CRPS - Weather changes, do they affect CRPS? RSD?

DOES THE WEATHER AFFECT CRPS? 

Now that the winter season is upon us, for most of the country anyway, many patients are seeing changes in their pain although quite a few may not have ever made the connection. In talking to patients I often run into some who do not know that the changes in the seasons cause changes in their pain. They might have noticed that they get colder in the winter, that storms bother them, etc. but did not understand that there is the direct connection.

Barometric changes, especially drops in the BP, can cause increased pain for many patients. These can come from violent storms such as hurricanes and thunderstorms but they can also come with snowstorms and changes in the highs and lows you hear the weatherman describing all the time. 

When you watch the weather next time, pay particular attention to when the next Low Pressure system is moving in and monitor your pain. See if you notice any changes/increases in your pain. Chances are that you will.

The other issue that CRPS patients face in the winter months, especially those who live in the colder, wintry states, is dealing with the extra pain that comes with the extreme cold. 

One of the ways that CRPS patients suffer pain, (and I realize this is oversimplifying things) is from constricted blood vessels. These constricted blood vessels not only cause pain but also restrict blood flow thereby lowering the temperature of the extremities.  When the temperature drops these blood vessels constrict further, increasing the pain and lowering the temperature even further. 

The patient ends up in more pain and an inability to get their feet/hands warm. 

So what do you do, to decrease the pain and effects of the winter?

Well, you could do what I did, move south! It is nearly Christmas and it is 70+ degrees here. But that isn't practical for most people so you need other solutions.

- Layered clothing helps, and definitely you need to keep your hands and feet and head covered as much as possible. 

- If you have access to a warm water pool (85 degrees of more) that is EXTREMELY helpful, not only for raising the temperature in your extremities but also for keeping the chronic pain patient's body in shape and lowering their overall pain level. 

- Soaking in warm water with Epsom Salts is very beneficial. You don't need fancy bath salts/oils but by using epsom salts your body absorbs the magnesium, which helps in restoring normal blood flow. 

- Using microwave moist-heating pads (the kind with beads inside) helps as well. 

What ideas have you tried that have helped? Share them here in the comments!

Have a great day everyone!

Peace, Keith

American RSDHope

CRPS AND MEMORY PROBLEMS

Another in our series of popular questions we get asked at American RSDHope;

I SEEM TO BE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH MY MEMORY. 

IS THAT PART OF CRPS/RSD OR IS IT BECAUSE OF THE MEDICATIONS? 

CRPS/RSD causes short-term memory problems. This is due to problems related to the Limbic system of the brain. In addition to memory problems, changes in the limbic system can also cause depression and insomnia. 

This is part of the Fourth of the FOUR MAIN SYMPTOMS OF CRPS. 

For more information on more symptoms of CRPS/RSD see the following link; ADDTIONIAL CRPS SYMPTOMS

I think that perhaps this is one of the most difficult aspects of the disease to deal with for loved ones; aside from the financial impact and the issue of seeing your loved one in constant pain and having no ability to stop it. Dealing with someone on an everyday basis who forgets so much can be tough; 

"When are we leaving?" "I told you, 3 pm", "No, you didn't", "Yes, we discussed this three times today" , "We did?" . "Wow, that movie looks good." "Yes, it was. we saw it twice already." an hour later ... "This movie looks familiar, I think we've seen it before", "You think?!"

And all of this can happen in the course of one morning!

Not to mention the difficulties that this causes with medications, Drs and medical records/histories, picking kids up, helping with homework, and so much more. It takes special and wonderful people to love CRPS patients!  We appreciate them greatly!

Hope this helps!

Peace, Keith

American RSDHope

CRPS PATIENTS - FLU SHOTS

It is well into flu season and if you haven't gotten your flu shot yet, best get your behind down to your Doctor, your local pharmacy, local clinic, or wherever shots are sold and get one! Or use the new mist if you have an aversion to the shots. 

Most places will accept Medicare for payment for the flu shot. 

Do you need to be careful of the actual injection itself? For fear of it aggravating your CRPS? 

You should always take as many precautions as you can any time you have any type of injections; whether it be as simple as a flu injection (not normally a big deal) or something more involved like taking blood. 

Make sure they do not use any needles in your CRPS affected area; if you have it in your arm/hand, make sure they use the other side for example. If you are having blood drawn, ask them to use the smallest needle possible, even if it takes a little longer to accomplish the purpose. 

Why do CRPS patients need a flu shot? 

Our immune systems are compromised because of the disease and we are more susceptible such things as the flu, coughs, colds, etc. 

Remember, you can't protect yourself from everyone else who carries the virus unless you are protected. The germs are passed on through the air, shopping carts, hand-shakes, door-knobs, and a hundred other things we touch every day.

 

So, take a few minutes and save yourself a winter full of misery. This years flu shot protects against 14 of the major flu's. Not flu-proof but pretty close :)

Keith 

American RSDHope

 

CRPS - RSD - TOP TEN QUESTIONS , CRPS or RSDS?

We continue today in our series of some of the top ten questions we get asked at American RSDHope regarding CRPS. Some of you are probably getting a little confused by the terminology, CRPS/RSDS.

I was excited by something I heard the other day at our local CRPS Support group meeting (besides being one of the directors of American RSDHope I am also a member of a local support group down here in Florida). What did I hear? No, not "Keith, you won the lottery, here is your check for $35 Million!". (that was a couple of weeks ago). No, the good news was that of the four new members we had come last week, two were newly diagnosed (within the last year) and they were given a diagnosis of CRPS and the Dr knew right away what they had!

They actually were a little confused when they went on-line to look up information and saw some of the old terminology "RSD". This was good to hear because;

1) It means they are finally starting to use the correct terminology.

