January 24, 2014: big weather change last night. Temperature dropped from 80 degrees on Monday to the lower 20s Thursday night. I had read that cold weather can aggravate RSD. Guess what? It can. I thought that staying inside in my warm, cozy home would keep it from being an issue. Guess what? It didn't. (Apparently it's more of a barometric pressure issue.) Looks like I will now be an amateur meteorologist. The pain gradually increased in the night, resulting in very little sleep and a very unhappy me today. Luckily for my co-workers, the temperature drop was accompanied by enough ice that work was cancelled today.
Today, the pain was up and down, but consistently in the 7.5-9 range and a few times I would have called it a 9.5, which is the worst it has been so far. I'm beginning to think that I have been miscalculating my pain levels on the scale. I'm also beginning to fear that the scale goes to 11. (In case you've never seen This is Spinal Tap, here's a link that feels very appropriate today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xgx4k83zzc.)
I have also resigned myself to the fact that I will not be riding in the charity bike ride I do every April. I had been harboring a secret hope that I might be able to start riding again soon and could at least do the shortest distance. I even went to my PT appointment on Wednesday prepared to ask if I could start riding again. (What can I say? I'm an optimist.) After an hour of being told to slow down to keep from aggravating it further, I decided they might question my intelligence if I asked to start cycling, so I refrained. Guess that will have to be more of a long-term goal.
In better news, the side effects from the Lyrica appear to be completely gone, including the water weight. I'm not cancelling that muumuu order just yet, because I am still about 12 pounds north of my pre-RSD weight, but I have increased the number of clothing items I can fasten while continuing to breathe. Small victories.
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