Naturopathy- any effect?

[Zuriel]

Wonder anyone benefited from naturopathic treatments. I come from a continent where
there are no ME/CFS specialist. Feeling miserable as symptoms worsen day by day after being neglected by the medical profession. Admire those of you in US who have access to loads of caring, competent doctors.

 

[Lee Ann]

Hello Z
Don't be too envious of the US health care system. We might have access but..... I've seen 13 doctors and spent loads of money. My opinion of 99 percent of them.....They should chose another profession.
To answer your question, I have found B12 to be helpful. There is a thread that explains it.

 

[Zuriel]

Thanks, Lee Ann.
I have been injecting myself daily with Vit B12A (Hydroxocobalamin) 3ml for more than a year. I felt more energized initially but the effect seems to wear out pretty soon. Other severe symptoms begin to pile up. After relating them to my doctor, he asked if I would like to leave him. What have I done wrong to deserve being banished from his clinic? At least you guys in Canada have a Dr Hyde who conducts tests to get to the root cause of the fatigue, some of which can be corrected, and those of you in America have competent,caring physicians such as Dr Kilmas or Dr Peterson who conduct investigations and treatment. I can take out a loan for treatment
in the US, but will definitely not be able to withstand more than 40 hours flight across the Pacific Ocean. Thus, my search for alternative treatment. Not that I'm too lazy to read up, but its because I'm just too neurotoxic to do so. Wish you all well. Cheers.

 

[ukxmrv]

Zuriel,

I'm in the UK and cannot afford to see the few ME/CFS docs we have left very often. We do have the odd doctor left but I can only see one every two / three/ four /five years and cannot pay for much they prescribe or many of the tests.

So as I'm not able to make headway here, I've been putting together treatment plans for myself based on information on the internet from the kind patient who do see doctors and report back or on published research. Been buying drugs from abroad when I can.

There are some Aussies on this group doing the same sort of things.

I spent years early on with natrupatic medicine and it was a huge waste of my money and time. Unless one can find that medical professional who really does know about ME (of any discipline) then it is a huge lottery if they will be able to help.

I've met few "natural medicine" doctors who can tell the difference between acute onset, viral ME and "fatigue".

There are Australian doctors though treating ME and CFS (aren't there?) but I have no idea how good they are.

Maybe find some of the threads here where fellow Australians share doctor and treatment info and see what they are doing. There's also a OZME Yahoo group that may be able to advise.

In NZ they have Dr Vallings in Auckland. Not sure how good she is or if you could do that trip?

Wishing you all the best. I know how hard it is surviving with no doctors.

 

[Sallysblooms]

I am very thankful there are good integrative doctors here in the U.S. I have had great luck with them. You have to look but when you find them it is fantastic!

 

[icalla]

I'm in Canada, seeing a naturopath who does specialize in CFS, and is fantastic. I agree with ukxmrv that it makes a big difference how much knowledge and experience they have with the illness.

The naturopath who treated me at onset was amazing, but was overwhelming me with a huge amount of supplements which were meant to increase overall energy and so forth. Once diagnosed, I found my current naturopath, who has given me very few supplements and regimes, built them up slowly so as not to overwhelm my addled brain, and which are really targeted at my condition based on bloodtests as well as her clinical experience. There was a significant rise and stabilization in my energy levels thanks to her treatment.

Wish I could help more, but I know little about Aussie healthcare.

 

[caledonia]

Yes, I've gotten to a somewhat better place through naturopathy. I have gone from 10% to 20-25% over several years. The one I go to diagnoses imbalances through electrodermal screening, then prescribes supplements to correct those. It costs me about $250 a month in supplements. In general, I feel stable and not sick all the time with flu-like symptoms, nausea, etc. I'm sleeping fairly decent and have good digestion. All of those were not true when I started, so I feel like it's been money well spent and relatively cheap compared to what you could be spending on other treatments which may or may not work or may make you much worse.

