Reflex Sympathetic Osteo Dystrophy (now called Chronic Regional Pain Disorder) in my right knee. I woke up with a pain in my knee, thought nothing of it and went to work. The pain got worse and I had to leave early to go to the doctor. She had no idea so sent me to the physiotherapist next morning. After a very bad night I limped very carefully to the physios who sent me away again complete with tubigrip on my knee plus a walking stick, specially cut to size. Just as well because over the next couple of days my knee joint turned itself into a bag of burning jelly, and remained that way for the next 16 months. It also went a funny shape due to muscle wastage and was beautifully patchworked in blue, purple, pink and red. That's how the various doctors I saw knew it was serious. Oh goody. After four months of this I finally saw a chap who knew what it was and received my diagnosis. Lucky it wasn't infected he said, or we'd have to take it off. No treatment available, but it should calm down by two years. It did, but the pain never quite went away and it doesn't take much to set it off. No opiates, just NSAIDs which barely scraped the surface of the pain. I spent quite a bit of time telling people to move so that I could get my leg up and out straight. Fun times.
Now I have chronic sciatica as a result of using a walking stick when I should really have had crutches, together with plantar fasciitis. On a good day I can walk a few miles with moderate discomfort - on a bad day I'm walking on spears which shoot up through my heels to my lower back whilst one knee wants to burst into flames. It's good fun, I can tell you! I was 30 when it kicked off, over 20 years ago. Haven't had a pain free day since. On the good side my pain tolerance is rather high, I once had a tooth abscess without noticing... :)
Reflex Sympathetic Osteo Dystrophy (now called Chronic Regional Pain Disorder) in my right knee. I woke up with a pain in my knee, thought nothing of it and went to work. The pain got worse and I had to leave early to go to the doctor. She had no idea so sent me to the physiotherapist next morning. After a very bad night I limped very carefully to the physios who sent me away again complete with tubigrip on my knee plus a walking stick, specially cut to size. Just as well because over the next couple of days my knee joint turned itself into a bag of burning jelly, and remained that way for the next 16 months. It also went a funny shape due to muscle wastage and was beautifully patchworked in blue, purple, pink and red. That's how the various doctors I saw knew it was serious. Oh goody. After four months of this I finally saw a chap who knew what it was and received my diagnosis. Lucky it wasn't infected he said, or we'd have to take it off. No treatment available, but it should calm down by two years. It did, but the pain never quite went away and it doesn't take much to set it off. No opiates, just NSAIDs which barely scraped the surface of the pain. I spent quite a bit of time telling people to move so that I could get my leg up and out straight. Fun times.
Now I have chronic sciatica as a result of using a walking stick when I should really have had crutches, together with plantar fasciitis. On a good day I can walk a few miles with moderate discomfort - on a bad day I'm walking on spears which shoot up through my heels to my lower back whilst one knee wants to burst into flames. It's good fun, I can tell you! I was 30 when it kicked off, over 20 years ago. Haven't had a pain free day since. On the good side my pain tolerance is rather high, I once had a tooth abscess without noticing... :)