Hi everyone...my name is Rebecca and I have spent a lot of time reading all of these messages. There is so much amazing information and I am so grateful to have found this site.
I just got out of the ER three hours ago. Had to have a shot of Dilaudid again just to get some relief from this awful pain.
my story, as briefly as I can...
I had a breast reduction in June 2003. Things went wrong on my right side immediately. I had far too much post-op pain and after 3 weeks my plastic surgeon called me a drug addict and dismissed me. I was hospitalized a week later with "cellulitis" and that was the first of about 16 hospitalizations (ranging from 3-10 days) in 10 months. Throughout this time I was in severe pain and on many different pain meds, from Neurontin to MS Contin. No one could figure out what was wrong with my right breast and the weird discoloration directly below it (which has never been painful).
I was called a drug addict by more doctors than I care to think about, and was even labeled that by my primary care doctor of 4 years when no one could figure things out. 
In May of 2004 I went off all narcotics cold turkey and luckily it coincided with what was the beginning of a remission. At the same time I finally met with a neurologist who diagnosed me with CRPD. He said he had never seen it in a breast, but otherwise it was clearly the problem. I live in a small city in NY and I think no one had a clue what the deal was...which is why it took so long to get the diagnosis.
I went through the summer and fall in a great remission, using the neurontin, lidoderm patches and tramadol. That may sound like a lot, but for me, not being on narcotics was like being free!!!
Mid-November and everything changed. The searing pain was back and I was in the ER. I missed about a week of work and lost my job. Nothing was helping my pain and finally they gave me Lortab and I had been managing with that until about a week ago when my new primary doctor had to add Duragesic and Percoset.
I am waiting to get in with a pain management doctor, for some reason it is taking FOREVER. I am desperate to try the nerve block, even though it has now been 19 months since my surgery. Hopefully I will be seeing the PM doctor soon since my primary care doc is clueless and the people at the ER still think I am a drug addict or something.
It is amazing how LITTLE people know about CRPD, at least in Albany NY.
Have any of you faced this kind of problem??? I am so frustrated that I feel like I cry all the time (I am on anti-depressants too) and I think this is hopeless.
I haven't been able to work, I have a 5 yr old daughter and I am so scared of being on narcotics again and going through the hell I did with all the labeling the first time. *I* never felt addicted but it was amazing how so many people told me I was. Luckily I have a good family and support...but still.
Anyway...I am sorry to have written so much, but I just needed to reach out. I feel so alone in this and I dont know if I have the strength to get through this flare...I really thought it was over and I was going to be okay.
Thanks again for reading....
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