To be more accurate, I gave up the job that was encroaching on so much of my life and have started my own venture, which (fortunately) leaves enough time to keep up the work on RSD Alert. So, I am happy to confirm that I am continuing with RSD Alert.

Featured in this Newsletter are-

1. Team appreciation
2. Offers to join the Team?
3. "Living with RSDS"
4. What is RSD?
5. Who are RSD Alert?
6. Mailing List

1. Team appreciation
RSD Alert could not continue without our international Team of volunteer helpers. As you may gather from my opening comments, my job as Editor is demanding, but without the Team it would be impossible.

Considering the number of people who visit the website (around 30,000 per month) we do not have a huge 'postbag'. But those who do write in are answered by the helpers you see on our Contact page - http://www.rsdalert.co.uk/team/index.htm - all of them volunteers who fit the work into their busy lives. Some of our Team also have severe health problems of their own to deal with, but they all deserve a big THANK YOU.

With regret, we have had to say goodbye to two of our team over the past couple of months. Pam, from Brisbane, Australia, had to give up after a very severe bout of health problems. Wendy, from Wellington, New Zealand has also had to leave us because of an increasingly busy life. We miss them both (though they keep in touch) and I want to make this public appreciation of the contribution they have made over the past couple of years.

2. Offers to join the Team?
It is time to bring the Team back up to strength and I am asking for volunteers, please. WE are looking for people with some knowledge and experience of RSD/CRPS - but you don't have to be an expert. The main qualification is a caring heart and a willingness to 'listen'. All sorts of people write in to RSD Alert; some want information, but most want simply to share their experience and be reassured that they are not alone. Chronic pain can be an isolating experience and it often helps just to know that someone else knows and understands how you feel.

If you would like to become a Team member and help with the emails, please send me an email and explain your circumstances, what part of the world you live in and why you would like to help. Obviously, we don't accept every offer; but we really appreciate genuine help from appropriate correspondents.

3. "Living with RSDS"
I live in Britain, but I was visiting the USA a few weeks ago and called into a Borders bookstore in Maryland. As I was browsing through the shelves, my daughter-in-law brought me a book she thought would interest me. It did. It was "Living with RSDS" by Peter Moskowitz. Priced at US$16.95 or £8.82 it is a good information source that many of you will appreciate. It also includes many personal stories (just like RSD Alert). When I turned to the "Recommended Websites" section I was utterly convinced of the author's good taste… He recommends RSD Alert! Look for the book in your local store, or buy it online through Amazon.

4. What is RSD?
Due to the popularity of our Drugs section many of our visitors come with no knowledge of RSD. We appreciate your visits and would like you to help share information about this quite common, but often unrecognised chronic pain condition. RSD stands for Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy and, because of lack of coordination among health professionals working on this in the past, it is also known under several other names. The 'official' name with the professionals is Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). The key word is "pain" and RSD pain is something you do not want to experience. Typically it is a hot burning sensation that has been compared to putting your hand into a pan of boiling water and keeping it there. It is a condition that makes no sense, because it typically follows injury (or surgery) to a limb (arm, hand, leg, ankle) that has already healed by the time the RSD symptoms manifest. It often has other symptoms like paralysis, swelling, redness, shiny skin surface, unusual growth of skin hairs or illogical feelings of cold or heat. The true causes have not been identified, but it is clearly centred in the nervous system. Many patients get past the stage of visible swelling or discolouration and still suffer extreme pain, which results in a lot of misunderstanding. Work colleagues, friends, family, and sometimes even the doctors can't understand how the patient can be suffering so much with no visible symptoms. That's why RSD patients often feel lonely. If you do not have RSD, but you know someone who does - give them all the support you can; they need your care.

5. Who are RSD Alert?
During the past 12 months the RSD Alert website welcomed over 300,000 visitors, so we are a pretty popular website. Our aim is to spread information about RSD/CRPS and share experiences reported by the many thousands of people who suffer from this painful condition. We do not raise funds; we do not aim to be a "help-group"; we are not a club; we are not a charity. Our aim is to work alongside the many other groups and organisations who do all those things and to give them support and encouragement. We describe ourselves as the international e-magazine for the RSD world.

We have some very popular sections, the most prolific is Drugs on RSD Alert which has many pages that come top of the list in major search engines. The next most popular sections are Storyboard and Treatments on RSD Alert. The whole venture is coordinated from a small office in a private home in Bristol, England. And the reason why we are here is because some of us found relief as the result of quick diagnosis, good information and appropriate care. We want more people to share that privilege.

Keep sending in information, news and suggestions to keep the site up-to-date. And keep telling other people about RSD.

7. Mailing List
You received this Newsletter because you are on our Mailing List. You got on the list because you wrote to us, you signed our Guest Book or you submitted information or your story for publication. We do not share our Mailing List with anyone… it is confidential and is kept in only one place. If you prefer not to be on the list, please send us an email with the Subject "Please remove". If you have received this Newsletter from someone else and want to be added to the list, please send us an email with the Subject "Please add my name".

We don't send out many Newsletters (this is our ninth in five years) but we hope you find them encouraging.

Thanks for being involved. Be as pain-free as you can but, in any case, don't give up.

Derrick Phillips
(RSD Alert Editor)