Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Seattle Doc

JT09

By JT09
in Doctors

Recommended Posts

JT09 Newbie
JT09
Posted

I was hoping someone could suggest a good MD and/or ND in the Seattle/Bellevue area... or just Washington State!

I have not been officially diagnosed with Celiac but I would be willing to bet my right arm I have it and just need a good doc that will work with me.

I had a pretty bad experience with Eastside Gastro in Kirkland, so Im not really looking to go back there - short version of the story is my doc at the time mis heard, and incorrectly documented my symptoms I told him I was having so he insisted I only needed a colonoscopy and not an endoscopy - at the time I had not done much looking into all of this so I trusted he knew what he was doing. Needless to say as both a patient and an RN I am totally not impressed.

Any and all suggestions would be much appreciated!

  • 2 weeks later...
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


WitsEnd Rookie
WitsEnd
Posted

I like Dr Koch at Virginia Mason, however he admitted to not having a lot of experience with gluten intolerance (my issue) but he does have a few Celiac patients. He was very nice and actually listened to me though, which is more than I got elsewhere. Unfortunately there seems to be a shortage of celiac docs in the Seattle area.

As a side note, I would not go to Dr Zisman at UWMC...he treated me very poorly.

Juliebove Rising Star
Juliebove
Posted

Puget Sound Gastroenterology. They have offices in Edmonds and Mill Creek and possibly North Seattle. I see Dr. Chaffee there. So does my dad. My daughter sees Dr. Schnier. So does my Sis in law.

cyberprof Enthusiast
cyberprof
Posted

I go to Susan McCormick MD at Virginia Mason. I went to see her after seeing another GI doc at VM who diagnosed me. Since I was only Marsh I, he said that I "didn't have to be strict on the gluten-free diet" since I wasn't showing much GI damage and he also refused to order biopsies for colitis when he was ordering my age 50+ routine colonoscopy.(I wanted to rule out colitis, as celiacs have a higher risk of getting some types of colitis.)

At VM, the coloscopies and Endoscopies are pot-luck, you get whoever is on that day and that's how I got my first GI doctor. When Dr. McCormick saw me to do the colonoscopy, the first words out of her mouth were "We're going to biopsy for colitis, because with celiac you're at higher risk." I had been planning to ask/plead for it but she beat me to it. So she may not be a specialist but she is aware of celiac and adults. When I saw her for follow-up, she wanted to know my symptoms if I get gluten accidentally and asked other health questions related to celiac (like osteoporosis) and ordered vitamin screening for deficiencies, 5+ years after diagnosis and gluten-free diet.

burdee Enthusiast
burdee
Posted

Dr. Stephen Wangen, ND founded the IBS Treatment Center (located in North Seattle near Northgate Mall). He has celiac disease and several food allergies. So he understands the confusing symptoms and frustrating diagnostic process. I saw him for 4 years while he diagnosed my food allergies (with ELISA tests) and diagnosed and treated my 8 different gastrointestinal infections (bacteria, parasites and fungus).

Dr. Wendy Ellis, ND works at the Tahoma Clinic North (near Lake City in No. Seattle). She figured out why I got so many gastro infections (8) over a 4 year period and understands all the complications of long undiagnosed celiac disease (nutritional deficiencies, leaky gut problems and other autoimmune conditions which can also impair immunity). She's very knowledgable about hormonal problems (estrogen/progesterone, thyroid, adrenal fatigue, etc.).

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,398
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Megannnnn
    Newest Member
    Megannnnn
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Scott Adams
      Coeliac UK Research Conference 2025

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      Thanks for sharing this!
    • Scott Adams
      Shingles - Could It Be Related to Gluten/ Celiac

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      I had the same thing happen to me at around your age, and to this day it's the most painful experience I've ever had. For me it was the right side of my head, above my ear, running from my nerves in my neck. For years before my outbreak I felt a tingling sensation shooting along the exact nerves that ended up exactly where the shingles blisters appeared. I highly recommend the two shot shingles vaccine as soon as your turn 50--I did this because I started to get the same tingling sensations in the same area, and after the vaccines I've never felt that again.  As you likely know, shingles is caused by chicken pox, which was once though of as one of those harmless childhood viruses that everyone should catch in the wild--little did they know that it can stay in your nervous system for your entire life, and cause major issues as you age.
    • trents
      Blood tests low iGA 4 years later digestive issues

