Heart Attack from CFS Treatment

[Kathi]

Just want to thank you for putting the word out.. about the dangers of T3 medication....about the questionable protocols used by the F&F clinics or some of their doctors.

...............

It's about the only thing I can do to help others NOT go through what I went through. I am hoping it will help someone............ somewhere.....................
That is the least I can do after all that happened to me. My anniversary is coming up and it is tough knowing what I went through didn't have to be. It is worse knowing that Dr. Pierotti made my CFS much much worse with all the stress he caused. As you know stress exacerbates the illness.

Do you know what it was like experiencing a heart attack??????The pain was beyond incredible. They give you morphine for the pain because it was so excruciating.The ride in the ambulance to the next hospital was surreal. I will never forget what it was like . I did not have a clue what was going on at the time. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever expect to be a heart attack victim with all I have done over the years to insure good heart health. I may have been saddled with a virus, but I did everything right otherwise. But that is life. You have to roll with what you are dealt. So I am rolling with the punches and finally telling my story for some good to come out of this nightmare. I pray it helps someone before it is too late.

 

[Kathi]

The heart attack anniversary is coming up on January 30th. My birthday is January 28th. I would say January is one tough month for me. I find it difficult to see that Dr. Teitelbaum doesn't exhibit any remorse about what has happened to me. He just moves on in his own world and represents the CFS/ME community to the public. How unfair is that!!!!! If you ever see him or write to him, ask him about the lady in Pittsburgh that is suffering because of his Center's treatment. I would wonder what his side of the story would be. But we know the truth and what the real story is. I asked him about the lady in Florida that died with T3 treatment and he never replied. Do we want this type of example representing the community of suffering people????Someone who won't step up to the plate and acknowledge an error by one of his own staff.

 

[Hysterical Woman]

I just typed out a reply and then my cat kindly (!) deleted it for me.

Kathi, now that there is a "doctor" section I was wondering if you would like me to move your story there so that maybe people would see your story when they are looking for info about doctors?

Hi Sarah,

I am not Kathi, obviously, but I hope she agrees. I think that this is a great idea!! Seems like more people might see it.

Good work,

HW

ETA: Oh yeah, blame the spelling errors on the cat!

 

[Kathi]

Please post it on both, if possible.

Kathi

 

[Kathi]

Is it possible to get my post on both????? I want no one to get harmed in the future. We all have been through enough as it is. I wouldn't want anyone to suffer a heart attack like I did.
CFS is bad enough without adding the insult and injury that a heart attack can cause. The F&F Centers have developed a new payment format. They have an 18 month plan at somewhere around $6,000.00 a 12 month plan at around $4,000.00 a 6 month plan etc etc. Before you spend that kind of money, you need to know you won't be up for the next heart attack.

Are you speaking about the doctor section in this area????

Kathi

 

[Kathi]

Pierotti, Aldino L. III (6/3/08) The physician’s D.C. medical

license was revoked as result of disciplinary action

(denial) in Ohio for an inaccurate application and for filing

inaccurate renewal applications with the D.C. Board of

Medicine. [Internal Medicine]



The Respondent was disciplined by the State Medical Board ofOhio on October 22,2003 for stating in

his August 7,2002 application for Certificate in Medicine that he resigned from an Anesthesiology

residency at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA, but failed to disclose that he was placed on probation at the

hospital, that he was counseled regarding ethics, and that he was informed that his employment contract

would not be renewed. He further failed to disclose his surgery residency at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh,

PA, and the fact that he was placed on probation while at Mercy and received other disciplinary action

there. On October 22,2003, the OH Board accepted the Respondent's request for permanent withdrawal of

his application for medical licensure in which he admitted to the allegations described herein. The OH

board declared that his actions constituted "fraud, misrepresentation, or deception in applying for...any

certificate to practice."

2 The Notice is hereby incorporated by reference. Charge III, Specification A of the Notice charges the

Respondent with filing false information with the Board of Medicine in that in his renewal application

dated November 1, 2000 he stated that he was certified by the American Board in anesthesiology, when a

review through the American Board of Medical Specialties shows that no person with the name of the

respondent is certified in any specialty. Specification B of Charge III alleges that in the Respondent's

renewal application to the Board dated November 1,2002, he stated that he was certified by the American

Board in surgery. Again, a search through the American Board of Medical Specialties shows that no

named Aldino L. Pierotti is certified in any specialty.

