Well, I've certainly met QUITE a few so called medical professionals who I've been tempted to 'deck' since I started with RSD.......so I can't guarantee that you'll have luck avoiding them if you follow my advice.....

If the hand rsd that started it all was dx'd by a hand specialist, who has dx'd all of the new areas ?

You asked specifically about seeing a pain doc. I don't believe seeing a pain doc is a necessity for ALL rsd'ers. I do believe it can be helpful for many of us.

Despite what I have read in their promo materials, the pain clinics that I have seen don't seem to have the dedication to "evaluating the cause of your pain and determining an interdisciplinary plan to help alleviate your symptoms" that they promise My experience has been that they seem to offer injections and procedures (trigger point injections, nerve blocks, SCS's, etc), but NOT the diagnostic skills, interdisciplinary plan (PT, accupuncture, counseling), or maintanence with oral meds that many chronic pain patients require.

The (non injection) meds that can help many rsd'ers usually (in my area and from what I've read on here) aren't prescribed by a pain doc. That has never made much sense to me, but I'm just a patient Those types of meds more often are prescribed by a primary doc or neurologist 'managing' the rsd. Some of the meds frequently used include narcotics, anti seizure meds (Neurontin/Lyrica), anti-inflammatories, anti-depressants (Cymbalta, Savella, Elavil, etc), topical meds.

None of the 'traditional' meds will make your legs feel stronger, but IF they help you FEEL better, you may be able to move better, exercise more, and get your legs stronger. I was having severe issues with L leg weakness/giving out on me several months ago.

My rsd is not in my legs, but in my neck/thoracic outlet area. I also have fibro and have tendonitis in both elbows, both knees, and bursitis in both hips. The knees and the hips were ALL acting up something awful. Had to have help getting out of chairs, couldn't manage stairs, numb L leg when walking, few falls, lots of banging into walls. Numbness L saddle region (including labia, occ incontinence)

I had a strange sequence of events. Saw a new shrink, re-started on Cymbalta, . Went on vacation and couldn't do what I wanted to because of difficulty ambulating. Got call on vacation that my mom fell and broke her back.....hurried home for her surgery. Worried about my own mobility AND trying to help mom (I"m a nurse.....or I was until rsd hit). Saw orthopedist, got steroid injection to L hip. Saw neuro, went up on narcotic dosages so that I could try to exercise more.

2 months later........walking about 4 miles a day, helping care for mom, like having a new body (still not a 'great' body by most people's standards, still dealing with chronic pain, but so much more functional than I was)

Now another 2 months later......I am WELL overdue for another hip injection. That is my worst lower extremity area and it seems when that goes downhill, everything does. I have GOT to get that taken care of soon !

Notice there was NO pain doc in there ?

There were other docs though, who are helping me manage my rsd and the fall out from it.

And I look forward to adding the pain clinic back into the mix because I'm also long overdue for nerve blocks to my neck, but waiting on WC approval.

If you have the right doc overseeing your rsd plan and you know what options are out there, you may not NEED to see a pain doc right now. Seeing SOMEONE though, I think is CRITICAL.

Are you still working ? If you need to apply for SSDI, or get an SSDI review in a few years, you will NEED documentation from a doc managing your rsd.