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Dr. J Washington dc

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Posted 3/2/2018 9:42 PM (GMT 0)
Hey everyone

So i was thinking and thinking and seeing Dr.J in Washington dc has been crossing my mind alot. Before I make this huge leap, can I get some info from those of you that see/have seen him.....

Is he worth it?
Does he have a good track record? Gotten patients well
Do I have to see him monthly? I'm not close
Does he address mold and metals?
And lastly, cost?

Thanx everyone, your all so wonderful...
Btw, dr. H in NY was on my list too but he's not accepting new patients at the moment, in case anyone was planning on seeing him
Posted 3/2/2018 9:49 PM (GMT 0)
I've just started my protocol after coming back from the clinic, so I can't comment yet on whether it's worth it.
FYI - It's not always Dr. J that patients see...he has several NP/ PA's who take on patients.
When I made my initial consult I was told that he doesn't do initial consults but you can see him after that first appt.
The NP I saw for my consult - she was very knowledgeable...and my appt. was from 12:15 to almost 4:30.

But, I do want to see Dr. J. and unfortunately I didn't get my follow -up for April booked with him...they booked me with a PA. I called to switch, but he is booked for that time frame.

Yes, he has a good track record. He has been practicing/treating lyme for many years. Prior to lyme, he treated HIV/Aids patients...and actually developed a protocol where they weren't taking their meds on a daily basis...and now uses that with his lyme patients.
BTW - he is also an Infectious Disease Dr.

No, the appts aren't monthly. They are usually about 3-4 months out.
My follow up is 9 weeks after my initial consult...but I expect the next ones to be 3-4 months apart.

For people traveling far (I'm in Canada) - the clinic allows phone follow-ups for some appointments.
My next one is a phone appt.

He does not focus on mold and metals. I'm not sure if/when he looks at that...they didn't ask me anything about mold/metals.

You can email me for the cost...I don't want to post it on here. But, it's not unreasonable.

What I like about him - is he doesn't mess around...he will treat all three B's and in a timely manner.
Yes, you take several antibiotics/antimalarials - sounds aggressive, but with the pulsed approach I find it more tolerable than taking fewer 'killing' meds on a daily basis.
Posted 3/3/2018 12:28 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you for the reply girlie! I’ll email you
Posted 3/3/2018 1:31 AM (GMT 0)
I have been going there since October. His clinic does have a good track record, and I think it is worth it.

The protocol is pretty aggressive and it's not very flexible, and you will never get a question answered by phone without waiting at least 24 hours to a few days.

But that said, they really know what they're doing, and I have improved a great deal.

Visits are not cheap by any means, but it's not much more expensive than most of the other LLMDs around here. I figured if I had to pay in that price range anyway, I might as well go there.

I haven't heard anything from them yet about mold or metals. And my visits are about every 3 months too.
Posted 3/3/2018 1:55 AM (GMT 0)
Is Dr J's clinic straight up- "you have these infections so take these medications?" or does he go into adjunct therapies, like antioxidant status, mast cell stabilization etc..?
Posted 3/3/2018 2:08 AM (GMT 0)

Aerose91 said...
Is Dr J's clinic straight up- "you have these infections so take these medications?" or does he go into adjunct therapies, like antioxidant status, mast cell stabilization etc..?

There are support supplements, diet, and support meds recommended...and the have you do a ton of labs after the first appointment - just to check B12, vitamin d, magnesium, manganese, thyroid, ....etc..etc.

No adjunct therapies.

He apparently has a Dr. there who does the testing for MTHF - and I think he will interpret those results.
Posted 3/5/2018 6:53 PM (GMT 0)
Our son has been going to the NPs there for over 2 years and is now doing very well. It is long process but it worked for him. Pulsing was gentler but he still missed a lot of school for 2 years. He didn't seem to have mold issues so we never covered that. I would say that JC is excellent for the tick infections and supporting other systems like immune, big on importance of sleep for healing and so on. Many patients see other doctors/specialists for mold etc. Not sure who people see for Mast Cell stuff. We just ran any thing we wanted to try supplement-wise by them before starting. There was only 1 herb they weren't keen on - otherwise they've said ok.
Posted 3/5/2018 7:18 PM (GMT 0)
Just wanted to add - that if you're a patient who needs a lot of support/hand holding...etc...you won't get that from the J. Clinic.

I've heard from people that if you leave a message for the NP - it can take a couple of days before they call you back.

And they want a ton of lab work done...not just Liver/kidney function test and Metabolic profile but things like: Manganese, magnesium ATHC, cortisol, thyroid - including reverse T3,Vit. D, B12, B1, B6, Testosterone, and more. That is done once (I hope?) and then after it's the Liver/kidney function, and Metabolic profile.

