Integrative Medicine?

[zenjess1980]

Has anyone had good success with seeing an integrative medicine doctor? I have an appointment today at 2:30, and hoping to get some answers or at least a starting point. 

[manasota]

I have been to one.  I think the success is totally dependent on the "quality" of the doctor (just like anything else, there are "good ones" and "bad ones").  Also, I think it depends on how many alternative therapies you have already tried.  They might suggest acupuncture, rolfing, NAET, yoga, meditation, diet changes, exercises, etc.  Basically, they combine all Eastern and Western options.  Usually, they are pretty much open to anything that will work for you.  

If you want to read more about it, check out Andrew Weil.  His website offers lots of free tips.  He is big on anti-inflammatory foods.

Good luck!

[ironictruth]

Let me know how this goes. I am seeing one next month too. 

[icelandgirl]

I have not, but have considered it.  I'm really interested in hearing how this goes for you.  Good luck!

[zenjess1980]

Hello everybody. So my appointment went well. He spent the first hour going over the paperwork i filled out, my medical history, and current concerns. He asked me what my top concerns that i wanted to focus on today and i said my allergies, GI issues, and fibromyalgia (next we're working on weaning me off some meds or at least lower doses and supplementing). He also examined me (vitals, listening to my breathing, etc. Then he did acupuncture (which I've had before) and love it. Next he put metallic pin size beads taped to various places in my ears to help with my GI and fibro. He also believes based on my medical history and symptoms I do have either celiac or gluten sensitivity. So starting tomorrow I'll be going gluten free (which I've also done once before after a positive celiac panel, but went back to eating gluten when my biopsy was inconclusive/negative)

He's going out of town for the remainder of April, and I'm going on a cruise the 1st week in May, so I'll see him next the 2nd week in May. Overall a good experience and I'm feeling hopeful  

[zenjess1980]

9 hours ago, manasota said:

I have been to one.  I think the success is totally dependent on the "quality" of the doctor (just like anything else, there are "good ones" and "bad ones").  Also, I think it depends on how many alternative therapies you have already tried.  They might suggest acupuncture, rolfing, NAET, yoga, meditation, diet changes, exercises, etc.  Basically, they combine all Eastern and Western options.  Usually, they are pretty much open to anything that will work for you.  

If you want to read more about it, check out Andrew Weil.  His website offers lots of free tips.  He is big on anti-inflammatory foods.

Good luck!

Thanks! I'll check him out. 

[BDD]

I am glad your first appointment went well. Is this the same thing as functional medicine?

[zenjess1980]

10 hours ago, BDD said:

I am glad your first appointment went well. Is this the same thing as functional medicine?

I'm actually not sure if integrative medicine and functional medicine are the same. 

[Gemini]

On 4/6/2016 at 9:52 PM, zenjess1980 said:

Hello everybody. So my appointment went well. He spent the first hour going over the paperwork i filled out, my medical history, and current concerns. He asked me what my top concerns that i wanted to focus on today and i said my allergies, GI issues, and fibromyalgia (next we're working on weaning me off some meds or at least lower doses and supplementing). He also examined me (vitals, listening to my breathing, etc. Then he did acupuncture (which I've had before) and love it. Next he put metallic pin size beads taped to various places in my ears to help with my GI and fibro. He also believes based on my medical history and symptoms I do have either celiac or gluten sensitivity. So starting tomorrow I'll be going gluten free (which I've also done once before after a positive celiac panel, but went back to eating gluten when my biopsy was inconclusive/negative)

He's going out of town for the remainder of April, and I'm going on a cruise the 1st week in May, so I'll see him next the 2nd week in May. Overall a good experience and I'm feeling hopeful  

I hope you have a marvelous time on your cruise!  It will be a very good thing to do this.  Good for stress levels and a change of scenery is always good for the soul.  I have also heard that cruises do a good job with the gluten free meals so make sure you contact them about that! 

[zenjess1980]

On Thursday, April 07, 2016 at 10:42 AM, Gemini said:

I hope you have a marvelous time on your cruise!  It will be a very good thing to do this.  Good for stress levels and a change of scenery is always good for the soul.  I have also heard that cruises do a good job with the gluten free meals so make sure you contact them about that! 

Thank you

[plumbago]

On 4/5/2016 at 9:52 PM, zenjess1980 said:

He also believes based on my medical history and symptoms I do have either celiac or gluten sensitivity. So starting tomorrow I'll be going gluten free

This is generally not the way to go to confirm a diagnosis of celiac disease. Generally the patient should have blood tests while on a gluten-containing diet. That is the first step. If enough parts of the tests come back positive, a biopsy is then done via endoscopy of the small intestine. This is considered the gold standard, still. A biopsy should be done while the patient is still eating gluten.

I am a big fan of the idea of integrative medicine. The reason I am is that the providers spend more time with the patient. Ideally, they also spend more time thinking about the patient. I believe the idea is to have fewer patients. There are, believe it or not, pros and cons associated with that. The con may be that seeing fewer patients, the provider sees fewer things and is therefore less exposed to different conditions but also different reactions to the same condition. Oh well. Can't have everything! I would like to hear more about your experience with him/her now that it's been one year. But I was a little bit concerned that, pre-testing, your provider was asking you to go gluten-free.