Despite the date on the PS Form 3811 (the green card), the Respondent to have received the Notice

on February 21,2008 according to the letter the Respondent sent to the Executive Director of the Board.

Regardless of the date of delivery the Respondent received notice ofthe charges against him.

4 On Respondent's Renewal Application dated November 1, 2000, in response to question 4 D which

states: "If you are certified by the American Board of any specialty, please indicate the code from the

specialty list at the right.", the Respondent listed in the Code Box "AN" for Anesthesiology. In

Respondent's next renewal, dated November 1,2002, in response to the same question the Respondent

listed "SU" in the Code Box, representing Surgery.

 

[Kathi]

Pierotti, Aldino L. III (6/3/08) The physicians D.C. medical

license was revoked as result of disciplinary action

(denial) in Ohio for an inaccurate application and for filing

inaccurate renewal applications with the D.C. Board of

Medicine. [Internal Medicine]



The Respondent was disciplined by the State Medical Board ofOhio on October 22,2003 for stating in

his August 7,2002 application for Certificate in Medicine that he resigned from an Anesthesiology

residency at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA, but failed to disclose that he was placed on probation at the

hospital, that he was counseled regarding ethics, and that he was informed that his employment contract

would not be renewed. He further failed to disclose his surgery residency at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh,

PA, and the fact that he was placed on probation while at Mercy and received other disciplinary action

there. On October 22,2003, the OH Board accepted the Respondent's request for permanent withdrawal of

his application for medical licensure in which he admitted to the allegations described herein. The OH

board declared that his actions constituted "fraud, misrepresentation, or deception in applying for...any

certificate to practice."

2 The Notice is hereby incorporated by reference. Charge III, Specification A of the Notice charges the

Respondent with filing false information with the Board of Medicine in that in his renewal application

dated November 1, 2000 he stated that he was certified by the American Board in anesthesiology, when a

review through the American Board of Medical Specialties shows that no person with the name of the

respondent is certified in any specialty. Specification B of Charge III alleges that in the Respondent's

renewal application to the Board dated November 1,2002, he stated that he was certified by the American

Board in surgery. Again, a search through the American Board of Medical Specialties shows that no

named Aldino L. Pierotti is certified in any specialty.

Despite the date on the PS Form 3811 (the green card), the Respondent to have received the Notice

on February 21,2008 according to the letter the Respondent sent to the Executive Director of the Board.

Regardless of the date of delivery the Respondent received notice ofthe charges against him.

4 On Respondent's Renewal Application dated November 1, 2000, in response to question 4 D which

states: "If you are certified by the American Board of any specialty, please indicate the code from the

specialty list at the right.", the Respondent listed in the Code Box "AN" for Anesthesiology. In

Respondent's next renewal, dated November 1,2002, in response to the same question the Respondent

listed "SU" in the Code Box, representing Surgery.

 

[Kathi]

Just bumping this up... I should have had it moved to the new doctor section, as it has gotten lost here....

 

[Mya Symons]

I know this post has been up for awhile but I thought this might be some more info. people should know. I have Hashimoto's disease and saw an Endocrinologist for several years. I asked her about T3. She told me that most doctors will not use synthetic T3 because it is almost impossible to monitor and it is too easy to cause a heart attack. I searched around, and it was the same everywhere I went. No doctor would use T3.

I would be warry of any doctor who is willing to prescribe any amount of T-3.

 

[Kathi]

Mya,I bumped this up because there are new members that come to this site and I wanted them to have a chance to see it. I didn't post it under "Doctors" and it can get " lost. " There is one other person on this site that went to the Fibro and Fatigue clinic and she had atrial fibrillation from T3, but it did not result in a heart attack. She got off the T3 before it could do so. When her values were checked by her family physician after that, they were off the wall high. She was a disaster waiting to happen. She has said " It could have been me" Another patient had congestive heart failure from going to the Atlanta office.

