aaronpaws

It started after I fractured two joints in my left foot. I can't tell you exactly when they broke because I honestly don't remember. What I can tell you is that I ignored it for a couple weeks thinking it'd work itself out and I was just being a pussy, but it eventually got infected (Osteomyelitis - infection of the bone and surrounding soft tissue) and I had to do 3 months of IV antibiotics through a pic line.

After the surgeries to debride and remove the broken off bone fragments in my foot, and 3 months after that when the infection cleared, the pain still remained. That's when my podiatrist recommended me a physiatrist who eventually recommended me a neurologist and he started doing tests to figure out why I was in more pain than I was initially after the incident / surgeries. They did some sort of circulatory test where I ingested a dye and they watched my blood flow under an MRI or something like that (fuzzy on the details) and said I might have something more serious. Then they tested my responses to electrical stimuli and eventually by process of elimination narrowed it down to CRPS based on the type of injury and the type of pain I was describing (neuropathic pain tends to be fairly unique in feeling).

edit: my childhood was alright. I grew up in the south in a fairly religious home (ironically, ended up an atheist). I was intelligent, but not particularly socially adept or athletic. My mom died about a month before all of this happened. I'm not sure why, but I personally feel like the emotional shock from that translated into my physical pain. It was rough dealing with both at the same time. I contemplated and eventually attempted suicide. Glad, I failed. I've had some amazing experiences and met some incredible people since then and I'm very hopeful about my future!

ketamine. overnight. saved my life.

I can't state that enough. It still to this day seems crazy to me that of all things that was the one that turned everything around. Especially after all of the other crazy shit I had tried to fix it with.

Ended unbearable physical pain, helped me come to terms with everything that had happened in my life since being diagnosed, and ripped me out of the clutches of both addiction and depression.

If this ama helps even one person with CRPS seek out Ketamine treatment and it works for them the way it did for me, I will have felt like I had a positive effect on the world in my lifetime. It could very well be the most important thing I ever do. I had never even heard of Ketamine before CRPS; I honestly think this drug has so much more potential than the medical community gives it credit for. I just want to raise some awareness on the monumental impact on one's life that can come out of experimental treatments for rare diseases.

Tolerance. I didn't just start at those doses and with all those meds. They were added on by my neurologists, anesthesiologists, and psychiatrists gradually. When it first started I was mainly taking 15-30mg Hydrocodone daily along with 50-100mg of Tramadol. As tolerance built and my condition worsened, I required more meds to achieve the same analgesic effect, hence the eventual laundry list of meds.

I did sleep most of my days away and I have serious trouble remembering anything but the most critical periods of that time of my life. It wreaked utter havoc on my emotional well being and social life.

I dropped out of college, lost my independence, and moved back in with my dad when all of this happened. I would get tons of glares in public popping pills, but I didn't really care. It was all legit, so what was anyone gonna say to me? If they were in my spot at that time, they'd have probably been doing the same.

During that time of a little more than a year I couldn't work or go to school. I was pretty much bedridden and would just watch netflix and play video games most of the day. I started doing yoga around the same time I started ketamine treatment and found it exceedingly painful at first, but highly beneficial. I still do yoga and have found the activity helps a great deal with my pain levels. I still have trouble walking at anything but a standard pace, but the yoga / ketamine combo has pretty much removed my limp at this point. Walking around with a serious limp at 20 sucks. I'd get more stares because of that than the pills. Oh, and my pupils were constantly pinpoint because of all the opiates so people thought I was always insanely fucked up, but because of tolerance, most of the time I felt 100 percent sober.

edit: Nowadays, I fix phones, tablets, and computers for a living. It's something to help me save till I get back in school and I don't have to be on my feet all day.

this has been answered. I don't really like the term street k, though, I suppose that is what it is. My stuff usually comes in sealed vials. It's the exact same stuff I'd be getting under medical supervision.

If I could've gotten it from doctors, and believe me, I tried, I would have. Instead they preferred me doped up on opiates, benzos, anticonvulsants, muscle relaxers, anti depressants, and anti psychotics. Can you see why I took matters into my own hands? I mean, aside from dosing K every three months or so now, I only take ibuprofen and live a perfectly functional life. I like that version of me better than the heavily sedated / medicated version.

Amputation was one of my biggest fears. I knew there was the potential for it since I first got the diagnosis. I had thought about it because of the insane amount of pain I was in, but every time I brought it up to either of my two main doctors (neurologist and anesthesiologist), they both said that it likely wouldn't make the pain any better and might increase the risk of it spreading further up my leg. Add to the fact that I've been a type I diabetic for just over 10 years now and it just wasn't a viable option. (Diabetics tend to heal ridiculously slowly and are very prone to infection. For instance, I had a super tiny piece of glass cut my hand fixing someone's iphone like two weeks ago and the cut which is probably less than a centimeter or two in length, still hasn't closed up).

edit: actually, now that I think about it. A surgeon and a podiatrist both brought it up to me after they noticed the infection wasn't going away in a reasonable amount of time. They didn't want it to travel up the bones of my feet and into my legs as recovering from an entire leg amputation is an entirely different ordeal than recovery from just losing a foot. Glad I didn't let them and got a couple more opinions on the issue. My foot looks a little odd. There are musculoskeletal deformities for sure, but it's there and it's mine lol.