Migraine

I know everyone was sort of leary of this clinic. I totally understand the skepticisom. However I tried it any way. I saw the dr. 2 times the first visit he went over the questioner, 24 pages, I had filled out. Then he ordered a battery of test, taking over twenty tubes of blood. He gave me the tender point test for fibro. I was a little put off by his bedside manner, but I get that way. Then I went to pay my bill and forked over almost $800.00. DON"T STOP READING YET Of which I can recoup but I have to bill my ins. However they give you all the paperwork and even replacement copies for the inevitable second billing when the ins. co. "Doesn't recieve the forms"

My second visit was approx. 3 weeks later where he spent more than the alloted 1hour but did not charge me extra. We went over all my test results, told me which therapies they could offer me that might be benificial, discussed and changed some meds. At the end I forked over another almost $600. However this cost included some therapies.
I took 4 of their IV for back and body over the next 4 weeks. The first 2 were so so results and the second 2 were fabulous. I also took 2 energy shots. The first one did absolutly nothing that I could tell, However the second one kicked me in a higher gear. I sleep 14- 20 hours a day so I"ll be able to put these energy injections TO THE TEST At $28.00 they are worth it.

On the day I left Or. for Ar. I decided to give this fibro clinic a test. I walked in, unannounced and said I have a plane to catch in 3 hours could I get a back and body IV, an energy injection, and an immunoglobulin inj? Please? There was only one chair left in the IV room and 1 nurse. I was in that chair and had my IV started whithin 15 minutes.I got my shots and was told call if you need anything, we will miss you, good luck! REALLY?? AHhhh. gee my back feels GOOD!

Then all my treatments came to a screahing halt as I had to fly to Ar. to help care for my dying father. I was there for 31 days, until daddy died. I was in a house trailer with my 4 other siblings and my mother. I slept on a sofa and walked on eggshells the whole time. Oh, did I mention that I was in tornado alley? The tornadoes were hitting only 13 miles from our fabulous mobile home in the middle of the night. I crave more!

Anyhoo... I ended up having to call this new Dr. about 6 times to get some meds, pain, and another drug class that they had to overnight mail the paper RX to the pharmacy. Of which they did not charge me a dime.I never had to speak to the dr once thru the whole month. The program co-ordinater did all the work. She returned ALL my calls whithin 2 hours of me calling her. Also they switched program co-ordinators about a week after I left and there was no lag time due to that. OK, NOW I AM IMPRESSED. When I called so many times I had to appologise for bugging them they all said, Honey no problem you can call us 6 times a day, and whatever you need just let us know. WOW I love them.

Daddy lived 16 days after they took out his life sustaining IV. The day after the funeral I was up at 2AM for my 2 hour drive to the Little Rock airport. I was out of there.
On the flight home I was assesing my future treatment with the fibro clinic, the benifits, weighing the costs, ect. At this point there is no more question about me NOT going back to work when I get home. So can I really afford the $125 IV infusoins of vitamines and drug therapy? Really! Well, after the plane ride and 4 hours in the car, mabey I'd just get one more back and body IV. A couple of days after I got home I was needing an IV so I called the clinic and said when can I come in? The receptionist said " what time would you like to come in today?" WOW! Be right there.

On the drive into Portland I am thinking gee it would sure be nice to have some of those wonderful energy inj. for home use. Hee hee hee. When I arrived I told the receptionist that I would like to buy a package of the inj. for home use. I explained that given the fact they had to pre-pay, order and the nurse had to show me how to care for, load from 4 vials, and teach me how to inject myself, that we could do this another day. He sais Oh, no, no, we can do it now! When I asked the nurse if she had time she said" I always have time for you, dear." I THINK I"M IN LOVE!!

Today I had my 3rd visit with the Dr. which was $199.00 for half hour appt. He spent 1 hour over that and did not charge me more. We talked about my new meds, and he listened while I explained how and why I increased my own dose. Test, Test, Test... All he said was That is ok. He ordered an ultrasound of my abdomen And did an exam, after I told him of the pain I had been having. He actually DID NOT SAY oh, probably stress. OK Mabey HIS BEDSIDE MANNER IS GOOD AGTERALL.
I asked him if he thought my blood pressure meds could be causing the burning pain in my arms at night. TEST,TEST,TEST!!!! He asked me why I thought that. I told him because I forgot to take the BP meds yesterday and did not have the pain last night. He asked me about my dose, then thought for a couple minutes. Then he said" Well I do know that BP meds can cause fatigue. Diffrent meds affect people diffrently, so it could be a factor for you even though it is not a common side affect. So, lets try tapering off it temporarily and see if we can figure this out. Then I hit him with what I was sure would bring on the rolling eyes. I said "Well my father just died of parkinsons disease. After reseaching the disease we figured out that he had it for at least twenty years before they diagnosed it. I know see that the fatigue and stiffness he had is just like what I have. So, I think we need to rule this disease out for me." HMmmmm.
He replies " Well, how do they test for that?" I say" Ireally don't know I read the book but I forgot. I now look at him to see if his eyes have left his head yet. Then he sais " Ok, lets research this some and discuss it next appt. I think it is a good idea to make sure this Parkinsons is not part of your fatigue, memory and stiffness. OK, I am HOOKED.

I have NEVER had a Dr. treat me as though I could research, think, comprehend medical issues, or figure out any RX side affects for myself. When he asked me if the immunoglobulin injections had helped me I said" Well, I had 2 and it is hard to tell. However ,I read that these come from thousands of blood doners and I have a problem with that, so I will not be getting any more of those." He just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Ok, no more of those." OK I AM PRETTY MUCH CONVINCED THAT THIS GUY IS OPEN MINDED AND OUT TO HELP HIS PATIENTS. AND ALSO DOES NOT THINK HE KNOWS IT ALL>


On leaving the office I decide I would love to get a memory IV, well, sense I have time and I am already here. So, I ask the receptionist if that is doable. He replies with a big smile and a SHUUURE. I'm thinking at $145.00 for this IV, I'll give them an honest oppinion of it!

I had a friend who I sent to this clinic. She does not have the luxury of ins. So she spent alot of money and then went twice and gave up. I can understand this because everyone cannot afford these clinics and treatments. I feel that I gave them a fair try and was very objective about the treatments. The Dr, has actually told me that if a treatment is not benifiting me to not do it. I LIKE THAT.

So, for me I will continue to go there as long as I benifit from it. Before I went there I could barely walk, or get out of bed in the mornings. I have seen a marked improvement with just the few treatments I have had.

Another thing I like is Dr. does not just try to push their brand of supplements. When tested for deficiencies I showed him what I was taking. He increased them then said we will ck. levels again. If there is no increase then we will see what else we can find to work . IF the increase works then these supplements are fine.

So I realize that alot of the clinics out there may be tainted. However I feel this one deserves looking into. I like the fact that what they learn from me can help someoneelse, as they are in constant research and study mode.
their web site is www.fibroandfatigue.com
Check it out

I hope you don't mind, but I edited your post just to add some paragraph spaces, and make it easier to read for everyone else.

I'm sorry to hear about your dad, Bev. Big, healing hugs to you.

I'm thrilled to hear you've had such a good experience with this clinic. I know it's been a long road to get there for you, and it's good to see you're finally getting some payoff. I couldn't be happier for you, Bev!