i too cannot completely absolve doctors from their part in my late diagnosis. i'm just lucky i didn't allow them to damage me even further. one doctor wanted to fuse the bones in my feet because he thought what i was dealing with was "stretchy tendons" causing internal swelling. we all know how well RSD reacts to unnecessary surgery. another doctor asked me to immobilize the foot and go non-weight-bearing for six weeks "just to see" if it would help. right. because MORE atrophy is going to make my condition a lot better. doctors aren't omniscient, but they should accept it and pass a patient on when they don't know what to do next.
I have a score of horror stories, but i think this one best highlights the capital-L LAZINESS of some docs:
the first doctor i saw when my foot started hurting, seven years before i would finally get a name for the pain, sat me down in his office and asked me to take my shoe off. JUST my shoe, my sock remained on. he looked at my sock-covered foot for a moment and said "it looks fine to me." i kid you not. i was 18 and dealing with my first solo doctor's appointment (my mother had always insisted on coming with, but i was at college at this point), and i didn't know any better than to leave his office without pressing him further.

also, buckwheat: are two people posting under your screen name? your back to back responses to me seem to be at odds with each other.