Hi Lisa,

I completely agree that hope is essential, of course, and that there are a fair few other conditions with similar symptoms. And I agree that misdiagnosis must happen, as you see, I have a 2% suspicion about my own diagnosis.

If one does have RSD, however, I'm not sure how helpful it is to treat it, as an ongoing situation, as if it isn't; though I think in my own case the treatment would be very similar anyway, and I suspect that only surgery would really sort me out, I have a few bone shards still in my wrist area. But I won't personally allow blocks or anything too invasive till I'm either 100% certain or too badly affected.

Should I be dealing with it like this? I don't know the answer, I'm just going with my gut instinct - which has let me down a few times, I can tell you LOL.

BTW, I wouldn't pay much attention to Dr. Hendler's article in the Pan Arab Journal of Neurosurgery, about CRPS Type 1 and misdiagnosis. His 71% is of 38 people in a single study, with Type 1, and he bases much of his premise on two papers, one by Dr. DM Long - on the advisory board of that Journal but hey, so what - written in 1982 (an advocate of sympathectomy if the blocks work!) and the other Dr. R Payne, written in 1986.

He says at the start of that paper that "Before referral to the Mensana Clinic 16/38 patients never received a sympathetic block, which is considered one of the essential diagnostic tests needed to confirm the presence of CRPS Type 1" - there's no reference given for that statement, but I couldn't find anything recent to support it. It certainly isn't in the Guidelines, either US or Dutch.

And that's just the beginning, but I'm very tired tonight, that'll do. Frankly, I wasn't just unimpressed by that paper, I think that in view of his very swanky private clinic, well....he's probably got a few Middle Eastern clients - but then, I'm a terrible cynic.

Anyway, you are quite right to urge hope upon us all, I'm very glad to hear you're doing so well now, take care,

all the best