How, where, when
- Dr Bansal is working at St Anthony's hospital in Surrey. It's private. You have to ring up Spires Healthcare for an appointment
- I found Spires Healthcare a bit difficult to get through to, it took about 4 phone calls over 3 weeks to get someone on the phone who could answer my questions about Dr Bansal. But if you don't have questions and just want to book it's easier.
- I waited a couple of months for an appointment. He works on Thursdays
- I was told it would be £250 but I have only been billed £200 so the lady on the phone may have made a mistake. He sends a bill after the appointment. Blood tests would be extra but I didn't have any.
- It's a 45 min initial appointment. Follow ups are shorter and cheaper.
Assessment
- Checked for EDS/hyper mobility and fibromyalgia.
- I brought a succinct print out that I could refer to, because I forget. It included supplements and meds I'm taking, significant medical history, and my symptoms. He kept it.
- I also brought my diagnosis letter from the Sutton CFS clinic, where he used to work (though I never met him) and he wanted a copy of that.
- He asked the questions you'd expect about unrefreshing sleep, but also some curveball ones eg 'do you have stretch marks?'
Treatments
- Recommended specific supplements from a handout of long list of supplements which he probably gives to everyone. On the sheet it recommends ballpark places to get the supplements eg 'body building websites' or 'chemists'.
- The recommendations he gave me based on my history, and what I was already taking:
L-carnitine 500mg once daily (From body building website)
PQQ-10mg / CoQ10-100mg combination (From body building website)
Vitamin B12 patches, 1mg alternate days or 5mg per week (From Amazon)
Luteolin 50mg daily
Phenergan 10mg (or less) liquid form (from chemist)
Melatonin 3 to 5mg (from internet)
N-acetylcysteine/NAC 600mg per day
- Said to come back in a few months, and we could think about trying low dose thyroxine which may possibly help, but may have side effects
- Wrote prescription for Aciclovir 400mg tds for 3 months
- Approved of probiotics and suggested to cut wheat from diet
Approach
- Said it wasn't worth doing more thyroid tests - better to just try the medication and see whether it works
- Emphasised that there is hope because of the new research about the test for CFS. This research is promising because of a statistical reason which I didn't understand, more promising than other research. He said that if the research is replicated and it works, then research will probably speed up about ME/CFS treatments.
- Didn't ask GP to prescribe B12 injections because my GPs don't sound co-operative. I have asked for an injection in the past and they turned me down. He didn't want to get on the wrong side of my GP.
On Dr Bansal
- He said he's probably going to retire completely in 5-6 years.
- Talked a lot of science detail which completely passed me by about energy. I know a lot of people on PR are 'expert patients', au fait with lots of technical info and the latest research and the politics. I got the impression he's used to talking to 'expert patients'. I am not one of them so it was very overwhelming for me, I couldn't take it in, and I didn't ask questions that I could have asked because I was overwhelmed. But he's proved he knows his stuff.
- The friend who came with me was impressed by him as a doctor, said he was an academic. My friend works in the NHS
- He shows awareness of the costs of things. He poo-poohed the Perrin technique and made faces about how much osteopaths charge. He said there's nothing out there that has more than a 10% rate of success (the Perrin technique claims a 40% chance of success).
Next steps
- I got a copy of his letter to my GP 2 working days after the appointment.
- My friend is researching for me exactly where I can get the supplements and meds, and where's cheapest.
- I shall go back in 5-6 months
I was pretty moody when I went because of lack of sleep and problems with taxis on the way there. So I felt a bit negative about the experience but I don't think it's Dr Bansal's fault. My friend didn't take notes (we miscommunicated about that beforehand) so there's a lot of detail he said that's been lost. If you can take in new concepts, Dr Bansal will be able to tell you things. Time will tell if the stuff he's recommended works for me.
- Dr Bansal is working at St Anthony's hospital in Surrey. It's private. You have to ring up Spires Healthcare for an appointment
- I found Spires Healthcare a bit difficult to get through to, it took about 4 phone calls over 3 weeks to get someone on the phone who could answer my questions about Dr Bansal. But if you don't have questions and just want to book it's easier.
- I waited a couple of months for an appointment. He works on Thursdays
- I was told it would be £250 but I have only been billed £200 so the lady on the phone may have made a mistake. He sends a bill after the appointment. Blood tests would be extra but I didn't have any.
- It's a 45 min initial appointment. Follow ups are shorter and cheaper.
Assessment
- Checked for EDS/hyper mobility and fibromyalgia.
- I brought a succinct print out that I could refer to, because I forget. It included supplements and meds I'm taking, significant medical history, and my symptoms. He kept it.
- I also brought my diagnosis letter from the Sutton CFS clinic, where he used to work (though I never met him) and he wanted a copy of that.
- He asked the questions you'd expect about unrefreshing sleep, but also some curveball ones eg 'do you have stretch marks?'
Treatments
- Recommended specific supplements from a handout of long list of supplements which he probably gives to everyone. On the sheet it recommends ballpark places to get the supplements eg 'body building websites' or 'chemists'.
- The recommendations he gave me based on my history, and what I was already taking:
L-carnitine 500mg once daily (From body building website)
PQQ-10mg / CoQ10-100mg combination (From body building website)
Vitamin B12 patches, 1mg alternate days or 5mg per week (From Amazon)
Luteolin 50mg daily
Phenergan 10mg (or less) liquid form (from chemist)
Melatonin 3 to 5mg (from internet)
N-acetylcysteine/NAC 600mg per day
- Said to come back in a few months, and we could think about trying low dose thyroxine which may possibly help, but may have side effects
- Wrote prescription for Aciclovir 400mg tds for 3 months
- Approved of probiotics and suggested to cut wheat from diet
Approach
- Said it wasn't worth doing more thyroid tests - better to just try the medication and see whether it works
- Emphasised that there is hope because of the new research about the test for CFS. This research is promising because of a statistical reason which I didn't understand, more promising than other research. He said that if the research is replicated and it works, then research will probably speed up about ME/CFS treatments.
- Didn't ask GP to prescribe B12 injections because my GPs don't sound co-operative. I have asked for an injection in the past and they turned me down. He didn't want to get on the wrong side of my GP.
On Dr Bansal
- He said he's probably going to retire completely in 5-6 years.
- Talked a lot of science detail which completely passed me by about energy. I know a lot of people on PR are 'expert patients', au fait with lots of technical info and the latest research and the politics. I got the impression he's used to talking to 'expert patients'. I am not one of them so it was very overwhelming for me, I couldn't take it in, and I didn't ask questions that I could have asked because I was overwhelmed. But he's proved he knows his stuff.
- The friend who came with me was impressed by him as a doctor, said he was an academic. My friend works in the NHS
- He shows awareness of the costs of things. He poo-poohed the Perrin technique and made faces about how much osteopaths charge. He said there's nothing out there that has more than a 10% rate of success (the Perrin technique claims a 40% chance of success).
Next steps
- I got a copy of his letter to my GP 2 working days after the appointment.
- My friend is researching for me exactly where I can get the supplements and meds, and where's cheapest.
- I shall go back in 5-6 months
I was pretty moody when I went because of lack of sleep and problems with taxis on the way there. So I felt a bit negative about the experience but I don't think it's Dr Bansal's fault. My friend didn't take notes (we miscommunicated about that beforehand) so there's a lot of detail he said that's been lost. If you can take in new concepts, Dr Bansal will be able to tell you things. Time will tell if the stuff he's recommended works for me.