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Any Doctors in Helsinki, Finland?

Messages
65
So far I have...
  • Markus Färkkilä (Aava Tapiola)
  • Markku Partinen (Uniklinikka)
  • Gabriele Sved (Uniklinikka)
  • Ilkka Vauhkonen (Terveystalo Kamppi)

Does anyone else know any doctors around this area(pk-seutu)? Especially someone that's willing to prescribe antivirals and is open to other things too?
 

Cipher

Administrator
Messages
838
So far I have...
  • Markus Färkkilä (Aava Tapiola)
  • Markku Partinen (Uniklinikka)
  • Gabriele Sved (Uniklinikka)
  • Ilkka Vauhkonen (Terveystalo Kamppi)

Does anyone else know any doctors around this area(pk-seutu)? Especially someone that's willing to prescribe antivirals and is open to other things too?

Hi @sebaaa! I live in Sweden, so I'm very interested to know more about the doctors you listed. What are their methods for treating ME?
 

JES

Senior Member
Messages
1,320
Uniklinikka is probably among the only places left to go for Finnish patients, but don't expect any miracle treatments. Partinen is doing some co-operation with Uppsala who in turn are working with the group of Ron Davis. Anyway, they are more at the stage of studying the disease than offering actual useful treatments.

As far as I know, there are no ME/CFS doctors prescribing antivirals in Finland, even LDN is on the "banned" list after the Polo case. As it happens, you can actually buy Valtrex without prescription from Finnish pharmacies since a few years back. I had a go at it and temporarily got worse, so it's up to you and I obviously can't recommend self medication.
 
Messages
65
Thank you so much @JES, I didn't know that you could buy Valtrex from the pharmacy. Sadly, they don't have Famvir which is better tolerated. Uniklinikka seemed like the best bet though it's a bit sad if they can't actually prescribe anything. I might see Gabriele Sved since she's the only one that is available.

The other two I have no clue about. Färkkilä might be open to something like LDN since he treats MS. @Cipher I think there are at least two CFS clinics in Sweden. One of them is in Stockholm, and the other one is in Gothenburg. Maybe they could be helpful.
 
Messages
4
I just moved to Finland, and am in the process of getting healthcare established here. I'm very interested in knowing more about what care for ME/CFS is like in Finland, if anyone would share their experiences with me. Thanks for the list of doctors - I hope I'll be able to meet with one of them someday.
 
Messages
65
I'm very interested in knowing more about what care for ME/CFS is like in Finland.
It's pretty bad in Finland. It's a lot like the situation in Denmark and the UK, so expect a lot of GET and CBT, which are both extremely harmful. I don't think ME/CFS is even recognized as a physical disease here, it gets lumped under "functional disorders" or treated as such.

if anyone would share their experiences with me.
I went to Gabriele Sved and it was a horrible experience. She was pretty clueless about ME/CFS. She thought it was all about orthostatic intolerance when the IOM and CCC state otherwise. All she offered me was CBT and more expensive tests. I doubt Markku Partinen would be much different.

You'll be lucky to find a doctor that can offer any experimental treatments since many of them are afraid of losing their doctors license.
 

IThinkImTurningJapanese

Senior Member
Messages
3,492
Location
Japan
I don't think ME/CFS is even recognized as a physical disease here, it gets lumped under "functional disorders" or treated as such.


The story of a Finnish Mother
According to the official position of Finland, the illness is a ‘functional disorder’, and treating it physically can exacerbate the symptoms by reinforcing the patient’s conception of the physical nature of the illness.


I've gotten the same sort of treatment here in Japan. It's very difficult to be considerate with such willfully ignorant people. The evidence is quite clear at this point, ..this isn't a concept.
 
Messages
4
I'm sorry to hear that the doctors haven't been helpful. I'm mostly just hoping to find a doctor who believes that ME is real, disabling, and is willing to help me access some support through the healthcare system or government. I don't know if that's too much to hope for? It sure was in the US.