Fortunately for me, my family and doctors do truly beleive I'm having this pain. And I have become very educated about all things neurological and being my own advocate. That has helped me to get a very extensive work up to rule out everything from HIV to parneoplastic syndromes, thanks to my assertiveness with Doctors. I feel that I am doing the best I can and that I have had every possible test to rule out something that could be causing my symptoms, at this point. I'm so thankful that I'm educated enough to be able to talk intelligently to my Dr. about my care, and that I'm not some little old lady who doesn't know what to ask.

But, as someone who suffered a painful bladder condition for 15 years before getting diagnosed, I can honestly say that getting a diagnosis can help one emotionally cope with their condition. It helps with the grieving process. With a diagnosis there is a sense of finality, and allows one to then move on to the other stages of grief.

But you are right, hope, education, and finding the right management of the pain is key. And even if I don't get a firm diagnosis, I am working with my doctors to find the right symptom relief. But it may not necessarily be true that the treatment would only be symptomatic relief with or without a diagnosis. If an underlying condition were to be found, then sometimes treatment of that can also slow down progression or even reverse damage.

Its all about finding a balance, between looking for a cause (without over testing) and treating the pain.