i caught this late but i just wanted to say hang in there ali. a few years ago i had moved away from home and had to search for a new pt, it started out far worse than i could have imagined. i went from one pt to the next thinking that i had just run into a couple who had managed to shove their heads deep into the sand while the whole pain management movement came into play, i was shocked when 4 weeks and 8 visits later i was still searching for a pt who meshed with my method for survival. eventually i found a pt who got it. in an effort to understand why there seemed to be such a gap in the quality of care i started asking questions and what i found was that depending on the program attended (for a degree) the quality of patient experience varried. i will be the first to admit that there are definately pts out there who have no business treating pain patients but i think most pts who struggled with the concept fell into a different catagory...those who have not dealt with patients who have a strong grasp of their own limitations as the result of experience instead of perception. that is to say i think that the majority of those who try to force us to follow the system they supply are pts who havent spent a lot of time around patients who say they cant because they have tried it and they just couldnt do it.
i agree with those who have said it is time to seek help elsewhere. you need to go to a new pt and start fresh. i would suggest that once your doctor suggests a new pt you place a call to the reccomended therapist and tell them that your doctor suggested that you might work well together and i would ask if it would be ok if you came in just to have a conversation to see how things feel (asap). the reason for this speedy introduction is 2 fold. first once your doctor contacts your pt time is limited, your old pt will quickly submit their notes to your doctor who will them forward them to your new pt. once that happens all of the bias the old pt has expressed within your treatment will be passed on and the opportunity for your new pt to know about you and how you are handling your crps will be lost. as much as we as patients would like to believe that a pt treats the patient they encounter the reality is they base at least some of their knowledge about you on the information they are given. to circumvent this you need to interact with the pt prior to the interference of other individuals is introduced. in the US most pts are willing to do an evaluation with or without a script from the doc...you may want to talk with your insurance liason and find out which pts they are familiar with and see if they can help you to set up an introduction. if you explain to them that you are having a hard time finding a pt who is willing to treat you they will probably help. if the pt has a grasp of you before they are influenced you may have a better experience.second, if you are introduced prior to your file being transfered you will be able to gauge how the pt sees you as a pain patient or more importantly a young pain patient. if the pt treats you poorly during that brief interaction the likelihood it will continue is good.
no one, not a doctor or a pt, understands your crps as well as you do. you need to find someone who is willing to help you to combat the disease.
there is one more thing...but before i talk about it i think a preface is needed...ali i had rsd when i was about your age and i wish i had the strength and knowledge you constantly display...as a chronic pain patients we become very aware of what we can and cannot do, unfortunately we forget that pts base the excersizes they want us to do on what they have seen us do. after 4 knee surgeries i thought i knew more than the pts (i definetly knew more than my doc) so when i strolled into pt for my post op stuff following another knee surgery i tried to tell my pt what i planned to do...it wasnt until my pt said since you know so much you dont really need me, even if you could really use my help to avoid ending up right back here in a year. i realized that while i might be a master of what one pt had to offer that wasnt all of the knowledge available. it is hard for all of us to be willing to try something we know wont work, but if you want to wipe the slate clean you have to be willing to try what the pt wants...it will probably have the exact same result as the time before but by being willing to try allows the pt to evaluate the excersize and to feel like they are trying. if you simply tell your pt you cant do it, they will become frustrated and will believe that you are difficult. just give it a try...if it hurts to much you can say so and the pt will have to adjust. just give them a chance.
it is hard to find someone who is willing to invest the energy it takes to properly treat a pain patient, unfortunately those patients sometimes forget that they arent the only ones who feel like a failure when things dont improve...a good pt will walk that line with you.
hang in there ali you will find a pt who wants nothing more than to make your goals a reality