Dr. Teitelbaum said he would see to it that this medication was never administered in this manner again. I was not ramped up slowly. So not only is the medication dangerous to someone who is truly sick, when you administer 100 mcgs all at once, it is even more dangerous. I am not against a small dose, if it helps someone, but what they did to me was blatant medical malpractice as Dr. Cheney said at my first visit.

The unfortunate thing about this .......I was totally brainwashed by Dr. Teitelbaum in thinking that this was my only way of recovering. I didn't know about this illness or anyone who had it at the time. ( Is there something wrong with that scenario???) The only doctor that I knew who addressed it was Dr. Teitelbaum. He had all the search engines filled with his information. I never knew about any other doctor dealing with CFS. My MD brother didn't know about CFS and the F&F Center was the only place I could go. I was going to go to a naturopath, but they weren't recognized in PA and they could not give me a slip about staying off work. Little did I know, the F&F doctor didn't want to give me one.

After the MI, the cardiologist had the endocrinologist come and talk to me. I was so brainwashed by what Dr. Teitelbaum published that I didn't cooperate with her thryoid testing. I told her that she didn't know how to deal with this illness. They wanted to do testing and I declined. At the time I never realized that it was the T3 that caused my MI. I know that armour thyroid can be beneficial to people , but straight T3 at high doses is dangerous. Dr. Cheney told Dr. Teitelbaum many many times that large doses of T3 could cause serious problems and he told him that he never used large doses...My dose was large and given inappropriately and it was not a time released version.

I have been harmed on top of having this illness. I can't begin to tell you what a heart attack is like. They say that you forget "birthing pains " and you do. I will never never forget the terrible pain I had when I had the heart attack. The pain on a scale of a 1-10 is a 20. It is incredibly painful. I could have died ... It put me back so far....... I got social security disabilty on my own without the aid of a lawyer.... Does that tell you what they did to me?????

Not only that, the F&F doctor misdiagnosed me as a hormone only patient. How could they claim to have experts when he didn't even get my diagnosis right??

 

[Mya Symons]

Kathy, I am so sorry you had to go through that. It must have been so scarey. At one time I thought about going to the Fibro and Fatigue Center, but it was too expensive. I have had the experience of going places where the doctoer claims to be a specialist on CFS and FMS, but does not charge your insurance company. It always ended up to be expensive and did not work. Thank you for the information you have shared with us.

 

[Kathi]

It is very unfortunate that our medical system has caused this to happen to suffering people ..... we search for answers and are desperate for whatever help we can get. This post was meant as a warning....... I went with only a few years under my belt of being terribly sick.

I think one of the worst cases was the woman who lost her house because she chose to pay for treatment at the Fibro and Fatigue Center, rather than pay her mortgage when her husband lost his job. She never got well and on top of it lost her home...Another patient ended up in rehab because they over medicated her, despite the patient's MD son warning them prior to treatment. Dr. Larry Sharp worked there and left because of the business practices. Nothing is ever black and white ...good or bad..... There are degrees of issues ..........if you have a wonderful doctor to begin with.... he will be wonderful no matter what the situation..............

The ultimate insult was being told I needed to get back to work from the expert at the Fibro and Fatigue Center. Who would have ever thought in a million years that this would happen.... they couldn't even diagnose a case of CFS correctly!!

 

[Kathi]

I think the worst part was afterwards.......I thought Dr. Teitelbaum wanted to help me and asked for my medical records from the MI. So I sent them to Hawaii for him to review. ( Remember I was still under the belief that he was the only CFS doctor at the time and was afraid to go to any other F&F Center.) Well I am wondering now whether he didn't want them to HELP ME, he wanted to see if they said the thyroid medication caused the MI. This was for legal purposes to protect his centers. It didn't say that on my records because I refused the endocrinologists help. I was so brainwashed that if I didn't take that thyroid medication .... I wouldn't get well. I never knew he was warned profusely by Dr. Cheney that this could happen, so he knew what he was doing and what had happened to me. I stupidly sent them thinking that he was trying to help. He had no clue how to help me. Afterwards the things he told me to do made me worse.... like exercising.... He was so stumped by what to do, he told me I needed to go to Dr. Cheney because he couldn't help me. My Ef was in a danger zone. It appears this way, as I look back on things..... If he felt like he was trying to help, it didn't.

