CRPS - What to expect? How to cope / quell my worries?

archaicsilence, everything you've written makes sense. I don't see a single stupid word.
Tell us a little more. Did you have an injury to your foot or any injury to your low back. What is the pain like? Do you have swelling; color changes; does it hurt all the time only with pressure; does it burn, or is it sharper pain; constant or dull. Which part of your foot is affected.
Have you tried a lidocaine patch. It isn't a cure, but possibly some easing of the symptoms
Pain is pretty frightening. I'm betting that you'll find relief and feel normal again.

Nothing sounds stupid. It sounds like crps. I caught mine from shingles having it for 6 years. Its basically an automimmune. For me its burning, I also dont heal, doctors dont like to do anything invasive if you need surgery anywhere because it would activate it, and make the pain and burning worse. Some pain management doctors give Ketamin iv, which some people say helps greatly, but for me, it made me psychotic, and did nothing. Lidocaine patches do help. You might try voltarin gel, which is also good. Also aloe vera gel sometimes soothes the burning. You should also consider a lot of vitamin c to boost your immune system, some pain doctors may give a monthly infusion of vitamin c and lidocaine. If you take the vitamin C orally the best one is Drs best vitamin c. 1000mg. One only needs 50, but that wont do a thing. I take 2000mg a day. Yes you pee right out, but dr. best is the one they use and researched extensively for chemo pts. to up their immune system to fight off side effects and pain. ask your doctor. a good pain management doctor is I find the best way to go.
there are days that you will be able to function but not like you used to. Unfortunately until it gets better under control. you have to try everything. For me ice helped greatly but too much can make it come back stronger which is why the aloe vera get is great. There is one ointment that literally changed my life in a months time.TERRASIL OINTMENT. THEY MAKE MANY , I USED THE ONE FOR SHINGLES, BECAUSE OF THE BURNING, HOWEVER THEY HAVE ONES FOR BURN PAIN, ETC. WHAT I DID WAS PUT IT ON THE ARE ALL OVER RUB IT IN THEN ABOUT 4 HRS LATER PUT THE ALOE VERA GREEN GEL. WALMART HAS THEIR BRAND CALLED EQUATE YOU CAN A BIG BOTTLE FOR 4. 95. LAST FOR A YEAR, PUT THAT ON ALL OVER. I DID THIS AT LEAST 3 TIMES A DAY AND ALWAYS DURING BEDTIME. ITS ALL NATURAL, A FORMULA OF BEESWAX WHICH HELPS ON THE BURNING. YOU MIGHT WANT TO GIVE THAT A TRY. GOOD LUCK, THE TERRASIL TOOK AWAY MY BURNING FOR YEARS. I DO GET PERIODIC SPELLS, BUT NO WHERE AS PAINFUL. ALTHOUGH NOW I HAVE SPINAL CORD INJURY SO ITS BASICALLY LIDOCAINE PATCHES, AND THE VOLTARIN GEL, WHICH ALSO COMES PRESCRIPTION ONLY PENNSAID OIL. ITS VERY EXPENSIVE ITS THE ROOT OF THE VOLTARIN BUT STRONGER. YOU WOULD NEED A PRESCRIPTION FOR THIS AND HAVE THEM PRIOR AUTHORIZATION THRU YOUR PAIN DOCTOR.BECAUSE IT RUNS ABOUT $600 A BOTTLE IF INSURANCE DONT COVER, BUT MOST DO IF OVERRIDDEN GET AT LEAST 2 BOTTLES A MONTH. THAT ALSO HELPED WITH THE PAIN. GOOD LUCK HANG IN THERE, YOUR YOUNG AND YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM CHANGES AS YOU GET OLDER. SO IT MAY JUST WORK ITS WAY OUT OR AT LEAST LESSON GREATLY.. BUT FOR NOW DONT PUSH IT. JUST TAKE IT SLOW.. I KNOW ITS HARD BUT PAIN IS TERRIBLE HOPEFULLY SOME OF THESE WILL GIVE YOU GREAT RELIEF. GOOD LUCK. THE TERRASIL YOU ALSO MAY FIND CHEAPER ON EBAY.HERE IS THE LINK.https://www.google.com/search?q=terrasil+shingles+burning+pain&oq=&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCQgAECMYJxjqAjIJCAAQIxgnGOoCMgkIARAjGCcY6gIyCQgCECMYJxjqAjIJCAMQIxgnGOoCMgkIBBAjGCcY6gIyCQgFECMYJxjqAjIJCAYQIxgnGOoCMgkIBxAjGCcY6gLSAQ4xNjI0MTYzNDU3ajBqN6gCCLACAfEFchwL6f5AM2Q&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Wow! You seem to have a lot of experience with this stuff. Thank you for all the tips, I’ve not tried a lot of these yet so I’ll definitely look into it. I do know things like ice and heat make my pain a lot worse like it makes it burn really bad (which was always strange to me but nothing about CRPS makes sense to me haha), but I’m not sure about the stuff you mentioned so I’ll look into it! I know medicine wise they gave me Amitryptiline and Nortryptiline which helped me anxiety and depression wise but not pain wise at all, so right now I’m unmedicated but they might put me back on something when I see a pain specialist. Thank you so much for the advice and kind words, I really appreciate it.

Have you noticed what makes your pain worse? I have had CRPS for 25 years and while it’s never been cured, I learned that managing what makes it worse has lessened the pain. I signed up for biofeedback classes at the hospital which used taught me to lessen my pain by controlling my reaction to it. Cold makes it worse, so I wear lined pants, my foot swells, so I always wear open back sneakers and clog like shoes. I also had a series of epidural injections early which dramatically decreased the pain. I did find that not moving my leg/foot made it worse. I was never totally pain free, some days it was nuisance and didn’t ruin my day. I thought my life was ruined too. I managed to work and take care of a house and retire. Each step in treatment is necessary to find what works for you especially because you are so young. Don’t give up hope!

I know things like any sort of pressure or touch makes it really hurt, the cold makes it hurt, and things like a lot of weight bearing, walking, and standing. I don’t know why it hurts most of the time though, usually it can just get really bad without any apparent trigger and make it next to impossible to function out of nowhere and other times its just a sitting, constant pain. Ice, heat, and medication have done me no good so fa. I also know things like the TENS machine make it feel better but the moment I get off it I’ll hurt again and obviously I can’t walk around school with that thing hooked up to my leg all day. I’m hoping when I visit UNC’s pain specialist or whoever I’m going to that they can help me figure it out and help manage it because nothing else has worked so far. Thank you for your reply, I really appreciate it :).

Has your doctor said if you are a candidate for a DRG pain implant by Abbott? You should ask. I got that first and it helped for a few years. There is also a Nalu device that you can inquire about. You need to find a pain doctor that has experience with these. Good luck!