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Envita Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona

Wayne

Senior Member
Messages
4,300
Location
Ashland, Oregon
I just ran across the website [for the first time] for Envita Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona. I thought the article at the following link provided one of the best and most succinct explanations and descriptions of ME/CFS I've ever run across.

But just because they have a good understanding of it doesn't necessarily mean they have a good track record in treating it. Has anybody visited this clinic? Care to share your experiences? -- Thanks!

Envita Clinic

Here's the concluding paragraph in this particular article. Following this paragraph, they have a number of links to other articles; which I hope to read sometime soon.

How did your Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Start?

The short answer: triggers. Another critical point is that fibromyalgia syndrome is initiated by a triggered physical trauma; a car accident, surgery, the death of a loved one or other psychological and emotional stressors. This is what we have also seen in several autoimmune diseases, chronic fatigue syndrome and especially Lyme disease. The infection is already present in the body the whole time, but it is usually the trigger that weakens the immune system.

Then the body's defense system goes down, then Pandora's Box is opened and you start to see the full-blown disease expressed. The "trigger" phenomenon is often related to HPA (axis) system in the brain. The term chronic Lyme disease complex was developed by the doctors at Envita to explain to our patients that numerous bacterial (including Borrelia), viral, fungal, parasitic infections, and other tick-borne coinfections all bring about musculoskeletal pain, joint pain, neurological pain, digestive issues, hormonal problems, headaches, cognitive problems and the list goes on.
 
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I was alarmed at the claim* that psychological/emotional stress results in illness by weakening the immune system. To my knowledge, there is no proof a normal immune system can hold back Lyme disease. Even the CDC recognizes the need for at least ~30 days antibiotics, not to mention ILADS guidelines. There's also co-infections like Ehrlichia, which apparently can send a patient into a coma.

Envita also talks about treating the root cause, but they may not know what that is. I'm also concerned they might be mixing ME/CFS with "chronic fatigue."

Then I saw the reviews.



The most telling review was by Oliver25.** He details a nightmare of a time at Envita in 2011, involving charging without delivery, forgery, illegal sale, etc. His complaints to the Board resulted in investigation of two Envita doctors. Dr. DK had 4 cases pending and a motion was passed to have him undergo a neuropsych eval; he passed away mid-investigation in 2013. Dr. BK was penalized and censured so he can no longer diagnose/treat Lyme as of 2014.

On March 24, 2011 I was at Envita I talked to DP, the owner, and he told me my “relapse” was due to psychological problems and that I should hire a life coach, join a business club, join a dating service, dress differently, come back for 2 more weeks . . .


From another patient:
[Envita's owner DP] told me that if I were to get well at another doctor it would only be because of all the good things Envita had done for me . . . When I contacted the top Lyme Disease advocacy group who helps patients find LLMD's, Dr Korn was actually on their list of banned doctors.




There are also mixed reviews. You can see opinions on Healing Well, here, and here. When I searched for a "review" of Envita, I noticed several of the company's own marketing materials popped up. Some people said Envita might work to remove a negative post or that negative posts about the company seem to disappear. There were a few 1-post pro-Envita users, which I suspect might be employees or marketers. There is a paid referral system.

Supposedly, Lyme patients have an intense 8-12 weeks of IVs, possibly complemented with supplements, coffee enemas, and oral antibiotics, then are sent home with salt/rife. This costs ~$40,000-80,000 (likely out of pocket). A few posts noted some staff opted to go home, rather than stay and do treatment for patients.

Two posts said Envita defined their 90% success rate akin to "feeling better walking out than walking in" or "significant improvement with symptoms." At least one post said this was generally not evidenced with Lyme patient groups at the site. One person got to 50%, was sent home, and relapsed. Ultimately unsuccessful Lyme scenarios seem to be the norm, from what I saw. (I found out later Envita staff may have knowingly lied about their success rate, based on a blog I found.) A few improved. There were reports Envita doesn't follow-up with patients.



Envita's treatment for DIPG was noted by one person as unconfirmed for cancer and expensive (>$100,000) vs. other providers. Again, there were some positive comments. Some people also talked about how the staff was nice during some of their loved ones' final times.

I did not come across any ME/CFS stories.

*envita.com/lyme-disease/is-fibromyalgia-the-real-diagnosis
**healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=3194219 (Note: Might be some copyrighted/iffy stuff, so I wouldn't recommend visiting.)