My lab work is usually all covered...but I'm going to have to pay about $400 - $600 (or more) for the 'extras'.
Posted 3/5/2018 11:06 PM (GMT 0)
i went to dr. j in mar 2017 after having seen 2 other LLMD's, the first one an old school LLMD who's quite well known. neither of my prior 2 LLMD's could get me significantly better even though i did daily meds for almost 2 years straight

when i first saw Dr. J he said you might've treated babesia for half that 2 year period but sorry you still have it. we need to get rid of it before you can make progress.

i was very skeptical given i treated babesia duncani for almost all of 2015 but couldn't shake it. i also didn't have any symptoms from babesia, or so i thought.

my treatment was long and boring. i was pretty much did the same babesia focused protocol for a year. well during that time i didn't get better even though it wasn't apparently on a daily or even weekly basis. not until i'd say month 7-8 did i have to admit to myself i was getting better.

i've recently switched to the next 'leg' in the protocol which is to hit persisters and gram negative pathogens like bartonella and brucella.

while jemsek doesn't have a cookie cutter protocol he doesn't vary much from his core approach which has apparently worked for thousands of patients over two decades.

if you need support/adjunct therapies this clinic isn't going to do that. they focus on killing the bugs and symptom management during this time. they will use an herb or two but not much.

i've learned for those chronic sufferers who don't have many complications, the key is consistency and persistence. if you are on the right drugs it'll just take time. it might take 4,6,12 even 18 months but you have to trust the process and stick with it.

my older LLMD's switched me every month or two and that ended up being the wrong approach for me cause babesia duncani was very persistent and wasn't going away easily.
Posted 5/29/2018 8:17 PM (GMT 0)
Girlie,

I know this is an old thread but I wanted to comment on your comment about wanting to make a followup with dr j himself and that he was all booked up.

Well, I tried the same. I also tried To get an appt with dr j himself. I have been seeing the PA after seeing the np. It has been fine but like I said in another post I feel my babs is back and no one seems to be listening at that clinic to me and I still suffer with no further babs treatment. So anyway, I wanted his opinion on this and called to schedule an appt with him.

When I first started at the clinic I was told I could make an appt with him whenever I wanted. Well now I want and I was told a bunch of crap about getting that appt.

He was all booked up for the next 3 months they told me. So then my husband was saying ok then schedule my wife for the first available and nope they weren't having any of that. We got the line, "Go to the next appt 3 months from now and then you can schedule the next with him". I can't see how it would be any different for me to schedule 3 or 4 months from now to see him or wait another 3 months to be told the same thing. We got such a run around about it all.

Well, my husband was having none of it and after many phone calls back and forth, we were told he is no longer seeing patients. Just his np's and pa's. So we were being lied to for months about that. It makes me quite ragey actually. What was the purpose of stringing me along? To guarantee he keeps his patients and we don't leave to go somewhere else? I wasn't planning on going anywhere else but now my trust is in the toilet. I have no tolerance for flat out lying. None whatsoever. Why couldn't they just say to me, (and you) "Dr J is no longer seeing patients at this time". Instead, a run around, filled with lies. How am i supposed to put my life in this clinics hands when they do that?

Just thought you might want to know you were fed the same line as I.

Sorry if this response is negative, but I feel a little angry about being lied to this whole time and don't want anyone else to think they can turn to the dr himself whenever they wanted (like we were all told).

Grrrrr
Posted 5/29/2018 9:21 PM (GMT 0)
Joee - I’m sorry for the frustration you are experiencing.

I am feeling like I need bart treatment and am starting to relapse - and I’m stuck on Babs treatment.
(Even though my PA said in April that it sounded like my symptoms were mostly Bart)

My follow up was supposed to be July but they said they wouldn’t book me to see dr J until I had my April appt.
Then when I tried after my appt I was told he was booked for July so then I requested to be booked for early August with him and was told they weren’t booking his August appts yet.

I waited a couple weeks and called again and was told that he had a wait list for August and would be booking the appts as soon as he knows his schedule. So I asked if my name was on the wait list and she said no because I never asked to be put on it.
I never knew I needed to ask to be put on a wait list.

I got quite angry at that point and told her to put me on his wait list - and expressed my disappointment about their scheduling system and lack of information given to me.

I was told there were 80 people ahead of me.
I also mentioned that the PA also thought I should see Dr J because I had a few anomalies on my brain and spinal cord mri’s.

I was called a week or two later and am scheduled for an August appt.

It will be 4 months from my last appt though - which is extending my Babesia treatment even longer.

I asked to be called if someone cancels in July - if there’s a week or two notice I could probably take it.

Hubby cringed when I said that because he’s thinking I shouldn’t confuse them - as they’re already struggling to do the basics,

( the scheduler asked me how to phone a Canada number after telling me both my phone numbers weren’t working and she needed a third phone number)
Posted 5/29/2018 9:29 PM (GMT 0)
I just want one appt with him so I can ask my questions - I don’t think that’s asking for much really.

I too was told that I can’t have my initial consult with him but I could schedule follow ups - I thought that was fair - maybe he doesn’t want to do the initials because it’s mostly taking the history - charting the symptoms , etc


Just one - that’s all I ask ... lol

Hubby can’t believe the stress this added to my days when I was dealing with this appt stuff.
He says they should know better than that.

Btw - the scheduler was more pleasant this last call - I wonder if they’ve been getting complaints about the office staff.
Posted 5/29/2018 9:36 PM (GMT 0)
Just want to say sorry you guys are dealing with all of this when you are trying to just get better.

I hope it works out for both of you and remember always trust your own instincts about your health and body.

While we all understand that Lyme and co is a challenge to treat, they are professionals and work for you.

Listening and understanding the patient should be top priority so that you get stay on a path to wellness.

Take care
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