Seeking doctor in Seattle

[ulysses27]

I've been diagnosed with CFS/ME, Lyme, and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. I've been seeing Dr. Chheda for about a year. She's very nice but it's costly and I would love to find a Dr. closer to home. If anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it.

 

[Gingergrrl]

I don't have an answer but tagging someone who might @Learner1. Best wishes to you.

 

[Learner1]

Thanks @Gingergrrl @ulysses27 I will PM you.

 

[CFS_for_19_years]

While staying up late one night in 2014 I compiled my own list of providers I'd consider seeing. I just checked it now to make sure the links still worked and that the work they do is still relevant. Some of my criteria were ease of access (proximity, parking, avoiding traffic), hourly rates, testimonials and stated range of practice skills. I haven't seen any of them in person yet.

Dr. Brenden Cochran ND
http://www.interactivehealthclinic.com/about-interactive-health-services/doctor-brenden-cochran

Dr. Jeff Harris, N.D.
http://jeffharrisnd.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Dr. Kimberly Iller, ND, LAc
http://functionalmedicinenw.com/Home.html
(EcoClimber also mentioned her in an earlier post)

Dr. Dan Labriola, ND
http://www.nwnaturalhealth.com/providers.html

Dr. Susan L. Marra, ND
http://drsusanmarra.com/
(already mentioned by Daffodil)

Dr. Michelle Turcotte, ND, NMD
http://www.connectedwellnesscenter.com/

Dr. Miroslawa Witalis, ND
http://www.drwitalis.com/index.html

http://tahomaclinic.com/

https://www.opencare.com/naturopaths/seattle-wa/ Best of 2018 - Naturopaths in Seattle, WA

Here is the definitive list of Seattle's naturopaths as rated by the Seattle community. These naturopaths have received great reviews from customers and are currently accepting new patients.

Here's the thread from 2014: http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?threads/doctor-near-seattle-wa.20028/

 

[Learner1]

Dr. Cochran is my doctor, and he is great.

Dr. Iller is competent at Lyme, but scattered, and her patients are irritated as she doesn't follow through.

Dr. Labriola is awful - stay away from him. He doesn't believe in anything more than 100% of the DV of supplements, pushes his own line of supplements with substandard ingredients, and told several untruths in a public presentation I attended.

I've run into patients who say Tahoma Clinic is not what it once was.

Dr. Holly Christie on Bainbridge Island is excellent.

And Dietrich Klinghardt is in Woodinville. He's very expensive and I've seen no reason to go there, but patients fly in from all over the world.

 

[CFS_for_19_years]

Dr. Cochran is my doctor, and he is great.

Dr. Iller is competent at Lyme, but scattered, and her patients are irritated as she doesn't follow through.

Dr. Labriola is awful - stay away from him. He doesn't believe in anything more than 100% of the DV of supplements, pushes his own line of supplements with substandard ingredients, and told several untruths in a public presentation I attended.

I've run into patients who say Tahoma Clinic is not what it once was.

Dr. Holly Christie on Bainbridge Island is excellent.

And Dietrich Klinghardt is in Woodinville. He's very expensive and I've seen no reason to go there, but patients fly in from all over the world.

I always appreciate hearing good feedback, especially since I haven't seen any of these doctors. Tahoma Clinic did indeed look like it had changed.

 

[ulysses27]

Thanks for this info. Has anyone seen a doc that wasn't a ND? Just curious.

 

[Learner1]

Yes, I saw over a dozen doctors of different types at UW, Swedish, Polyclinic, Overlake, and Evergreen who were a complete waste of time and money. They had no ideas to help, couldn't understand my labs, didn't know what labs to order, and refused to prescribe anything or even refill an existing prescription, much less deal with my health, prescription and LTD insurance or fill out paperwork for a disabled parking pass.

I had to fly to California to find an MD who could help.

And the other patients I've been in contact with in this area don't seem to be improving with the local MDs they see.

 

[ratmom]

Hi @ulysses27 - I'm another local. Husband and I are science-based so we called EVERYWHERE looking for an MD but the only one we've been able to find is in Portland. @Learner1 knows of a few NDs who follow a lot of science-based protocols and have been helpful with ME/CFS patients. The doctors out here don't seem to know anything. We've been dismissed by one Internist at Polyclinic for being a complicated case, had a Cardio at Overlake send us home with links to mindfulness courses, had an immunologist tell us my husband was just having some allergies to our pets, and had an Infectious Disease Dr at Overlake (who actually studied under Montoya) tell us that my husband will get better within a few months and that he wants nothing to do with us being guinea pigs down at Center for Complex Diseases+Stanford. We are actually considering moving down to Sacramento so we can have regular visits with Dr. Chheda but will make that decision toward the end of the month. We have our first visit with her in two weeks. How do you like her?

 

[JinZ]

Yes, I saw over a dozen doctors of different types at UW, Swedish, Polyclinic, Overlake, and Evergreen who were a complete waste of time and money. They had no ideas to help, couldn't understand my labs, didn't know what labs to order, and refused to prescribe anything or even refill an existing prescription, much less deal with my health, prescription and LTD insurance or fill out paperwork for a disabled parking pass.

I had to fly to California to find an MD who could help.

And the other patients I've been in contact with in this area don't seem to be improving with the local MDs they see.

I can related I have similar experience here. For years the kaiser system, rated one of the best HMO, just put me on different drugs, diagnostic, & random sleep study. When I left the system I was able to find my disease (previously cause) .

 

[Learner1]

What cause was found that Kaiser missed?

