I have to agree with Marleen, especially if the patient has had RSD for any length of time. We know our bodies and what is normal, what is a flare-up, what is a new symptom, etc.

I have Rheumatoid Arthritis along with the RSD and I have been asked if I could tell the symptoms apart. Since those symptoms are sometimes very similar to each other, that is harder than identifying a *flu*. But for the most part, I can still pretty much tell when a pain is related to the RA or when it is good old RSD.

I do think that some doctors don't want to take the time to diagnose conditions. Unless you are in obvious trauma or having a major emergency, they will commonly answer "wait a week and see what happens."

Mike