2) They were diagnosed quickly and the Dr knew exactly what they had based on the symptoms they presented (discoloration, allodynia (extreme sensitivity to touch), extreme pain, temperature differences in the affected limb, etc. 

It is something that is reflected in the emails we have been getting and the discussions taking place on-line lately as well. More and more patients are getting diagnosed more quickly and correctly! And they are being given the new diagnostic term CRPS rather than the old diagnostic term RSDS, which is also good. 

This shows that we have been making headway in the national RSD awareness campaign efforts and the educational efforts being undertaken at the medical schools and clinics around the country. It has taken a while I realize to start to notice the change, but at least it is happening.

For those of you who need to be reminded of the DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CRPS AND RSD, check it out :)

Ten years ago it took the average CRPS patient seeing 8 to 10 Doctors before they got a correct diagnosis. I think we need to do a new survey, and I believe we will find out that nowadays that number has been cut in half. 

More patients are being treated correctly as well. Many years ago it was common practice to apply ice packs to CRPS patients from the day they walked into a PT center. They were told when they got home to alternate ice and heat all day long for weeks at a time. When they were at physical therapy they were immediately put into ice baths and told this was the way the disease was treated.

After a few months the patient was so advance in their disease the blocks had no chance of working. 

( RSD/CRPS AND ICE TREATMENT )

For a long time, decades upon decades, Drs treated CRPS patients with sympathectomies in an effort to "cure" the disease. They froze, cut, burned, etc. nerves in an effort to make the pain go away and it wasn't until only a few years ago that the top Drs and researchers in the country came together and realized that in most cases, sympathectomies were actually making the disease spread and/or worsen rather than curing it! Nearly all Drs have since stopped performing these types of treatments. 

As the years have gone on more and more Drs have come to see that the non-invasive treatments are the way to treat this disease. That when you cut or puncture the skin of a CRPS patient you actually run the risk and likelihood of the disease exacerbating. 

Some of the exciting treatments today, like the 5-day low-dose ketamine treatment for example, are the new face of the disease and hold great promise for the future. One day they may very well find a cure for us. In the meantime, we would settle for some understanding, and ome pain relief without any treatment that makes it worse :)

Have a great week-end,

Keith 

OPIODS - ADDICTION OR DEPENDENCE? WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?

Here is another in our series of TOP QUESTIONS that we get asked here at American RSDHope. Todays question relates to, "What is the difference between Addiction and Tolerance as it relates to taking Opiods for Chronic Pain?

On the website we address this question directly, the article is called, appropriately enough, "WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ADDICTION, DEPENDENCE, AND TOLERANCE?" 

It is a two-part article compiled by Keith Orsini, one of the Directors of American RSDHope.

The opening of the article states,

"Some medications used to treat pain can be addictive. Addiction is different from physical dependence or tolerance, however. In cases of physical dependence, withdrawal symptoms occur when a substance suddenly is stopped. Tolerance occurs when the initial dose of a substance loses its effectiveness over time. Addiction and physical dependence often occur together."

People who take a class of drugs called opioids for a long period of time may develop tolerance and even physical dependence. This does not mean, however, that a person is addicted. In general, the chance of addiction is very small when narcotics are used under proper medical supervision."

The article goes on to say,

"Most people who take their pain medicine as directed by their doctor do not become addicted, even if they take the medicine for a long time.""

the article continues ...

"In certain parts of the country, the crackdown on illegal use of OxyContin has made it hard for pain patients to get legitimate prescriptions.

"OxyContin was the first prescription medication listed as a drug of concern by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, which made it a target," says Ronald T. Libby, PhD.

The drug, Libby says, is "monitored by pharmacies and [Perdue] Pharma, the maker of OxyContin. Some physicians, knowing the DEA or sheriff is looking at these scripts, refuse to write prescriptions for fear of prosecution. Doctors can be scammed, and if a patient takes some pills and sells some, the doctor can be guilty of diversion." Libby is the author of a Cato Institute policy report titled "Treating Doctors As Drug Dealers: The DEA's War on Prescription Painkillers" andprofessor of political science and public administration at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.

"The war on drugs has become a war on legal drugs, on patients who take them, and on doctors who prescribe them," Serkes tells WebMD.

Later, the article discusses everything from the backlash of oxycontin abuse to truths and myths about Oxycontin.  Information for the article was pulled from a wide variety of articles and sources and it can be used to help inform and educate your medical professionals about the differences regarding Opiods uses and abuses. Far too often all we hear about are the horror stories and Drs, and the medical boards that govern them, are too quick to lump everyone in the same category, abusers. Leaving those of us in chronic pain to suffer needlessly.

There are excellent pain medications available that when used correctly can be of great use in controlling chronic pain and the majority of chronic pain patients do use them correctly. It is time that the medical community understood that and acted, not re-acted, accordingly.

peace, Keith 

PS - You can find more articles regarding Oxycontin, opiods, use, abuse, and other medication in the MEDICATION/MEDICAL ARTICLES SECTION of the AMERICAN RSDHOPE WEBSITE. 

AMERICAN RSDHOPE - RSD - CRPS - RIBBON

If anyone needs a copy of the NATIONAL RSD/CRPS AWARENESS RIBBON, for their website or blog, or myspace page, or facebook page, etc. send an email to keeths@mac.com and let Keith know that you want to help spread awareness of RSD?CRPS. 

Help get the word out everyone!!!

Peace, keith orsini, Director, American RSDHope

CRPS RSD BLOG

Next week we will tackle the topic "WHAT DOES CRPS PAIN FEEL LIKE AND WHY IS MINE DIFFERENT FROM HERS?"

Stay tuned!