I am not angry at you but at the ignorance, incompetence and attitude of the Uk specialists. I have been treated by or spoken face to face with 7 of them. Not one had ever heard of let alone read any of the American and Dutch papers I spoke of and only one asked for the links to bring himself uptodate and considering some of them were 10 years old thats appalling. Dr Shenker at Addenbrookes sent me to their PSSU without telling them my condition or how I needed to be Handled result 6 days later in the Acute Care ward of another Hospital with an infection upto my shoulder and 6 or 7 DVT's in the arm. He also tried to raise funds for me to go to germany for the 5 day Ketamine Coma at least 18 months after they banned it because some people hadn,t come out of the coma and at least one death. The last one summed up their attitude, "I'm only interested in whats happening in the UK"

I'm glad that you aren't angry with me.

I agree that there is a gross lack of even basic knowledge about CRPS amongst those in the UK who would regard themselves as the "experts". It is astonishing but, sadly, also my experience, that in the whole of the UK, there is nobody who has up to date, accurate or comprehensive knowledge of the condition. The total apathy and complete lack of interest is even worse.

It is a situation that made me very frustrated and also angry for a long time, especially after going abroad to see genuine experts with the very latest research information and an active interest in the condition. However, going abroad gave at least me the vindication that I was right all along about my condition and the particular symptom profile I have. It also confirmed that I had already tried all of the possible therapies available in the UK. Finally, it confirmed what I believed I already knew, namely that there is actually nothing else available even outside of the UK that could help with my particular CRPS symptom profile.

The frustration and anger only serves to increase the pain and severity of my symptoms so I have largely learned to let it go. That way I can better manage my condition day to day. I don't know what the answer is for you. If you are determined to campaign for better knowledge and treatment, I hope you are able to find a way to energise yourself whilst shedding the anger since that, more than anything else, will increase the severity of your symptoms and make life feel so much more hopeless.