If you can't afford a Cheney or a F&F Center, I suggest finding someone who will help you implement things you find online. I don' t think there is a one size that fits all. As I read extensively on a daily basis, I see one thing may help one person and it may be detrimental for another. I read constantly and extensively. There are some interesting areas such as " MOLD" that I know affects me, as I got sick in a school building, not once but twice. I have a haplotype that makes it difficult for me to detox toxins once they enter my body.

I was never sick until working in the public school system . I had four buildings and only one of the four made me ill. It got to the point that one building made me so ill, I got sick upon walking in the door. I would not be sick on one level of a building and very sick on another level of the building. In the second school, I was fine until being positioned in the basement. I got very ill and gradually declined to the point where I couldn't even walk. The muscle pain and no strength in my arms and hands were becoming more of a problem. In the first school, there were moldy tiles above my head and I got sick. REMEMBER, I was never sick prior to entering that school. The school had a combination of asbestos and mold and 6 young teachers died in that building in a short period of time of cancers. Many others had symptoms of gastrointestinal illness and depression. I had a twin twin pregnancy in that building that nearly took my life. It did take the life of my identical twin girls... I never knew about mold illnes in the 80's, but fortunately an integrative physician had the protocol that helped me to get well. I left that building after the pregnancy and was fine. I only got sick again upon being put in the basement of a room that had water damage on the walls. And that led me to the point I am at now...

 

[Kathi]

With all that being said,I am not sure how the mold factor plays into this. Do I have an illness that is affected by mold .....that never showed up until I was exposed to mold OR do I only have a mold illness alone???? I haven't been XMRV tested, but I ponder this issue every day when I am studying. I know how I got sick, but that is all I know..... Maybe testing would be in order to answer this million dollar question that I ask myself everysingle day. if the tests are accurate enough at this point. What I do know, I was very sick when I went to the F&F Center. To be told that I was a hormone only patient by an medical facility that was supposed to be EXPERTS at this illness is beyond comprehension.

You may ask why I am still talking about this subject.... Because I have been in a fog since it happened. At times incidents will pop into my memory that make everything so much more clear. I am not a scientist or researcher, but I try to piece the pieces of the puzzle together. Each day I seem to put more of the puzzle pieces in place and thought I would share. I hope you are not bored with my rehashing. It is therapeutic for me after this horrendous incident. I often ask why???
But there are no answers to the question.

 

[Kathi]

I responded to a post on CFS Experiemental that I thought should be here. It is in response to a person questioning CFIDS/ME care in the Pittsburgh area. It started with the F&F Centers and then it proceeded to Dr. Teitelbaum's care. Being that Dr. Teitelbaum is resuming patient interaction I thought it most appropriate. I have been able to gain a better insight over the past 4 years of some things that I was unable to see before. I am posting it as it was posted, because I have received some very positive coments. ..........................................................

If you read carefully , you would see that I went to the F&F Center as a first step. I did not know any other doctors in this field. It was working with Dr. Teitelbaum AFTER the heart attack that I came to the understanding and realization of his inability to help improve my situation. It was Dr. Teitelbaum himself...... who directed me to go to Dr. Cheney. I was getting worse under Dr. Teitelbaum's collaborative efforts with my brother. The echos that were done proved it.... My ejection fraction had gone down to 29% ( with low normal 50%) I was being asked to have tests done for a defibrillator or heart implant at that stage. Dr. Teitelbaum did not have indepth understanding of this illness, even though he attended yearly group meetings with all the CFS experts in the field. He may be helpful in less severe cases of fatigue, but at the time he did not fully understand MY illness or that his protocol could be harmful.

Dr. Teitelbaum asked for my hospital records to be sent to him, I thought it was intended for my care. But I now believe differently. Prior to that time, I trusted Dr. Teitelbaum implicitly. In fact the sun, moon and stars shone on him , in my eyes. Quite frankly, I believe Dr. Teitelbaum wanted to know if the F&F Centers could be blamed for the heart attack on the cardiologist's report. That is a very severe comment, but I believe it to be accurate.

