Doctors that TREAT, not just prescribe....

I believe many folks who prefer the natural approach using healingwell resources, and internet searches to do this process on their own. There's a variety of alternative treatment doctors from naturopaths, traditional Chinese medicine, ayurvedic practitioners, to homeopathy among others. Gasteroenteroligists are usually far separated from it... but I am sure there must be a few exceptions.

Honestly, it's all trial-and-error on whether you will find the right match of things that work for you. As there's no universal alternative treatment that universally works for all UC patients. It's all hit or miss, results vary wildly person-to-person, with no easy button. Many things won't work and it's possible a few might work for you. I'd think you'd have just the same odds doing it yourself, and more money in your wallet, if you don't drop money on an alternative doctor. From what I've heard they are not cheap.

Most board certified specialists are not going to stray far from the standard of care because of liability issues and danger of losing their malpractice insurance. There are some MD in all specialties that may use a more holistic approach - but they will still only use alternatives that have a strong evidence base.

Many practices/tests by naturopaths often lack sufficient evidence.

Like ipoop said, the MD you are describing could be hard to find. Some of their extra therapies might not be covered by insurance.

You are describing someone with a holistic point of view. I went to high school with a guy that trained as a holistic provider. He is not a GI, and I have not spoke to him in years, but you might see about a consultation with this guy and possibly a referral to a holistic GI.

http://drhenriroca.com/

good luck

Post Edited (DBwithUC) : 10/30/2017 6:04:12 PM (GMT-6)

DBwithUC said...
Most board certified specialists are not going to stray far from the standard of care because of liability issues and danger of losing their malpractice insurance. There are some MD in all specialties that may use a more holistic approach - but they will still only use alternatives that have a strong evidence base.

Many practices/tests by naturopaths often lack sufficient evidence.

Like ipoop said, the MD you are describing could be hard to find. Some of their extra therapies might not be covered by insurance.

You are describing someone with a holistic point of view. I went to high school with a guy that trained as a holistic provider. He is not a GI, and I have not spoke to him in years, but you might see about a consultation with this guy and possibly a referral to a holistic GI.

http://drhenriroca.com/

good luck

YES! A holistic practitioner is exactly what I am seeking! The hard part is finding one that is specialized in the GI tract. I will get ahold of your reference and see what I can do Thank you!!

You also hit the nail on the head by saying MDs don't stray far from the "standard" care for liability issues. And rightly so, because they could lose their license. That gets us, patients, stuck taking a prescription for every symptom, rather than treating to cure. That's why I'm not a huge fan of the American medical system as a whole. It's too legalized and monopolized. But that's a different discussion for a different day! All I can do now is search for the rare practitioners that are truly seeking to cure or treat, not just prescribe!

Thanks again for the reference!

RichardLIVES said...
rather than treating to cure.

If there was an actual known cure, doctors would be using it already. I see you have the usual wrong idea about medication that most people who go in for "natural" or alternative treatments have: that they are simply treating the "symptoms" and not the root cause.

Well no, medications actually do a bit more than just treat the symptoms: they heal the mucosa too. True, that's not getting to the actual root cause of the problem, but neither are any of your fancy alternative treatments.

"This guy is all online, with skype or phone consultations:
https://gicure.com/"


don't know anything about this guy but i'd bet anything he will happily take buttloads of your money and give you diddly in return -

@iPoop
Thank you for the info! I believe it is always wise to have a level of naivety and skepticism when doing research and making decisions. But that is not what this post is about.

This post is about the quest for patient reviews, from their experiences with holistic GI Specialists. Getting that information directly from the patient (this forum), rather than a marketing website, would relieve much of that skepticism.

Evidence also plays a major role in determining what treatment to take. I, personally, would rather pay to speak to a professional that has treated 100s of patients, than read through 100s of forum signatures and attempt to compare to my own symptoms. The forum signatures also don't provide follow-up recommendations, when the first treatment fails to work.

Side note: Companies must fund their own research when verifying a product or service. Just as a doctor must pay to promote their services with a flashy website and glowing testimonials, VSL must pay to perform clinical trials to show that their product works. VSL#3 is patented, so they are the sole producer of the product, and the sole producer of the "evidence" that verifies their product. They have paid to sponsor the clinical trials, or evidence, of using VSL#3 to fight GI issues. Moral of the story is, even sure-fire evidence is often biased.
That is why I am searching on a UC forum, for reviews from patients that have seen UC doctors, and aren't part of their typical paid promotion.

I think the IBD center I went to was sort of ahead of the curve in the way you describe. They did prescribe medication but they also studied diet and supplements. They weren't against using probiotics or diet in addition to medication, or in place of medication if it worked for you. I don't think they would ever be on board with someone stopping a medication that worked for them, but they were open to exploration of alternatives. When I was going there, they offered me to be in their diet group. They were monitoring and testing diet for treatment (in addition to conventional medication). I decided not to do it because I was so sick, and I didn't believe it would help in my case because I had tried a lot of restrictive diets in the past, but it was an option.

If you're looking for someone who will not recommend drugs at all, Bull is right, that wouldn't be an MD, that would be a "nautropath", "herbalist", acupuncturist, perhaps a chiropractor. If someone can prescribe medication, that's likely the path they are going to take since it has the most likelihood of providing relief. People don't become MDs to sell supplements.

Also, I saw a doctor on your link that we've had a lot of trouble with around here spamming. That in itself should tell you a little about the quality of some of these "doctors". While they may be "treating" they are also spammers selling promises they don't keep.

The Johns Hopkins Integrative Medicine & Digestive Center sounds interesting. The Doctor there is a GI. I would see her if there was the opportunity and you want something more "natural"

The sanfrancisconaturalmedicine link is a acupuncturist who has some "associates" working under him. Probably nutritionists..