Because I promised myself that I would stay and help as long as it takes if I ever got better. When the RSD was at its worst, I had this fantasy where I cured myself, and was able to come back and "save" everyone with the knowledge I'd gained. (Ego much? Jeez.)

Well, what I learned was that everyone wants saving, but they want it on their own terms. (One more reason different modalities work better for some than others.)

So I'm here for the same reason as everyone else - to support and empathize and share our perpectives so we can learn from each other.

Much of what I found to be personally true contradicts what is commonly accepted in the medical world, so I have learned to temper a fair bit of what I say. People here are experiencing some of the worst pain and fear known to humanity on a constant basis. Insensitivity to that just results in more inflammation, which is the worst thing possible for the condition.

No one wants to hear that RSD is in their head. But it is - just not in the way everyone thinks when they hear that. It's not meant to be heard as an accusation (at least from me) - and it's not as if RSD doesn't exist! The pain is 100% real to the perceiver, and there are obviously a host of measurable symptoms and indicators that go along with the condition that prove its existence to an outside observer.

But as we are gradually starting to rediscover and accept, the mind is in control of the body, not the other way around. (And yes - there are many "fixed" physical parameters, like heredity, or death, for example.)

The question I asked that made the real difference - who controls the mind?

I like reading your posts too cdwall.