 

[JinZ]

What cause was found that Kaiser missed?

ME/CFS and the first Dr, after reviewing all the testing kaiser made me go through (helpful data nevertheless), diagnose me with ME/CFS. My Dr. said it would be difficult for Kaiser to diagnostic me for ME/CFS since there's no treatment so they'll going to weed out all other options with treatment options first.

Kaiser Reading on ME/CFS

 

[Learner1]

Yes, but you said you found the cause for your illness elsewhere. Who was able to do that and what tests did they run?

The Kaiser website you pointed to is generic Healthwise content, full of bad information.

The best way to get treated for ME/CFS is for doctors to run diagnostics on the immune and endocrine systems and look for infections, nutrient deficiencies, and microbiome disruption, then treat the problems they find. Having a diagnosis of ME/CFS in a vacuum is a dead end.

 

[JinZ]

Yes, but you said you found the cause for your illness elsewhere. Who was able to do that and what tests did they run?

The Kaiser website you pointed to is generic Healthwise content, full of bad information.

The best way to get treated for ME/CFS is for doctors to run diagnostics on the immune and endocrine systems and look for infections, nutrient deficiencies, and microbiome disruption, then treat the problems they find. Having a diagnosis of ME/CFS in a vacuum is a dead end.

"Cause" was suppose to be "disease". The Dr I saw, prior to transferring to ID Medical Group, told me he couldn't think of any other test to run. I ask him for certain test for infections and he state he's not able to run any test he can't understand results and ran out of ideas. My rheumatologist diagnose me with CFS but was willing to prescribe certain drugs for my pain but wouldn't run any of those test i wanted to see. I been on all kinds of drugs ADHD stimulant, narcolepsy, and antidepressant and I am wasn't a fan of any of them. That being said I'm waiting for Dr. C lab request in the mail. I'm so used to going directly to a medical group for any lab test but waiting for them in the mail and going to certain area so different .

 

[Learner1]

Fortinately, LA is one of the best places in the world for ME/CFS resources.

Hope you have a good appointment!

 

[Gingergrrl]

Fortinately, LA is one of the best places in the world for ME/CFS resources.

With 100% respect for @Learner1, I have to disagree having lived in LA for my entire illness (and entire life). My doctor, who is extraordinary and is also Learner's doctor, is in No. CA, about 7 hrs north of me. I found that most of the resources are in No CA (Stanford, OMI & OMF, Center for Complex Diseases, etc) and I found nothing in LA.

The exception is Dr. Chia, if you are strictly pursuing enterovirus testing and treatment, and he is in LA. But in general, I did not find doctors here to be helpful to my case and had several nightmare experiences w/my former PCP, neuros, pulmonologists, etc.

My Mast Cell doctor, however, is in LA and he is exceptional and I credit him with saving my life (but he is sadly no longer taking new patients). He would be worth flying across the country to see IMO. But in general, I have not found doctors in LA to be of any help (outside of my MCAS specialist like I said) vs. the resources in No. CA to be very helpful. I was curious who you were referring to in LA @Learner (of if you meant Dr. Chia)?

 

[Learner1]

Everything is relative. There is no help in many places. There is some help to be had in LA, and it is more plentiful than almost anywhere else, though its not much.

There are many good functional medicine doctors and various specialists that can provide a great deal of help.

I'm in contact with 2 patients who have made some good headway with immunologists, rheumatologists, endocrinologists, and naturopathic doctors.

But, seeing a top ME/CFS specialist is important.

 

[JinZ]

With 100% respect for @Learner1, I have to disagree having lived in LA for my entire illness (and entire life). My doctor, who is extraordinary and is also Learner's doctor, is in No. CA, about 7 hrs north of me. I found that most of the resources are in No CA (Stanford, OMI & OMF, Center for Complex Diseases, etc) and I found nothing in LA.

The exception is Dr. Chia, if you are strictly pursuing enterovirus testing and treatment, and he is in LA. But in general, I did not find doctors here to be helpful to my case and had several nightmare experiences w/my former PCP, neuros, pulmonologists, etc.

My Mast Cell doctor, however, is in LA and he is exceptional and I credit him with saving my life (but he is sadly no longer taking new patients). He would be worth flying across the country to see IMO. But in general, I have not found doctors in LA to be of any help (outside of my MCAS specialist like I said) vs. the resources in No. CA to be very helpful. I was curious who you were referring to in LA @Learner (of if you meant Dr. Chia)?

I'm just glad I'm not in Michigan .

 

[Gingergrrl]

Everything is relative. There is no help in many places. There is some help to be had in LA, and it is more plentiful than almost anywhere else, though its not much.

I agree it is all relative and there are many naturopaths here but I was curious who you were referring to when you said that LA was one of the best places in the world for ME/CFS resources. I was being serious b/c I thought maybe there was someone that I was not aware of! I definitely have a good Endo for my thyroid here and there are some exceptional doctors if you have a more traditional illness. I was just curious and no worries!

 

[Learner1]

There are a finite number of ME/CFS specialists at this fime that are pretty well knoen and can be counted on your fingers and maybe your toes. Most have a months or years long waiting list. (I was called by Montoya's clinic 2 weeks ago wanting to schedule for May 2019, after a 17 month wait on his waiting list... Good thing I didn't do nothing in the meantime...)

However, before (and while) one sees them, one can get a long way in diagnosis and some treatment with bright, curious, cooperative doctors. Most of us have comorbidities that if treated, can greatly improve our function. Then, the ME/CFS specialists can take that input and work their magic.