My Holistic MD "gets fired"

We went camping for a few days, I rested up a day now at home, and "I'M BAAACK!" Thank you God for the beautiful camping trip!

Oh where do I START!!!


Well, I will start with what she did that was good for me, I guess, she did help me even if some of it was purely "by accident" (Thank you God!)

Good Things(that sounds like Martha Stewart, I AM not Martha! haha)

1)She found my vitamin B12 deficiency (YOU CAN DIE from this! Get your B12 checked!)

2)She told me about uva ursi for urinary tract infections(because I am allergic to cranberries)

3)After "prodding" her with questions, on our third visit she said "in her professional medical opinion"she would focus on heavy metal testing, parasites and testing for blood viruses for Lupus(I Don't Know WHY She Didn't say that FIRST thing this was my THIRD! visit to her after asking her questions)

4)Told me about NeuroScience(will explain in a later post)

5) She gave me a stool test to take from Genova Labs for parasites and digestion(I will send it out soon)

6) She tested my homocysteine and checked my heart by eccocardiogram and that put me at peace that my heart is OK

7) She said my blood work was so GREAT she didn't expect to see such great blood work on a Lupus patient(lots of work goes into that with diet/supplements)

On to the rest of our "time" together the doctor and I.
Annoying things...

The first thing she said was " Toni you need to see one doctor(her, of course)" Well I HIT THE ROOF! My blood was pounding in my head and heart, I felt like I would explode! I said I could see any doctor/s that I see fit to treat my Lupus, then she back peddled and said she wanted to "orchestrate" and pick all my doctors SORRY! NOT!!!!

Said B12 had nothing to do with my heart palpitations. Every site I looked at said heart palpitations was a number one symptom of B12 deficency. (leaning to one side of sidewalk(feeling off balance) and hard to take a deep breath and fatigue were other things that have been being corrected with B12 for me also along with much less palpitations--- oh and bloody noses went away too)

At first, said I don't need a test for Celiac Disease "just because" on our first visit, the second visit she OK'd it, but after taking her prescription to Dr. Peter Green at a Celiac talk he said her prescription tests would not be plausible if I am not eating gluten now. When I told her that, she fought the idea, I said it is PETER GREEN he is a Celiac Specialist, that's all he does... HELLO...???!!!!

She also didn't seem to know about B6 toxicity and causing nerve problems in high doses...again read the articles on the internet..

Despite my low D3 for quite some time she said I was too young for a bone density scan for osteoporosis OK now she was bordering on RETARDED! (I will test for osteoporosos through another doctor)

At this third visit she said that "In her personal opinion" she would focus on heavy metal testing, parasite testing and testing for blood viruses(OK why did it take 3 visits and tons of questions that day to DRAG that out!!)

She didn't believe miconutrient testing would prove anything...GOOD MORNING look what magnesium and B12 and D3 supplementation has done for me and my symptoms! I probably have other deficiencies as well!

She didn't like that my NAET practicioner said not to take the Xymogenics shake that she prescribed. She just said I needed to "clear" a few more allergies before I take it.

Also I am driving quite a distance to see this doctor and my copay went up now from $25 a visit to $45! Sorry she is NOT worth it.

Also thank you God for the strength it took to "stand up" to the doctor and ask those questions(I am a very mild mannered, quiet person) . I had my question list in my hand, and after she told me I needed to see only one doctor, her of course,I almost walked out but then remembered I paid $45 for this visit and I was going to get what I wanted and my monies' worth! I said to her I want my questions answered today, that is all I want accomplished today, and please go to your office so we can talk, it was like I wasn't me...again thank you God for the strength it took, all things are possible with God!

Have a GREAT day and focus on the good things, things that make you smile,that happen today, even if you can only find one or two they are 1 or 2 blessings that you didn't have yesterday!

So where am I now? How is my Lupus? almost Spring 2009

Well right now after all my hard work and having changed my diet for over a year now, I still have double stranded DNA, I have antiphospholipid antibodies, I have a positive ANA, I still have some painful days. I get very stiff joints some days. I still seem to have sun sensitivity but will check more when the weather gets warmer, I am in NY and it is still winter and very chilly here. I am very tired (fatigued) some days, more than others.

I have figured out that my red face means I have eaten something my body doesn't agree with, either an allergy or an intolerance. I figured out that my face would get red(Lupus rash) when I eat wheat, tomatoes or tomato sauce, or corn, (also when I am in the sun too long.) I figured this out through keeping a food/symptom diary.

On the positive side, my face rarely gets red anymore, my migraines have gone away, my acid reflux went away, my restless leg syndrome went away, I lost 30lbs, and my cholesterol went down 14 points(I don't eat cheese/dairy or red meat, very little chicken, no eggs because of my allergies and being health conscious). I have no sores on my face or scalp(discoid Lupus), they went away. Where I had sores on my scalp the hair has grown back!(I've read that the scarring from the discoid Lupus makes that impossible. BOLONEY!) Another positive is I haven't caught a cold in a very long time(my kids have been sick and I didn't catch their illnesses either!)

I am not on any medications at this time, not even aspirin, but I do supplement my Vitamin D-3 and calcium and magnesium. I also take UltraInflamex360 Plus by Metagenics that was given to me from the chiropractor/nutritionist. It has lots of ginger and turmeric(anti-inflamatory and blood thinning) and vitamins in it. I also try to eat as much healthy anti inflammatory, and other blood thinning foods as well.

I get monthly chiropractic treatments as well as craniosacral treatments.

I try to get exercise each day, just a little, if I am feeling too tired, I find the exercise lessens the stiffness, even if I am very stiff at the beginning.

Because of possible kidney problems with Lupus I don't eat very much salt and try to have VERY little fried food if at all, also dry foods are not good, like chips, rice cakes etc.

One thing that is hard to hide is my frustration with doctors. I feel that doctors form their own opinions and many of doctors are very hard to talk to. For instance I had been seeing 5 doctors at one time, an GYN Oncologist(I had pre cancerous cells in my cervix), a dermatologist specialist, a breast surgeon(had a possible mass in my breast), my general physician, and my rheumatologist and all 5 doctors knew I had Lupus with sun sensitivity and none of them told me to get tested for Vitamin D deficiency. Finally the chiropractor/nutritionist asked me to get tested, but my blood work would not be covered with my insurance through her, so she asked me to see if my general physician would order the test. After fighting with him, he finally tested me and my D levels were extremely low! I thought Vitamin D was in the news so much lately that surely all doctors were aware of the importance of testing and supplementing if a person had low levels but that just wasn't the case!

If you find a doctor that you can talk to and trust, this is worth it's weight in gold! Be very thankful if you have such a doctor!