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Family and Chronic Fatigue Doctors in Toronto, ON?

taroki

Senior Member
Messages
132
Location
Ontario, Canada
So Dr. Karim Dhanani is the best in Toronto Area for chronic fatigue/Lyme? Good to know. I wish I had went to him instead of my inexperience naturopath (who ended up putting more mercury in my brain and 3 years of wasting money and going no where ...).
 

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
there is also dr. david saul in north York. he used to do a lot of stuff but now focuses mostly on diet. still, might be worth a try.

there are also some infectious disease doctors who might help....provided you know what to ask for.

kharim dhanani doesn't have very good reviews on ratemds.com
 

Dufresne

almost there...
Messages
1,039
Location
Laurentians, Quebec
So Dr. Karim Dhanani is the best in Toronto Area for chronic fatigue/Lyme? Good to know. I wish I had went to him instead of my inexperience naturopath (who ended up putting more mercury in my brain and 3 years of wasting money and going no where ...).

It depends what your needs are. It's always good to use OHIP wherever you can. It's hard to find those docs who know a little something about ME/CFS though. Kathleen Kerr would be the one I'd use, even if I don't think she's likely to enlighten me at this point of my disease. She's quite thorough and she's willing to try new things. This puts her in my good books. It will cost 3-4 hundred to get started with her as she runs a number of tests that aren't covered.

Dr Dhanani is the guy I'd use for alternative treatments of Lyme Disease. However I don't think there's anything he can offer that's going to turn the tides for me that I can't do for myself.
 

Rlman

Senior Member
Messages
389
Location
Toronto, Canada
Yes he did the BEV thing with me. Based on this he told me I was in Ketosis, which was probable seeing as I'd been fasting for a day before the appointment. He also told me a few other things that made sense.

I'm not sure how Dr D deduced my spinal chord was inflamed via basic ED testing. I can't remember exactly what his test entailed, but now that I think of it, it must have included a VEGA machine. It couldn't have just been the yay or nay EDS a lot of practitioners use. And looking at his site now, he does use a VEGA machine.

To my knowledge he doesn't sell Lyme nosodes. Though this may have changed.

If you're into homeopathy there's a guy in Mississauga who's good and quite affordable. I think I paid $90 for a VEGA-like test several years ago and an hourlong appointment with an in-depth interview. The machine he was using was called an ElectroScanGram. It didn't tell me anything that would unravel the mystery of ME/CFS or infections I carry, but it gave me a good head to toe assessment of how my body was coping with the disease. It also zeroed in on problems that were just in the nascent stages at that time. Dr Yuriy practices out of an environmental medicine clinic run by Dr Zazula (don't waste your time with that guy). Again he's not going to sort out your ME/CFS, I don't even think he's especially knowledgeable about the disease, but all the remedies he prescribed were bang on for me. He nailed my constitutional within ten minutes. All the other homeopaths I've seen or spoken with have been crap.

http://www.rulist.com/details.php?g=14&lang=0&c=0&s=160&d=13986

TPN is Total Parenteral Nutrition. It was something I'd theorized could be helpful for ME/CFS. I don't want to get into a description of it here, but if you're interested, search the forum here with those key words. I started a thread about the idea a few years ago. I should really post something there as I've worked out a lot of the mysteries that I alluded to in that thread.

Personally I wouldn't spend more money on a new doctor unless there was something specific I was after that only he/she could help me with. I don't know where you're at with you're health adventure and whether or not you should spend money on someone like Dr D. It has been my experience that I usually learn something knew from these real healers. Knowing who the talented ones are from the charlatans can be tricky. I can give Dr D a thumbs up in this regard. However if you already know a whole lot about your condition it may not be worth the money. However of all the healers in Toronto you could learn something new from, he tops the list.

Thanks Dufresne! I saw Dr. D he wants to do chelation challenge and also do challenge for Lyme with Artimisinin and then retest Igenex (which was neg the first time). I did not continue yet bc 1) did challenge test before and it gave me dangerous side effects 2) artimisinin is for babesia not borrelia from what I read, so not sure how well it will work. He says he needs tests bc he can't treat patients without proof they have the illness he is treating for. In an case, maybe Cutler chelation or using lyme herbs is something I can do myself. There is another ND in Richmond HIll who treats Lyme by the way with herbs, often while patients taking abx with LLMD.
 
Messages
22
there is also dr. david saul in north York. he used to do a lot of stuff but now focuses mostly on diet. still, might be worth a try.

there are also some infectious disease doctors who might help....provided you know what to ask for.

kharim dhanani doesn't have very good reviews on ratemds.com
in my opinion Dr. Karim Dhanani is really just a charlatan for the most part. sorry to be so blunt but that is my opinion after having seen him and having heard from others who have seen him. Just my 2 cents :)
 

Rlman

Senior Member
Messages
389
Location
Toronto, Canada
in my opinion Dr. Karim Dhanani is really just a charlatan for the most part. sorry to be so blunt but that is my opinion after having seen him and having heard from others who have seen him. Just my 2 cents :)
hey Buster,can you share your experience with him?
 
