Doctor In L.a.?

[L.A. Girl]

I am a 35 year old L.A. native in desperate need of finding the right doctor in Los Angeles. I have severe allergies and asthma and after being on antibiotics 6 times in 2009 and almost 7 months of prednisone into last year, I said enough was enough. It was time to reclaim my health!

Last year I started researching what could really be making me sick and came across gluten intolerance and celiac. Thank God for some of the books out there and this website!

Needless to say, like many people have found as it seems, there was a lack of information especially in the medical world. I asked all of my doctors- my allergist finally said maybe it was causing my health issues, but would not test me. He seemed not to know enough about it.

I went to a general med doctor who was recommended as "specializing" in celiac and he went ahead and did the testing even though I had been gluten-free for about a month. I of course didn't test positive to celiac, but absolutely know I am gluten-intolerant and always have been. I have been gluten-free for about 8-9 months now and notice such a difference. I only had to be on antibiotics and steroids once or twice this last fall/winter and I am happy to say that my asthma is under control. It is shocking to me how much better I feel- I'm still kind of angry I didn't figure this all out before.

Anyway, the reason, I so desperately need to find the "right" doctor is that I have developed tendonitis in the last year and discovered I am Vitamin D deficient and have an elevated iron level. I have gone to two different doctors for the tendonitis-the current one, an orthopedic surgeon is ridiculously unhelpful.

We have a history of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis as well as diabetes, cancer and I'm sure some other things in our family. I am so sad that my family didn't know about celiac disease even though they took pretty good care of themselves. Who knows, maybe they wouldn't have suffered so much. I have had my rheumatoid baseline done but by that same doctor that did my celiac testing. I was on prednisone at the time, and it probably wasn't a fair reading.

So I am basically looking for a doctor that will be able to do blood work and read it properly, be aware of joint diseases and possibly test for them, will actually listen to my concerns and hopefully be able to help me continue to reclaim and be preventive with my health. I am luckily very healthy otherwise that I know of, but would like to avoid all many severe health problems as I can in the future.

Thanks for listening or reading rather and....Anyone have any advice?

[beebee28]

I am a 35 year old L.A. native in desperate need of finding the right doctor in Los Angeles. I have severe allergies and asthma and after being on antibiotics 6 times in 2009 and almost 7 months of prednisone into last year, I said enough was enough. It was time to reclaim my health!

Last year I started researching what could really be making me sick and came across gluten intolerance and celiac. Thank God for some of the books out there and this website!

Needless to say, like many people have found as it seems, there was a lack of information especially in the medical world. I asked all of my doctors- my allergist finally said maybe it was causing my health issues, but would not test me. He seemed not to know enough about it.

I went to a general med doctor who was recommended as "specializing" in celiac and he went ahead and did the testing even though I had been gluten-free for about a month. I of course didn't test positive to celiac, but absolutely know I am gluten-intolerant and always have been. I have been gluten-free for about 8-9 months now and notice such a difference. I only had to be on antibiotics and steroids once or twice this last fall/winter and I am happy to say that my asthma is under control. It is shocking to me how much better I feel- I'm still kind of angry I didn't figure this all out before.

Anyway, the reason, I so desperately need to find the "right" doctor is that I have developed tendonitis in the last year and discovered I am Vitamin D deficient and have an elevated iron level. I have gone to two different doctors for the tendonitis-the current one, an orthopedic surgeon is ridiculously unhelpful.

We have a history of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis as well as diabetes, cancer and I'm sure some other things in our family. I am so sad that my family didn't know about celiac disease even though they took pretty good care of themselves. Who knows, maybe they wouldn't have suffered so much. I have had my rheumatoid baseline done but by that same doctor that did my celiac testing. I was on prednisone at the time, and it probably wasn't a fair reading.

So I am basically looking for a doctor that will be able to do blood work and read it properly, be aware of joint diseases and possibly test for them, will actually listen to my concerns and hopefully be able to help me continue to reclaim and be preventive with my health. I am luckily very healthy otherwise that I know of, but would like to avoid all many severe health problems as I can in the future.

Thanks for listening or reading rather and....Anyone have any advice?

I've had problems my entire life, and doctors did not have an answer. After being horribly sick, I happened to meet Dr. Tamara Smith and did a consult with her. She listened and asked questions that were relevant, and even expected certain symptoms and asked about them before I even told her. She ran blood tests, I tested positive to celiacs, the beginning of hashimotos thyroid, low adrenals, low hormones, malnourished, candida, chronic fatigue, and allergic to 27 different foods. She knew exactly what tests to be run. I tested normal for hormone and thyroid by other doctors, even though it runs in the family and I clearly am off. I found out that every other doctor ran the wrong tests or didnt know how to read them. She is in Santa Monica if you google her name her contact will come up. She listens and types notes and reccomendations during the office visit and prints them out for you, she spent an hour or more with me at our first meeting. Nothing goes undiscussed! Be prepared to talk about everything that goes into and out of your body lol. She rocks. Im in my early 20's, female, thin, I thought I ate healthy for my body. Every other doctor looked at me and said it was in my head or that they didnt know what was wrong. I wish I found her sooner, I am so much better and getting better every day.

[beebee28]

I am a 35 year old L.A. native in desperate need of finding the right doctor in Los Angeles. I have severe allergies and asthma and after being on antibiotics 6 times in 2009 and almost 7 months of prednisone into last year, I said enough was enough. It was time to reclaim my health!

Last year I started researching what could really be making me sick and came across gluten intolerance and celiac. Thank God for some of the books out there and this website!

Needless to say, like many people have found as it seems, there was a lack of information especially in the medical world. I asked all of my doctors- my allergist finally said maybe it was causing my health issues, but would not test me. He seemed not to know enough about it.

I went to a general med doctor who was recommended as "specializing" in celiac and he went ahead and did the testing even though I had been gluten-free for about a month. I of course didn't test positive to celiac, but absolutely know I am gluten-intolerant and always have been. I have been gluten-free for about 8-9 months now and notice such a difference. I only had to be on antibiotics and steroids once or twice this last fall/winter and I am happy to say that my asthma is under control. It is shocking to me how much better I feel- I'm still kind of angry I didn't figure this all out before.

Anyway, the reason, I so desperately need to find the "right" doctor is that I have developed tendonitis in the last year and discovered I am Vitamin D deficient and have an elevated iron level. I have gone to two different doctors for the tendonitis-the current one, an orthopedic surgeon is ridiculously unhelpful.

We have a history of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis as well as diabetes, cancer and I'm sure some other things in our family. I am so sad that my family didn't know about celiac disease even though they took pretty good care of themselves. Who knows, maybe they wouldn't have suffered so much. I have had my rheumatoid baseline done but by that same doctor that did my celiac testing. I was on prednisone at the time, and it probably wasn't a fair reading.

So I am basically looking for a doctor that will be able to do blood work and read it properly, be aware of joint diseases and possibly test for them, will actually listen to my concerns and hopefully be able to help me continue to reclaim and be preventive with my health. I am luckily very healthy otherwise that I know of, but would like to avoid all many severe health problems as I can in the future.

Thanks for listening or reading rather and....Anyone have any advice?

Also, if you are going to get tested to celiacs you must eat gluten a day before the test so your body will make the antibodies to show up in the blood work! Hope that helps