My story-.

Everyone with RSD has a story.  How the injury happened.  How long they suffered before they were diagnosed.  What limb and body parts have been affect by this chronic condition.
It was 2002, and my best friend was driving on aback road to get gas. It has just started to rain,and *Smith wasn't very experienced at driving.  We went around a sharp corner, and he tap his break.  I saw my life flash before my eyes,and the next thing I knew,we had spun into a telephone pole, on the passengers side.
Luckily I was wearing my seat belt.  But little did I know that the minor whiplash I had encored would change my life forever.
Over the next few months, I suffered shoulder pain, more excruciating than I could possibly describe.  I learn to cope with the pain, by lessening my daily activity, using heat.,and taking ibuprofen on a regular bases.  The doctor I saw for my shoulder told my I might have injured my rotator cuff while sleeping, and sent me to physical therapy.
Four years later, the pain had only intensified. I was living now on medicare, which barely covered any of my health costs.  My only option was to see a chiropractor. She would snap and massage my muscles, which helped me get through my sleepless night. I was on my third bed by now, trying to see if it would help my shoulder.
I told my doctor that I was getting numbness in my arm.  She tested me for Lyme disease and when it came back negative,told me I must have had a vitamin B deficiency, and gave me a shot 'to help'.
Nothing was helping anymore.  And I only help alone. I kept quiet,and learned to cope.
In 2003, I had become engaged to my wonderful partner, Steve*, and we decided to try and conceive. My seizures were pretty much under control, and we wanted to start a family.  In September, Caleb* came into our lives, perfectly healthy.
And several months later, I was ready to figure out once and for all what was causing the pain in my left arm.  I went through a total of 3 primary cares, 3 chiropractors, 2 orthopedic surgeons, 4 neurologists, 3 psychiatrists, and a physiotherapist before I was finally diagnosed with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, 8 years after my initial injury.
A pain management doctor looked at all of my symptoms, all of my tests, and all of my information, and finally took the time to put all of the pieces together. 
It has been very frustrating, not only for me, but my loved ones as well.  But in the end, it has been worth it.  Since the initial accident, my RSD has spread down to my left leg, and into my foot.  I have trouble walking, and writing (I am left handed).  I can only pick up my son for short amounts of time.  My journey is far from over. And so my journal begins.