It's going to be a very long Winter

My feet, as you will know, are both riddled with CRPS and have a mind of their own at the best of times. They can go from freezing cold to boiling hot at whim, regardless of the weather. However it is the Winter that I really struggle. The hypersensitivity caused by the CRPS means that any small change in temperature has a response which is completely out of proportion.

Bella's usually lying on me in some way or other.

As I sit writing this I am sitting as normal in my reclining chair with my legs up. I have already gone up one thickness of duvet. This goes over the top of my legs and underneath so that my lower legs are completely covered. No air can get in. I also have an additional lightweight fleece blanket laid over my feet and a 'slanket' over the top of that.

Despite all of these layers both feet and ankles feel like blocks of ice and have done continuously for at least the last 24 hours if not longer. The stimulus? I touched our laminate flooring when standing up. They are incredibly painful, to the point of screaming and when I get up (only to sit on the commode - just another concession I've made to this illness) they feel brittle. So brittle that it's a surprise that they don't just shatter. I shuffle even more slowly, turning is harder and my chances of falling are greater. I rely even more on Eric to help me move. A distance of no more than a few feet. It's pathetic by any definition of normal living.

Of course it doesn't help that I'm not wearing socks, nor trousers or slippers. It would seem the obvious thing to do. However none of those is an option because they would be in direct contact and so exacerbate the pain. We have to be careful with how heavy the layers we add on top are because any part of the duvet touching toes etc increases the pain. Too much weight means too much contact and so more pain. I just have to sit it out in the hope that eventually some warmth will permeate and they warm up. People have suggested hot water bottles, which of course would be natural thing to try. We have - we wrapped the hot water bottle in several pillowcases then I rested my heels on it. It was unbearably hot. To Eric it didn't even feel warm. This is what I'm up against.

Of course the slightest stimulus such as them becoming exposed to the air, or slightly touching the floor is enough to send them back to being ice cubes again. It's an absolute nightmare. Going out obviously has the same effect. It is a running battle from now onwards. They are particularly bad already, which sadly means that as the title says, it's going to be a very long winter.....