I'm so very sorry that you are going through all of this - I really hope things get better for you real soon and I am keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.

When I was first diagnosed with RSD, I was in pretty severe denial. I was so angry with my doctor as he knew what was wrong with me but didn't know exactly how to treat my case and what would help and not help me. It seemed as though every answer to my questions was a "I don't know" - I thought, how could you diagnose me with something but not know how to treat it and make me all better. I had a Guanethidine nerve block when I was diagnosed also and that took me off my feet completely (I was in a wheelchair for 13 months) and I totally lost all cofidence in my doctor after that.

I was in the Denial stage for quite a long time. My doctors and mum were trying to help me the best they could but I didn't want to do PT and all of the other things as it made my pain SO much worse (and still does to this day).

Eventually, my Doctor refered me to Great Ormond Street Hospital in the UK (London) where I HAD to do a 3 week inpatient intense physical therapy program. The first few times I did the PT, I screamed and called my PT's every name under the sun lol but eventually my PT's explained to me that I am in pain whether I am sat doing nothing or doing something so I may as well at least try and do something. Something in my mind then clicked and it all made sense to me and I tried my hardest to do all of the PT.

My PM Doctor explained that sometimes you need things to be really bad before you can start to accept this illness and everyone reacts differently ... some people might accept their illness straight away, whilst for others, it might take a few months or even years. You will get there in the end though.

As for will you always have this disease, unfortunately no one knows. I really hope however that you will go into remission real soon and that you will be able to do all of the things you want to do. I have had RSD for nearly 2 years and i'll admit, at times, I still really want to give up but then I realise that things could always be so much worse.

I hope this helped a bit and made you realise that you aren't alone ... all of the feelings you are having are completely normal.

I am keeping you in my thoughts and please keep us all updated when you can.