Story about CRPS Complex Regional Pain Syndrome , Anxiety, Atopic Dermatitis and Eczema, Depression, Peripheral Neuropathy.

When my world changed

Nov 11, 2017

By: Theresa

Year Condition Began: 2010


It all began in June of 2006. I was working at a local animal hospital and I was carrying a dog on a stretcher back to his cage after surgery. We went to lower him, rolled him out, and I went to stand up and something popped in my back. Instant pain was in my back and went shooting down my left leg. I ended up finding out after an MRI that I had blew a disc out in my back (L5S1). Because this ended up being a workers compensation case I didn't end up having surgery until the 1st part of December 2016. For the most part of those 5.5 months I was bed ridden due to the extreme amount of pain I was in.
I ended up having a micro discectomy and laminectomy 2 days apart because something went wrong with my 1st surgery and when I woke up I was screaming in pain and could not use my left leg at all. After I was all healed and time passed I was moderately fine although I dealt with a "new type" of back pain over the course of the next 4 yrs. In 2009 I had to go out of work due to neck pain and ended up having a C5/6 fusion. They said it was not in relation to my other issues in my lower back. They did a couple MRI's over the years to see that I had built up scar tissue in my lower back and had what they called "failed back surgery". At that time they suggested I get a neuro stimulator because I was maxing out on pain meds between my neck and my lower back. When I had my neuro stimulator placed in late 2010 not long after that I started showing my signs of CRPS. So this is how I contracted my CRPS is from my surgery. I was diagnosed in 2011 by my primary doctor and although he knew what it was he was not very good at treating it besides doing pain meds. My stimulator after being placed for 6 months didn't help anymore no matter how much they adjusted it so what a waste of time getting it put in and look what it did to me!!! I ended up having the stimulator fully removed in 2013. I did my own research to find a doctor that did ketamine treatments and found one in Philadelphia in 2013. It took me a year to get in to see him. So in January of 2014 I saw what was going to be my new hope for pain relief, ketamine. I ended up getting my first in hospital infusions for a week straight in October of 2014 and have been getting them ever since. They have helped me although not totally. It seems to help my legs more than my feet. I am not sure why that is. I also see a local pain doctor now that has me on levorphanol 2mg for pain. It seems to work better than other opioids I have been on in the past. She has been good to me and works well with me and I am thankful for that. A lot of doctors around my area are clueless. I still haven't figured out my flare pattern. I thought it was just the weather change, but now I think its that and stress induced. I have had 5 flares just in the last 10 months I would say, 2 were weather related, 3 were stress I think.

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