Post by NatThom on Jan 23, 2015 9:40:22 GMT -5
Hello,
I was wondering if we could start a thread about the practitioners you use and talk about the location, pros, and cons - I'm looking for recommendations and I think anti-recommendations are just as important! I'll add my experience but I'm on the hunt, so I hope this helps people.
AVOID:
realfoodforager.com/about/ unless you think your problem is simple and easily fixed. She's a GAPS practitioner (and chiro) in Long Island, NY.
scdlifestyle.com again, unless you think your problems are simple. They have cookie cutter approaches, and even though they say they can do "touch cases," if their approach doesn't work for you, tough luck. As someone medically trained, I also find them uneducated. A waste of money. (over the phone)
On the fence:
Chris Kresser -
Pros: I think he'd be more equipped to deal with people in person in his office and with those who can work directly with the MDs he employs. He certainly is intelligent and thinks outside the box. He/his employers are quick to respond online.
Cons: He will not work with any of your other health care providers. He will only look at tests that he has done, so you may end up wasting money repeating tests. Also, I'm lucky to work with a GP that will run any test I bring to him, but I have no idea how it would work if you saw a very conventional GP and showed up with blood tubes and said, "Can you pull my blood so I can send it to a quack doctor in CA?" It's very expensive and hard to get an appointment with him.
Dr. Mark Costa, Enhanced Medical Care in Waban, MA
He is an MD and primary care physician. He is interested in functional medicine and is open to alternative approaches. He is usually easy to talk to and open to your ideas. I have worked with him for almost a year. However, I'm looking to leave him. It is a concierge practice and there is a $4,000 base fee so they can "coordinate your medical care." In my opinion, it was not at all worth it and I won't be paying that again. Maybe if you had all the time and money to devote to seeing specialists it would be worth it to you, but I'm a very busy grad student, and don't have time to get opinion after opinion. You also have to stay on top of them a little to make sure they're putting their talk into action, which I would have hoped the $4,000 was for. I'm also in the conundrum right now that Kresser wants me on LDN but Dr. Costa won't prescribe it.
Looking forward:
Dr. Costa wants me to work with Dr. Jill Carnahan (in CO), an MD and FMD. She would be taking the place of Kresser, I guess. The benefit would be that she would work directly with them, talk to them about me, and because they know her personally, they would be more likely to take her advice. I'm not sure if it will be worth it if 1. she does not recommend LDN and 2. I leave Dr. Costa in a couple months anyway.
ardisfisch.com/about-me/
I just read on a forum from a couple years ago that she prescribes LDN and sometimes that's the only reason people see her. Any experience? She's in Western MA, which is 1.5 hrs from me, so I wouldn't be able to make seeing her a habit.
I'm really hoping this thread brings people ideas about MDs, mostly. Many of us are in a position where we need prescriptions, so it would be great to have open-minded MDs.
I will also need B12 injections for the rest of my life. My conventional GI gave me an rx for monthly cyanocobalamin injections but when I switched to Dr. Costa, after several months of pushing (and genetic testing to show I have the homozygous MTHFR mutation), he prescribed me methylcobalamin through a compounding pharmacy. I would like to be able to keep up with that, in addition to adding LDN.
I was wondering if we could start a thread about the practitioners you use and talk about the location, pros, and cons - I'm looking for recommendations and I think anti-recommendations are just as important! I'll add my experience but I'm on the hunt, so I hope this helps people.
AVOID:
realfoodforager.com/about/ unless you think your problem is simple and easily fixed. She's a GAPS practitioner (and chiro) in Long Island, NY.
scdlifestyle.com again, unless you think your problems are simple. They have cookie cutter approaches, and even though they say they can do "touch cases," if their approach doesn't work for you, tough luck. As someone medically trained, I also find them uneducated. A waste of money. (over the phone)
On the fence:
Chris Kresser -
Pros: I think he'd be more equipped to deal with people in person in his office and with those who can work directly with the MDs he employs. He certainly is intelligent and thinks outside the box. He/his employers are quick to respond online.
Cons: He will not work with any of your other health care providers. He will only look at tests that he has done, so you may end up wasting money repeating tests. Also, I'm lucky to work with a GP that will run any test I bring to him, but I have no idea how it would work if you saw a very conventional GP and showed up with blood tubes and said, "Can you pull my blood so I can send it to a quack doctor in CA?" It's very expensive and hard to get an appointment with him.
Dr. Mark Costa, Enhanced Medical Care in Waban, MA
He is an MD and primary care physician. He is interested in functional medicine and is open to alternative approaches. He is usually easy to talk to and open to your ideas. I have worked with him for almost a year. However, I'm looking to leave him. It is a concierge practice and there is a $4,000 base fee so they can "coordinate your medical care." In my opinion, it was not at all worth it and I won't be paying that again. Maybe if you had all the time and money to devote to seeing specialists it would be worth it to you, but I'm a very busy grad student, and don't have time to get opinion after opinion. You also have to stay on top of them a little to make sure they're putting their talk into action, which I would have hoped the $4,000 was for. I'm also in the conundrum right now that Kresser wants me on LDN but Dr. Costa won't prescribe it.
Looking forward:
Dr. Costa wants me to work with Dr. Jill Carnahan (in CO), an MD and FMD. She would be taking the place of Kresser, I guess. The benefit would be that she would work directly with them, talk to them about me, and because they know her personally, they would be more likely to take her advice. I'm not sure if it will be worth it if 1. she does not recommend LDN and 2. I leave Dr. Costa in a couple months anyway.
ardisfisch.com/about-me/
I just read on a forum from a couple years ago that she prescribes LDN and sometimes that's the only reason people see her. Any experience? She's in Western MA, which is 1.5 hrs from me, so I wouldn't be able to make seeing her a habit.
I'm really hoping this thread brings people ideas about MDs, mostly. Many of us are in a position where we need prescriptions, so it would be great to have open-minded MDs.
I will also need B12 injections for the rest of my life. My conventional GI gave me an rx for monthly cyanocobalamin injections but when I switched to Dr. Costa, after several months of pushing (and genetic testing to show I have the homozygous MTHFR mutation), he prescribed me methylcobalamin through a compounding pharmacy. I would like to be able to keep up with that, in addition to adding LDN.