When the cardiologist who did my catherization after the heart attack asked that I see the hospital endocrinologist, because he felt my heart attack was caused by the T3, I never knew or understood why he was suggesting it. ( Remember my free T3 and free T4 levels were in the high normal range prior to getting the T3 from Dr. Perotti) I thought they ( the hospital endocrinologists) were going to tell me to stop everything I was doing because they didn't understand that they were 20 years behind the times.. as Dr. Teitelbaum had told me. I thought I wouldn't get well if I didn't follow Dr. Teitelbaum's protocol. So I declined the very tests that would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt the F&F Center's culpability. Dr. Teitelbaum knew that because he had my hospital records. It was only after the heart attack I started researching and determined the reason for my heart attack. It was Dr. Paul Cheney in Asheville, North Carolina, who confirmed it as blatant medical malpractice and was willing to state it. There had already been a fatal heart attack in Florida with the use of T3. Why I am alive today, I have no clue.

Dr. Teitelbaum may be good at mild illnesses of fatigue, but he didn't have the expertise for more severe cases. I am going to be brutally honest, I personally have talked with at least a half dozen patients that saw him when he was practicing in Maryland and spent thousands of dollars for his care. They were not helped. They were bombarded with too many treatments at one time. If there was one thing that was troublesome, the patient wouldn't be able to determine it... because everything was done at once. I also spoke with a disabled patient that lived near his office who asked that she be included in his studies. He would not take anyone that was disabled. So his studies were skewed as to not include very ill patients. This alone would tend to make his success rates high.

As to the effectiveness of Dr. Teitelbaum today, I cannot be the judge. Only one can know by making the appointment and determining whether he has grown in his ability to treat us. Dr. Teitelbaum does have useful ideas in his book,, but they have been in the alternative world prior to his publishing them. I was aware of many of them prior to reading his books.

 

[taniaaust1]

Hi. Ive heard of a couple of CFS/ME patients of those clinics ending up with Addisons disease due to treatment there.

I think the name says it all "Fibro and Fatigue" clinic .. ones with ME maybe should be avoiding them and going to see specialists who deal with more ME people.

 

[Esther12]

Sorry to hear about your troubles Kathi. I really hope that things are now improving for you.

Personally, I don't think that any 'experts' in chronic fatigue syndrome should be that trusted, especially when they're making suggestions to patients. At this point, I'm sceptical of anyone who is making money based upon their claim that they can treat CFS.

 

[Nielk]

I'm so sorry too about what you had to go through Kathy! Is the heart problem resolved now? I hope you are doing better.

A few years ago, I went to one of Dr. Teitlebaum's clinics in Connecticut. One thing I can say is that their testing is very thorough. They over treat the patients. I agree with Kathy that they bombard you at once from every angle and put you on many medicines and supplements at once. I didn't want to do it, knowing that I'm very sensitive but, the doctor there convinced me that the only way out, is to treat it from every angle. They also wanted to give me IV supplement and anti-viral infusions. I resisted them but, I wasn't getting better so they convinced me it was because I don't agree to he "full treatment". I agreed to try it (thinking that if I don't, I'll never know if it would have helped). I was on it twice a week for a month and kept feeling worse and worse till I decided this is not for me and stopped going there.

 

[Charles555nc]

Try edta supppositories, once a week, for your heart problems and cfs.

http://www.worldwellnessstore.com/detoxamin-1500-mg-30-suppositories.html?___store=default

is the cheapest Ive found it, I also recemmend taking it with 800mg malic acid. A day or two later, I would take a b complex tablet and a zinc tablet after the chelation to replace any lost minerals.

Here is a post about me regaining being able to function:
http://forums.phoenixrising.me/show...-Updated-Vitamin-Protocol&p=238137#post238137

Teitelbaum used to recemmend a protocol with statins and antivirals....but he doesnt recemmend those anymore (horrible side effects from statins). So yes I know hes recemmended some out rageous stuff.

Stay away from thyroid hormones and try a couple drops of Lugol's iodine every other day.

 

[Sing]

This story is a vivid reminder of the rock and the hard place we've been in between: On the on hand, neglect and dismissal, and on the other, quackery. Mistreatment on both sides. We have a very serious need for good health care, and deserve it, but continue to have to speak out and work for it every step of the way, both on an individual basis and as a group.