Primary Care and ME Specialist Wilmington, NC

[sparklehoof]

Hi,
I posted once before about this topic without much success, so I wanted to give it another go

I'm looking for a PCP and ME specialist in the Wilmington, NC area. Does anyone have a doctor(s) that they'd recommend?

I have Medicare and Medicaid and recently moved to Wilmington, NC.

I'm looking for a local primary doctor that is well versed enough in ME to take over my current rx's and have some kind of awareness that it is a condition that is real and needs to be taken seriously.
I'm also looking for a specialist if possible.

I haven't had any luck so far finding many support resources for ME in the area.
Dr. Lapp seems to be the closest at 207 miles from my house, but seeing him will cost well over 50% of my annual income.

Medicare and Medicaid passed me from office to office but weren't able to assist me in finding a knowledgeable PCP, a specialist or someone who could answer my questions about their reimbursement policy. Medicare had me call Medicaid, then Medicaid sent me to their county office, then the county office told me to call the first two numbers again and said that generally people find a primary and then the primary will refer them to a specialist. I asked, if I found a primary that referred me to Dr. Lapp or another non-participating specialist, if Medicare and Medicaid would reimburse me if I pay up front? He said he didn't know and didn't know of anyone who would be able to answer that question. He basically said that I could try it an see. If I spend $4000-$7000 for one or two appointments at Hunter Hopkins, I'm scared that I won't have a way to pay off that amount of credit card debt if Medicare and Medicaid refuse to help.

I have a PCP in RI that has been managing my prescriptions for the last three months, but she can't keep it up unless I keep flying back to RI to see her.

I found a doctor in Chapel Hill that I used to see and he now only works on Fridays. He's willing to see me again, but it's still 133 miles away.

Does anyone have a primary and specialist in the area that they like?

Thanks!

 

[rebar]

I'm from Wilmington and have family still living there, I've never heard of anyone specializing in ME in Wilmington.

 

[sparklehoof]

Thanks for letting me know that you haven't heard of anyone around for ME pts. If you don't mind me asking, does someone in your family who lives here have ME? If so do you know if they go without care? Thanks.

 

[rebar]

No, I'm the only one and I don't know of anyone in south eastern NC
who does. I haven't lived there in a long, long time. I will ask around, several of my family are
in health care.

 

[sparklehoof]

Thank you so much, that would be great!

 

[broadcastteacher]

Hey, I used to live in Wilmington and could not find a specialist there, either. However, I did know a good primary care doctor. He treated my parents for years, and as I was taking care of my mom for three years, I took her to see him several times. He was very compassionate and caring, and his nurse was wonderful. My brother moved to Wilmington last year and currently sees him. His name is Dr. Matthew Messier, and he's in internal medicine. He practices with his wife, so there are two Dr. Messiers there. I can't speak first-hand about his relationship with ME/CFS, but my guess is he'd probably be a good choice. Link:
https://www.nhrmc.org/physician-group/physician-directory/m/messier-matthew-r
Good luck! I have now moved back to SC after my mom died, so I'm not there anymore, or I'd try to meet up with you.

Oh, and I have recently done some research on CFS/ME doctors. I've seen Dr. Lapp twice, and he's very good, but expensive. I started looking further away from home and discovered that Dr. Enlander, at Mt. Sinai in NYC, will do phone or Skype consultations for $300. I had one a couple of days ago and will be starting his protocol, which involves several supplements and kepapressin (sp?) shots, most of which are proprietary to him. He will work with your local doctor, also. I thought he was very easy to talk to, although he called me while he was driving, so it was a little difficult to hear him at times! I've heard good things about his protocol, so we'll see. I'm not getting my hopes up. He said about 55% of his patients see some improvement, and he treats Jennifer Brea, the woman doing the Canary in a Coal Mine film. I haven't seen the charges yet, but from what I saw on his website, the supplements are relatively cheap.

Take care.