Pain and Oversize Pink Frames

Oversize Pink Frames by Linda Farrow for Luxe
PRICE: $525
AVAILABLE AT: Aloha Rag
505 Greenwich St.
Soho
212-925-0882

Retired Educator, here. La Belle Bianca Castafiore? Wouldn't you know that she is a migraineur (proprement dit: migraineuse)? And so it is hand-to-forehead, sigh-then-moan, a red-lipped pucker (Chanel Rouge Hydrabase Creme Lipstick in Red N°5) and these big old pink-framed dark glasses, all topped with that blessed paisley turban that announces her migraines like a neon sign. Quel douleur, quel désespoir profond, quelle souffrance! Néanmoins, je ne peux pas la convaincre qu'elle serait infiniment plus heureuse dans sa propre chambre! I cannot convince her to retire to her well-appointed, restful, easily darkened room that just happens to be at the opposite end of our cozy Marlinspike Hall. No, she prefers to suffer in plain view.

I find myself humming quite a different version of her favorite refrain:
"Je ris de la voir si souffrante dans ce manoir!"

In the midst of this mini-petit-micro pain crisis, I checked my correspondance to find the sainted Jim Broatch calmly at work, connecting people with CRPS / RSD to all kinds of possibilities out in the world. It is so easy to lose oneself with this disease -- not just by deciding to saw off one's arm one Saturday afternoon -- but by losing social interaction. As hard as it is to leave a protected environment and risk being jostled, pushed, stepped on, or -- my personal favorites -- slapped on the shoulder or given that well-meaning warm hug by the requisite Church Lady, we have to go out there or totally give in to a life of pain, spasms, contractures, and depression. So God bless Jim and his talented minions for their constant assault on our laziness and fear!

Here is the latest e-alert with details about a recruiting study -- one of the few I have seen that explicitly includes those of us with CRPS Type 2. I was starting to get an inferiority complex and I think we can all agree that I don't need another complex...


Study Currently Recruiting: Neurotropin to Treat Acute Dental and Chronic Neural Pain

Neurotropin to Treat Acute Dental and Chronic Neural PainSponsored by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)

Purpose: This study will examine the effectiveness of the drug neurotropin in treating acute pain after tooth extraction and chronic pain after injury to a limb or a large nerve.

Individuals who meet the following criteria should apply:

Three groups of patients will participate in this study: 1) dental patients undergoing removal of impacted third molars (wisdom teeth); 2) patients with chronic regional pain syndrome type 1, or CRPS-I (also called reflex sympathetic dystrophy); and 3) patients with chronic regional pain syndrome type 2, or CRPS-II. CRPS-I is pain that develops after relatively minor injury to an arm or leg, but lasts much longer and is much more severe than would normally be expected. CRPS-II is pain resulting from injury to a large nerve.

Candidates will have a history and physical examination, blood tests, electrocardiogram and, for dental patients, oral examination and dental X-rays to confirm the need for third molar extraction.

Participants will undergo the following tests and procedures:

Patients with CRPS I and II will receive an individualized regimen of physical therapy and standard treatment to control their pain. In addition, they will receive neutropin or placebo tablets for 5 weeks, then no trial medicine for at least 1 week, and then the other trial drug for the next 5 weeks. That is, patients who took placebo the first 5 weeks will take neutropin the second 5 weeks and vice versa. Neither the patients nor the doctors will know who received which drug during the two intervals until the study is over.

Patients will complete questionnaires about their pain, quality of life, and ability to perform daily living activities. They will have various tests to measure pain (such as sensitivity to heat and cold, to an electric current, to a mild pin prick, etc.); to provide information about changes in their condition (such as tests of range of motion of joints and limb size); to measure blood circulation and sweating in the arm or leg (such as measurements of blood flow to the limb, skin temperature, and sweat production), and other procedures.

Contact:
National Institute of Dental And Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
9000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland 20892 United States

Patient Recruitment and Public Liaison Office1-800-411-1222 TTY 1-866-411-1010 prpl@mail.cc.nih.gov

http://www.rsds.org/3/research/neurotropin_research.html

This E-alert was made possible by the contribution of the members of the Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association (RSDSA). To learn more about becoming a member of RSDSA, please click here.