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE, WHAT IS NOT. Don't be fooled by fancy words or a white coat.

AGAIN, your life may depend on it. So far I have kept multiple errors from occurring in my own case merely by doing this.

YES, the best approach is the TEAM approach. Unfortunately, many physicians and specialists are too prideful or busy to consult with other doctors about their patients, relying on medical records, incomplete at that, to give them the "required" information that they base their pre-visit, and sometimes, conclusions about the visit on. They are too busy or too booked up to spend adequate time with their patients to confirm, clarify, or simply take a complete history and examination either. Therefore, they go with their "gut," a conference or statistical approach, or simply what a previous specialist's opinion. Why spend the time on a complicated case when they don't have the time for the easy ones?

That is the truth about the majority of our healthcare system today, especially in rural America like Wyoming.

YOU MUST BE THE CAPTAIN OF YOUR HEALTHCARE TEAM. YOU must make sure that all your providers are on the same page when it comes to your care. YOU must make sure that everyone has the most up to date information, test results, imaging, and medication lists. YOU must carry the information everywhere so no one needs to guess how to treat you if they need to. YES, it's sad. YES, it's bad. But your LIFE DEPENDS ON IT.

If you have a chronic health disease and are treated by more than one specialist or doctor, YOU are the one responsible for your healthcare. NOBODY will do it for you. Please don't let yourself down. I care too much about you to NOT tell you the truth.

@faithwalker007 Hello Renee, I am Lori. My middle name is Renee! I am so saddened by your diagnosis. I have nerve damage in my feet, and it is excruciating at times. I read everything you wrote, and I agree, fully. For what it is worth, there are a few things that have helped me. One is Scrambler Therapy. It did not take pain away, but brought it down a few notches, some of the time. I had met CRPS patients getting Scrambler treatment when I went for mine, and some said they got a lot of relief from it. Of course, everyone is different. The other thing that seems to take pain away for a few hours, is Kratom. I have several posts on the Neuropathy site about it, but if you want to know about it, let me know. Living with chronic pain is human torture. No other way to say it. Take care, as best you can. No answers here..... Lori Renee

Thank you, Lori. I appreciate your reply and advice. I will definitely look into Scrambler Therapy and Kratom. I live in a very small town in Wyoming so I will need to see how I can access the Kratom as well as any interactions and contraindications it may have. Thanks again! It's nice to be responded to in this site. :)\

Hello @smallengineguy, Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. You will notice that we moved your post to an existing discussion and changed the title to describe the purpose of the discussion a little better. If you click the VIEW & REPLY button at the bottom of the email notification, it will take you to the new discussion where you can meet other members with similar symptoms.

You may also be interested in another discussion - Complex regional pain syndrome or reflex sympathetic dystrophy: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/after-knee-replacement-i-developed-rsd-i-have-had-severe-pain-in/

@rsnowflake, @mam14, @lioness, @carolhope, @struggler23, and other members may have suggestions or experience to share on CRPS after knee replacement.

Have you discussed the pain with your surgeon or care team?

Hello @smallengineguy, Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. You will notice that we moved your post to an existing discussion and changed the title to describe the purpose of the discussion a little better. If you click the VIEW & REPLY button at the bottom of the email notification, it will take you to the new discussion where you can meet other members with similar symptoms.

You may also be interested in another discussion - Complex regional pain syndrome or reflex sympathetic dystrophy: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/after-knee-replacement-i-developed-rsd-i-have-had-severe-pain-in/

@rsnowflake, @mam14, @lioness, @carolhope, @struggler23, and other members may have suggestions or experience to share on CRPS after knee replacement.

Have you discussed the pain with your surgeon or care team?