Messages
22
hey Buster,can you share your experience with him?
It has been several years, so details are sketchy. My recollection is that I got a bad vibe -- you know how if you've been at this a few years you can pick up that the doctor/naturopath is very sales driven? And that they will never say 'I can't help you', but instead have a multitude of solutions to sell you?

Here's an example of the sketchiness: at the end of the appointment his final pitch (to lock me into his program of supplements and treatments) was to ask me to take one shoe and sock off and then put my bare foot in his lap. He then put an 'electrode' on my foot and another on a bottle of pills and formed a circuit between my foot and the pill bottle through a machine (much like this one). He then rapidly went through an entire basket of pill bottles testing each one and when the machine responded with a high pitched squeal he'd say "yes, you need that one". He'd toss the pill bottle aside and grab another, and so on. By the time we were done he had a long list of supplements he said I needed to take. He told me to go see his receptionist on the way out and to give her the list, and buy the supplements (monthly), and book an appointment to come back and see him (every few weeks).
 
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taroki

Senior Member
Messages
132
Location
Ontario, Canada
That sounds like muscle testing. Isn't it suppose to be quite effective? I remember reading about how Dr. Klinghardt uses it (Dr. Klinghardt is the leading doctor in treating Lyme/Mercury and I found all his information quite accurate and useful).
 
Messages
22
That sounds like muscle testing. Isn't it suppose to be quite effective? I remember reading about how Dr. Klinghardt uses it (Dr. Klinghardt is the leading doctor in treating Lyme/Mercury and I found all his information quite accurate and useful).
no, it was not muscle testing -- check out the link to the video i provided. he did do a form of muscle testing at another point during the visit. again, it is my opinion that he is selling services that will not help PWME. i'm all for alternative treatments, but I'm writing this in order to save others the time/money/stress of a visit to his office. i'm sorry to say this but i believe he's an unethical guy.
 

Gamboa

Senior Member
Messages
261
Location
Canada
Sounds like complete quackery to me. There is no scientific evidence that this type of testing works what so ever. I really hope no one gets sucked in by this type of person. They should be banned from ripping people off like this. It is so sad that they prey on people like us who are so sick and desperate that we will try anything, no matter how ridiculous it is.
 

Rlman

Senior Member
Messages
389
Location
Toronto, Canada
he did not do any of that testing with me, I thought he was pretty considerate and smart, he's the 1st doc who took lots of time to listen to my case and look at my blood test results. He spent over 2 hours with me. Also turns out artimisinin is anti-lyme as well, so his approach makes sense.
 
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Oberon

Senior Member
Messages
214
I went to go and see a lyme doctor in Richmond Hill, Dr. Angela Lee; http://lymend.com/

She was really great when I saw her and I'd highly recommend her. She only treats lyme patients at this point which is why I stopped seeing her as my tests were inconclusive.
 

Snookum96

Senior Member
Messages
290
Location
Ontario, Canada
Dr. Kathleen Kerr is not accepting new patients, I called last week. I saw Dr. Hyde, first appt was $400 and worth it for me.
I have a GP who knows nothing about cfs but at least she is nice, listens and does whatever referrals she can to try to help. I have been doing my research on US options and while I decide I think my current GP is the best I can do. There is a new website where you can look for a new GP called Healthaware.ca. Healthcare Connect won't help unless you don't already have a GP. Switching GPs might be the best option to start while you decide what other options to pursue.
 

waiting

Senior Member
Messages
463
@Jodie1980 and @Riman,

I have not yet done the "special" (I.e more than the standard Lyme test available here through Ontario's system) testing that others have discussed on PR here.

Do you know the name of the test Dr. Lee did for you both -- or was it the standard one?

Thanks.
 

Rlman

Senior Member
Messages
389
Location
Toronto, Canada
@Jodie1980 and @Riman,

I have not yet done the "special" (I.e more than the standard Lyme test available here through Ontario's system) testing that others have discussed on PR here.

Do you know the name of the test Dr. Lee did for you both -- or was it the standard one?

Thanks.

the blood is sent to IGENEX in California which does Western Blot tests and others. In Ontario, the standard lyme test is not Western Blot and notoriously much less sensitive than the WB. If that tests is positive then a Western Blot is done, but that WB is probably not as good as the IGENEX one, which is considered the best one around in North America (though many on PR have also tried another lab in Europe (I think its called infectolab).
 

waiting

Senior Member
Messages
463
the blood is sent to IGENEX in California which does Western Blot tests and others. In Ontario, the standard lyme test is not Western Blot and notoriously much less sensitive than the WB. If that tests is positive then a Western Blot is done, but that WB is probably not as good as the IGENEX one, which is considered the best one around in North America (though many on PR have also tried another lab in Europe (I think its called infectolab).

Thanks for the info, @Rlman!

Do you mind sharing the cost of this test?