It took the message boards and websites to say to my doc "hey, I need to be referred to someone else, someone who can help me" I found knowledge in what I have read and it has been the best thing I could have done. Every doctor I went to has stated virtually the same thing, "sorry I can't help you, your case perplexes me, let me refer you to another doc." It wasn't until my water therapist stated the words RSD and I started doing the research did I finally feel hope. My pain management doc confirmed RSD/CRPS. He is also very optimistic about my recovery/remission from it. (I am still early on in my acquisition.) He was happy to realize, 1. that I have done tons of reading and research, 2. that I was so aggressive as to request that I be seen by him.

Good luck and use the sites and boards as a backbone, as information needed to help you through that next moment, and not as something to fear.