      By trents · Posted

      Keep us posted.
    • Clear2me
      Gluten free nuts

      By Clear2me · Posted

      Thanks for the info. I recently moved to CA from Wyoming and in that western region the Costco and Sam's /Walmart Brands have many nuts and more products that are labeled gluten free. I was told it's because those products are packaged and processed  in different  plants. Some plants can be labeled  gluten free because the plant does not also package gluten products and they know that for example the trucks, containers equipment are not used to handle wheat, barely or Rye. The Walmart butter in the western region says gluten free but not here. Most of The Kirkland and Members Mark brands in CA say they are from Vietnam. That's not the case in Wyoming and Colorado. I've spoken to customer service at the stores here in California. They were not helpful. I check labels every time I go to the store. The stores where I am are a Sh*tshow. The Magalopoly grocery chain Vons/Safeway/Albertsons, etc. are the same. Fishers and Planters brands no longer say gluten free. It could be regional. There are nuts with sugar coatings and fruit and nut mixes at the big chains that are labeled gluten free but I don't want the fruit or sugar.  It's so difficult I am considering moving again. I thought it would be easier to find safe food in a more populated area. It's actually worse.  I was undiagnosed for most of my life but not because I didn't try to figure it out. So I have had all the complications possible. I don't have any spare organs left.  No a little gluten will hurt you. The autoimmune process continues to destroy your organs though you may not feel it. If you are getting a little all the time and as much as we try we probably all are and so the damage is happening. Now the FDA has pretty much abandoned celiacs. There are no requirements for labeling for common allergens on medications. All the generic drugs made outside the US are not regulated for common allergens and the FDA is taking the last gluten free porcine Thyroid med, NP Thyroid, off the market in 2026. I was being glutened by a generic levothyroxin. The insurance wouldn't pay for the gluten free brand any longer because the FDA took them all off their approved formulary. So now I am paying $147 out of pocket for NP Thyroid but shortly I will have no safe choice. Other people with allergies should be aware that these foreign generic pharmaceutical producers are using ground shellfish shell as pill coatings and anti-desicants. The FDA knows this but  now just waits for consumers to complain or die. The take over of Wholefoods by Amazon destroyed a very reliable source of good high quality food for people with allergies and for people who wanted good reliably organic food. Bezos thought  he could make a fortune off people who were paying alot for organic and allergen free food by substituting cheap brands from Thailand. He didn't understand who the customers were who were willing to pay more for that food and why. I went from spending hundreds to nothing because Bezo removed every single trusted brand that I was buying. Now they are closing Whole foods stores across the country. In CA, Mill Valley store (closed July 2025) and the National Blvd. store in West Los Angeles (closed October 2025). The Cupertino store will close.  In recent years I have learned to be careful and trust no one. I have been deleberately glutened in a restaurant that was my favorite (a new employee). The Chef owner was not in the kitchen that night. I've had  a metal scouring pad cut up over my food.The chain offered gluten free dishes but it only takes one crazy who thinks you're a problem as a food fadist. Good thing I always look. Good thing they didn't do that to food going to a child with a busy mom.  I give big tips and apologize for having to ask in restaurants but mental illness seem to be rampant. I've learn the hard way.          I don't buy any processed food that doesn't say gluten free.  I am a life long Catholic. I worked for the Church while at college. I don't go to Church anymore because the men at the top decided Jesus is gluten. The special hosts are gluten less not gluten free. No I can't drink wine after people with gluten in their mouth and a variety of deadly germs. I have been abandoned and excluded by my Church/Family.  Having nearly died several times, safe food is paramount. If your immune system collapses as mine did, you get sepsis. It can kill you very quickly. I spent 5 days unconscious and had to have my appendix and gall bladder removed because they were necrotic. I was 25. They didn't figure out I had celiac till I was 53. No one will take the time to tell you what can happen when your immune system gets overwhelmed from its constant fighting the gluten and just stops. It is miserable that our food is processed so carelessly. Our food in many aspects is not safe. And the merging of all the grocery chains has made it far worse. Its a disaster. Krogers also recently purchased Vitacost where I was getting the products I could no longer get at Whole Foods. Kroger is eliminating those products from Vitacost just a Bezos did from WF. I am looking for reliable and certified sources for nuts. I have lived the worst consequences of the disease and being exposed unknowingly and maliciously. Once I was diagnosed I learned way more than anyone should have to about the food industry.  I don't do gray areas. And now I dont eat out except very rarely.  I have not eaten fast food for 30 years before the celiac diagnosis. Gluten aside..... It's not food and it's not safe.  No one has got our backs. Sharing safe food sources is one thing we can do to try to be safe.        
    • Mmoc
      Blood tests low iGA 4 years later digestive issues

      By Mmoc · Posted

      Thank you kindly for your response. I have since gotten the other type of bloods done and am awaiting results. 
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.