so, my most recent posts featured a holistic doctor, Dr. F. After working with him for about a month and a half, I finally decided that it wasn't really working for me.
I did have another appointment with him where we went over my treatment plan. I left his office with over 20 (yes *twenty*) different nutriceuticals & supplements to take, as well as some Chinese herbal tea. He wanted me off the Plaquenil, but didn't give me any guidance about stopping the meds. He also put me on an *extremely* restricted diet - no salt, no sugar etc. - though I believe he recommends this diet for all his patients.
I took the supplements twice a day for a few weeks, but started feeling worse and worse, I'm assuming because I stopped taking the Plaquenil. Back were the aches and pains, back was the early-evening low grade fever. And back came rash #2, primarily on my legs (more on that later, I've determined I have two separate skin issues going on...).
Now, I was not expecting a miracle cure, and I realize that I only gave this treatment plan a very short trial. I didn't give up on this treatment because I thought it wasn't working, but I decided I didn't have enough confidence in Dr. F to continue with him as my primary doctor. I finally decided that I just didn't feel comfortable enough with how we were communicating. I needed a lot more guidance concerning the restricted diet and stopping the plaquenil. Also, he didn't mention anything about staying out of the sunlight (I have finally accepted the fact that I am allergic to the sun...more on this later, also). My mother was extremely concerned about the fact that he didn't mention anything about monitoring the health of my kidneys and internal organs.
So.
I decided to try a new doctor (shocker!).
Although I do feel like I'm doctor hopping a bit, there have been valid reasons to leave the doctors that I have left. And as my mom reminds me, this is the first year of the disease, and we're still feeling our way around this whole thing.
One of the doctors I had been considering seeing before was Dr. Susan Ward of The Consciousness Institute, but it's about an hour south west of Philadelphia, so it's around 2 hours from my house. I originally didn't see her because of the distance, but at this point, the distance didn't seem to matter as much, I really needed to find a doctor whose healing philosophy meshed with my own.
I had a bit of an epiphany and I was able to step back and look at my actions with some perspective. I recalled reading posts in my online mothering forum, and thinking "wow, these mom's really need to add some common sense to their thinking". Well, so did I.
Although I would love the pursue a natural treatment plan, the bottom line is -- I am sick. There is medication available that will help me, even though nobody really knows why. But I am sick and the meds will help, therefore, I should take the meds. It's not like I am taking these pills for no reason, or taking a zillion pills. So I finally faced up to this fact, thereby allowing myself to go back to a rheumatologist, rather than a naturopath or other doctor who was not going to have me on plaquenil.
So, back to Dr. Ward. The first appointment went very well. She is thorough, thoughtful, willing to answer questions...and she is supportive of alternative therapies in addition to the traditional treatment (she recommends meditation and acupuncture, aw well as natural supplements). So far she has been conservative with the meds, which is really what I'm looking for. I was looking for a doctor that would really look at me as the patient, rather than just prescribe meds based on a generic treatment plan (this is a similar experience I had with my son during his first year - please look at my baby, not just a growth chart!!).
So besides the fact that she is two hours away, Dr. W seems to be the doc for me. She did recommend me finding a rheumy that was closer and associated with a University hospital, in case of emergency, and I'm working on that. There's no real hurry because I have seen Dr. Buyon in NYC and she is associated with NYU hospital.
It is a big relief to have found a doctor who I feel is on the same page as me. Now hopefully we will get my health moving in the right direction!
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