Hi CB,

You never know, you might have something other than RSD; there are a host of conditions rather similar. The problem there is that it costs so much in time and money to pursue all possible avenues. Not too many of us have enough of either. I hope you can find as accurate a diagnosis as possible and, for your sake, sincerely hope it's not RSD. Certainly, keep hoping that the problems are mechanical and therefore fixable.

But Lisa, you didn't find a miracle cure for RSD, did you, because in the end you discovered you didn't have RSD. Good for you to keep plugging away at the medics; but in the end your case was simply one of misdiagnosis and, luckily for you, the real condition was fixable. Hardly a miracle cure for RSD, though.

And I completely understand what you felt, because I personally still feel my own problems may be due to mechanical problem. Like you, I feel the centre of the pain in the exact same place I felt it when I broke my arm.

But they've done all the tests I can either afford or persuade them to do (government health service, good but slow, and not imaginative...) and there is still a lingering suspicion in a corner of my mind that what's wrong with me isn't RSD, but nerve entrapment - I don't, for example, get rashes or cyanosis, although in the last year my hand and arm have gone a dry grey rather than the previous hot red.

They offered me an arthroscopy, to clean up the break site and peer around - but OMG, look at the statistics on how many people get RSD after an arthroscopy. Seriously scary. I'm lucky, my RSD isn't nearly as bad as everyone else's, so I decided to stick with the devil I know, since Neurontin really works well for me, keeping the pain at a just tolerable level. It's 3 years now, and hasn't spread (yet...). Very difficult decision, in view of the fact that it is possible that an arthroscopy just might fix my left arm problems. Oh well.

The thing is, Lisa, there really are people with actual RSD and while you may be right that some of us could eventually discover we've been misdiagnosed, it does *not* sound to me like 71% of this particular forum has nerve entrapment rather than RSD...

Still, CB, no harm in pursuing every avenue... you could start by getting tested for Lyme disease, rather similar and often completely overlooked. I know your problems began with a physical injury, but just a thought.

all the best