I am at my wits end with this, anyone have any idea....

[Guest guest]

Guys, I am lost here.

Ok, in March 04 I was diagnosed with RSD in both my feet. Then in June 05 I

started seeing a new doctor who said it had spread to my back. My RSD in my

feet varies day to day now, some days it is down right horrible, others are

pretty good days. I guess I have learned to get used to the pain, it hurts, it

aches, sometimes burns, partly numb, but all in all, if I pretty much stay off

my feet and in warmth I am doing good on a daily basis.

Ok, now here is where I am lost. I don't know exactly how long ago, lets say 2

weeks. I bumped my toe, I wrote you all then, but don't remember the day.

Anyway, this is the 3rd time I have bumped a toe since Dec 2003. The first one

I thought for sure I broke, I went to the hospital, no break, I was at the point

in my RSD that I pretty much was off my feet and it healed just fine, a little

long, but appropriate from what I can remember.

The second time was last year sometime I believe, same type of horrid pain, I

figured it wasn't broke, began thinking maybe the RSD was causing the pain that

there really wasn't an injury but I pampered it and from my memory it took

awhile to heal, but did.

Now, this time around I don't recall anything that I am going through from

before, the only thing that matches the other 2 are the fact that all three were

" bumps " not really how you would stump a toe, but not a brushing either.

All three times the joint area between the toe and foot turned purple. All

three times the toes swelled. And of course all three times I had ALOT of pain.

Now this time, I am having excruciating pain, my toe is still purple, most of

the bruising on the foot is gone but the toe itself is still purple, not like

you cut off circulation purple, but you can tell it is purple. It is still

swollen, hard and shiny, the other day, I stayed off of it for about 2 days

(best I could that is) and it seemed that it was starting to get better,

swelling went down just a tad, more in the back than in the front.

Now, the thing different with this toe is I have that burning feeling all the

time, sometimes it is unbearable other times I can feel it, it bothers me but I

can tolerate it. My toe is hard most of the time. Oh and it throbs. The other

thing, if I bump it on like a toy, towel or anything it flares up all over

again. And it seems to get horribly worse each time that happens. Like

yesterday, I was wobbling to the bathroom and my son had just got out of the

shower and left the towel on the floor, well not judging the distance I got my

foot caught in a fold, oh gosh, I screamed bloody murder. Now to top that off,

last night my dog (a 4 month old lab puppy) stepped on my foot, got that toe, oh

my gosh I nearly fell down in pain. Then today we had alot of stuff to do,

since I can't wear shoes I have to wear house shoes that are too big for me and

each time I would take a step it would cause my toe to move, so I was already

aggravating it, by the time we got home I could barely walk.

Then my 160 pound son stepped on my toe, the only one he got was my bad toe.

Now tonight I am in horrible pain, I have been telling my husband for over a

week I want to go to the doctor, we have been flat broke and couldn't afford to.

Now I have some money but we both wonder, since it is a toe injury is it going

to be a waste of money.

Has anyone ever heard of anything like this? I know RSD spreads, but do you

think this pain is just a reaction to the RSD or can something else be going

on? I know none of you are doctors, I can't stay off of it, I have 3 kids and a

husband that doesn't understand the daily pain. My husband tries to compare his

daily pain of working to this and I tell him he isn't even in the ball park but

he feels I am exaggerating.

So what would you guys do? Oh, I tried the " buddy " thing, taping the toe in

between toes, well I can't, my pinky toe isn't long enough...lol

Sorry for such a long post, but thanks for reading it.

Screaming in Indiana...lol