Surely there are some good docs or naturopaths in Australia. My suggestion would be to check the various Good Doctor lists (Co-Cure, Prohealth) and also make a new post asking about good docs/naturopaths in Australia.

 

[justy]

I think naturopathic treatments are a good option if there are no M.E specialists available. It might be important to find one who knows a bit about M.E though. The reason i think its a good way to go is because they are interested in trying to get as much balance back as possible so can gradually boost the immune system etc. this way your body may be able to heal somewhat but if it cant then it will be in better condition for trying more medicalised drug treatments.

I have been seeing a medical herbalist for 2 years plus following Dr Myhills advice which is sort of naturopathic in nature. I have got a much stronger immune system and many of the central nervous/adrenal problems have also improved. My sleep is much better and i feel generally more well. Im not better though and there is still a lot i cant do, but i no longer have to spend months in bed everytime i get a cold becauswe it has turned into Bronchitis and then pneumonia.
I have also worked on my diet and reduced my severe candida quite a lot as well as reduced gut problems. All of this is possible with a good naturopath/herbalist/environmental doctor, but it does take time and money for herbs/supplements/treatments etc.
Best wishes, Justy.

 

[taniaaust1]

hi there, Im in Australia too and have had exactly the same issue as you with doctors and being told they dont want to be my doctor and dont want to be seeing me (due to me having CFS/ME). This seems to be a common attitude of Aussie doctors when it comes to CFS/ME **sighs its almost on par with the English doctors pushing the psych drugs at us.... but rather .. we get ignored).

What Aussie state are you in? There are quite a few aussies here and maybe someone here is in your state and could point you to a good doctor or CFS/ME specialist (to which there are quite a few in Australia but not actually many good ones, most dont do much other then just tell you you have CFS/ME).

As far as Naturopathy goes, I was studying at a naturopathic collage when I first got CFS/ME. I ended up having appointments with those I know in the field but nothing which I tried helped as far as Naturopathy goes (other then certain vitamin supplements eg C and B12) helped at all.

As far as B12 injections go. I was on those for 2-3 years having two per week as they used to wear off in my case in 3-4 days. After years of those, I found I dont need the B12 injections no more as I dont start to go backwards when I stop them (they cleared up a lot of my mind fog)

I do have an idea for you thou...

my CFS/ME specialist recently suggested me get hair analyses done and in my case it did show up a couple of things including a bad deficiency of a trace mineral (molybdenum) which we are now working on fixing and the new supplments Im taking to correct deficiency are helping me.

So I suggest you could find it worthwhile having this test done too to see if you have any deficiency or another thing show up. Im in Sth Australia but the test was done in NSW (involved just sending hair sample back to them in their envelope).

The test is about $120-130 with a doctor supporting it or if you dont have a supporting doctor, it can be done without a doctor for $150? (for this money it goes into the trace minerals, heavy metals (it showed my copper level as being sky high) and other things like mineral ratios.. and the great 10 page report I got back included treatment plan the findings they found). beware, if you have hair dye it can make levels of some things higher then they actually are.. but deficiencies are always deficiencies.
The hair analyses test and report I had done were throu InterClinical Laboratories www.interclinical.com.au or phone them on (02)9693 2888 if you have questions about their test
.................

Make sure you have been tested for rickettsia. Half of the CFS/MErs my specialist sees here in Sth Australia test positive to it and are then helped at least some by being treated for it.

 

[JanisB]

Naturopathy is divided as a profession, with some going to 4 year schools educated as thoroughly as medical doctors and others getting certification from mail order courses.

The basic premise is that the body is self-healing if we:

1. remove toxins
2. replace deficient nutrients
3. support the natural process of restoration

These are called the three R's.

The problems in ME/CFS come with step 1, removing toxins. Removing toxins from the environment requires a bit of detective work and expenses not everyone thinks of. The naturopath has no information about this except what the patient conveys and cannot do much about it. An environmental medicine specialist, or air quality specialist, can be helpful here. Diet also plays a role, as non-organic foods contribute toxins and even some organic foods can be toxic to certain individuals, depending upon their genetics and the health of their g.i. tract.

