Gail,

My heart goes out to you and I hope you know that you are not alone in this battle. I think anyone that has RSD has been in the place where you are and that place can be so very scary. I have had RSD for 2 1/2 years and was just officially diagnosed 6 months ago. I have found that RSD is physically painful which leads to a lot of emotional pain.
Over the years I have come up with a personal way to fight the emotional pain. One dark day, I thought to myself “the RSD is causing the physical pain but I'm in control of the emotional side." I figure to continue living, it is important that we find ways to manage the physical pain and also manage the emotional pain.
So one thing that I have found helps me (with the grieving, depression, sadness, feelings of being alone) is to not give up on my dreams. I still work in a fast pace career (doctors advised me to leave because the job is high stress) and a lot of the days are very hard to get through. Somehow, just knowing that I have not let the RSD take my career aspirations away from me... it gives me an inner strength. That strength gives me the energy to get up and do it all again the next day.
It is important to set goals (one of mine is grocery shopping) and when you complete your goal it helps fight off the depression. Note, it does not matter what the goal is, trust me. On bad days, often my goal is to do the dishes.
I know you are a strong person because you have been dealing with this for a couple years and that in itself takes more inner strength than the average person has to face in their entire life.
One last thing that I tell myself everyday... RSD is a battle and I don’t know about you but I really want to this battle. Arm yourself with Knowledge and a good support system (and you have the good support system here) and I know you will win your battle!

P.S. You will never be alone in this battle ever again. That’s the beauty of this forum. I know everyone has been so helpful and you will find some comfort here. (At least I know I did.)