In most cases I doubt it's so much we aren't believed as it is there's no sympathy. All people know pain and most have to deal with it. It's hard for someone who isn't familiar with RSD to understand that this pain is just different. It not only tends to be much more intense but it is much more difficult to ignore and it changes you. It becomes a part of who you are. When a doctor doesn't believe the pain then it's time to consider a new doctor. It's difficult to find any who really understand but many of them are familiar with the course of the disease and familiar with what patients go through. It's hard to expect any person to really understand when I don'yt really understand it myself.