The other part of step 2 is supporting detox. Naturopaths tend to use colonics and enemas, herbs, homeopathics, lymph drainage, and similar techniques that do not increase toxicity. None are trained to deal with hypersensitive patients as in ME-CFS; they have to learn from experience. It's very important for you to work in partnership with your naturopath and to trust your intuition, taking things very very slowly.

If you don't do both parts -- i.e. clean up what you put in and support all detox pathways in the body before doing anything to PUSH detox, you will have healing crises that could make you sicker.

I had a case once with a young girl with severe OI living in a room with walls covered with mold, but her parents would not move and did not deal with the mold... She could not tolerate even the most gentle detox drops. She eventually found an MD and took a lot of toxic drugs to control symptoms. I don't know how she is doing now. Hopefully once she left the moldy house, she improved.

Good luck to you.
Janis B (P.S. I am a naturopath)

 

[Zuriel]

Thanks, Taniaaust1. Your input gave me food for thought. I'm from Victoria. Finally, I come across an alternative med practice near my suburb which conducts hair mineral analysis, thyroid test and loads of other diagnostic investigations. Here's the website http://www.sanctuarywellness.com.au/diagnostic_tests/index.html Would be a good idea to do a hair analysis since I have itchy (no flakes) scalp since diagnosis of CFS. Dermatologist gave up
on me. Gp with interest in me/cfs does not know if it is caused by daily vit B12A injection, which doesn't help a least bit and my brain fog continue to deteriorate. Another GP thinks it could be the nightly melatonin spray. These
doctors are, in the words of Dr Byron Hyde, throwing darts at us blind folded.

Janis B- I have been doing (Perrin Technique) lymphatic drainage massages on my own for the past month. I am feeling extremely unwell with lots of nausea and punching-type abdominal/intestinal pain every night. Guess this
is due to the release of toxins into the bloodstream. I might visit a naturopath to oversee the detox.

Can anyone from Victoria, Australia please recommend a naturopath who's knowledgeable in me/cfs if you come across one?

 

[moblet]

I'm fibro rather than CFS and had a bad experience with naturopathy, but that was at least partly due to the quality (of lack thereof) of the naturopath. All registered naturopaths here are qualified, but what seems to be lacking from their training is how to diagnose and treat with adequate rigour. They will do a more rigorous assessment than a doctor here, but they may not process the information competently. I went to one asking if they could help me sleep, got told I had to take seven different supplements simultaneously because "we have to do everything at once!" in spite of my protestations that we only change one thing at a time and proceed sensitively. I followed her instructions and didn't sleep for 32 hours. If you can find a naturopath with a scientific mind you might do OK, but even then it is merely allopathy, if you have lots of symptoms you could yourself being overwhelmed with dozens of things to take, it seems to be a common thing for them to insist on making sudden and sweeping changes without regard for what people's bodies can cope with. Their diagnostic methods and tools may turn up you useful information even if they can't directly help you.

Other possibilities in Melbourne are the NIIM and Dr Anne Small.

I second taniaaust1's comment about rickettsia, I had that and eliminating it was important. In my case it was found with a Listen Orion bio-energetic machine; these kinds of machines can be good for identifying pathogens and toxicities. I'm not aware of anyone running any such machines in Melbourne but if you're ever heading to Sydney I can give you some names.

 

[August59]

An environmental medicine specialist, or air quality specialist, can be helpful here. Diet also plays a role, as non-organic foods contribute toxins and even some organic foods can be toxic to certain individuals, depending upon their genetics and the health of their g.i. tract.

"Genetics" is one thing that I think is going to play a big part in our quest for treatments and eventual cure. What genetics (or genetic defects) are we looking for and which ones do we already know play a part in this disease. I personally think this the reason why ME/CFS is more prevalent in some familes is the passing along of genetic flaws (I don't mean this in a bad way). What test are available to find some of these genetic flaws (defects??)?