Had my OT appt for SSDI...this doc squeezed, poked and prodded me to death and I am soooo sore!! He kept squeezing my left leg and right arm so much I wanted to punch him...he kept asking me about my back and my back is not the problem. Then, he did a test to see if I knew the difference between soft and "scratchy" with the end of a paper clip...I started crying when he ran the scratchy part down my left leg AND he kept going....he acted like he had no idea what RSD was and he didn't care. I finally had to tell him to stop or I was going to pass out from the pain and burning....he looked at me like I was nuts! This is the reason why I really hate doctors!

Sorry about your SSDI appointment.

I filed for SSDI about 2.5 weeks ago. I got a call last week from them and the gentlemen asked me if I would be available to see a doctor. I told him I need some advance notice as I don't drive very often anymore and I have to physc my self up for it....

I then called him today about something and he told me he had all my medical and had already sent it to QA to ensure everything is filled out properly and that I should now by the end of the week or maybe beginning of next week about the decision.

My VA Medical Stuff is about 4" thick from the RSD and I also have more medical from another doctor on my tarsal tunnel syndrome...

I had read it usually takes months and months for a decision. SO I am thinking that if it was that fast... it may not be the decision I wanted...

Sorry you had such a rough (errr......or scratchy day ) Cin

Was it a doctor or an OT ?

This is the reason, I think, my wife will be denied her SSDI. She refuses to go through any torture at all to prove she's ill with RSD. She's very stubborn that way and I don't blame her at all. She is now being told to perform like a circus animal (FCE test) to show she can no longer sell tickets at the local 3 ring circus. To me if one has RSD both severely in the beginning stage and ragged out from the disease after working 4 years with it and then fired when you could no longer work, you should receive the insurance you paid for for years if not decades of labor!

I agree Jim, I pray for your wife everyday because I know she is way worse than me....I pray that she finds that little bit of strength inside her one day to be able to go through the motions of SSDI....I can tell you that they honestly put you through enough stress during the test. I have Cerebral Palsy and the nurse "scoffed" at me and of course said "you don't LOOK like you have CP" I should have comeback with something good, but I was in so much pain that it took everything not to punch her. They kept giving me directions so fast that I had to ask them to repeat what they were saying....very frustrating! And I'm not sure if he was an OT or a doc.

Thank you cindi. I'm sorry you have to go through this nonsense, it just makes me very sad, and very angry those in pain are treated this way. If you have a firm diagnoses, that should be enough as far as I'm concerned, end of story! I just don't get why I, a printer by trade, can feel for others, yet many of those who are in the medical field seem to have total contempt and mistrust of patients, I just don't get it. And if its because they want to weed out fraud, that's fine, but who in the hell fakes RSD? NO ONE CAN and not for long even if attempted.

One thing I've learned is there are many out there with RSD that are worse off than my wife. Yes, it has spread to her other limbs, swollen issues, color changes. If her original injury was her leg instead she'd be on crutches or a wheel chair but it was in her arm. A casual look at Suzy you'd think she is just fine, a closer look tells a different story all together. She's tough, refused any evasive treatment and I mean every, regardless. She tries hard to take the minimum amount of meds if possible to the point of severe pain, which bothers the both of us. The stress is the thing that hurts her RSD more than anything, I believe, in which this SSDI business is contributing to.
Take care cindi, I pray this witch hunt procedure is over once and for all!

jim