The Naturopathic Doctor Visit

I know there is a LOT of controversy between seeing an Medical Practitioner vs a Naturopathic Doctor.  

I spent 10 years going from Mainstream Doctor to Mainstream Doctor.

I was told to:

- Drink Milk

- Read a boring book

- Get more sleep

- It's all in your head

- Here's some anti-depressants 

- Take another sleep test

- There's nothing wrong with you

...and so on.

I've been to 4 Sleep Clinics (one in the day), the Cardiopulmonary Specialist, Walk In Clincs, General Practitioners, Respiratory Therapists and more. 

I never felt comfortable enough or could remember enough of my symptoms in the 5 minutes mainstream doctors seem to have for a patient before they just stop listening.

I was on "keep me awake" pills for about 6 months. Then they stopped working, and I started falling asleep everywhere all over again.  What did the doctor do? Prescribed me the EXACT SAME PILL after it had been rejected by my body as a solution after 4 months! 

I met my first Homeopathic Healer then (she wasn't an ND - Naturopathic Doctor who requires the same extensive education as an MD), and saw my first glimpse of not feeling like crap. Then I moved back to Ottawa, and just floated by until I hit rock bottom again.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - your worst flu symptoms x 10.  

Where you fall asleep on your friend's couches on a regular basis in the middle of the day and can't remember your words halfway through a sentence (so embarrassing).  Heck  - I fell asleep last weekend on a friend's couch at about 8pm. I just couldn't keep my eyes open.  I woke up 2 hours later, drove home, and went right back to bed. 

I was sleeping because I couldn't stay awake...Husband had enough booze.

There's lots of pictures like the one above. Systic sleeping.

Me when I used the nickname Systic. Sweet 16.

Anyhow. I met my current ND about 2.5 years ago.  She specializes in treating Lyme disease and Mould induced illnesses (aka me).  Husband and I call her my Voo Doo Hoo Doo Doctor.  She's awesome, but whatever she does is weird. And it is slowly working (I tried to go cold turkey last summer, and ended up getting sick and regressed rapidly).

I have gone from walking Zombie to almost normal. Well, as normal as I can be (if you know me, you know I'll never be normal - ha ha).

Today I saw her for the first time in 4 months, as she felt I could go that long between visits.  It was every 1 or 2 months prior to that, so progress is being made!

The appointment starts with discussing how I'm feeling, what symptoms are quite evident, and my diet - food plays a big factor in that whole staying healthy thing.

I need more Protein (chicken, ground beef, etc.) at lunch time to avoid that lunch time slump I have between 1-3 pm. 

I lay on the examination table, put my left arm above my head on the pillow there, and she checks my heart rate and other things.  

I close my eyes, as it's too weird to keep them opened.

She has these plastic letters with different metal abbreviations on them and lightly throws them at my side - weird, right? I've never asked her why...it's JUST what she does.  Apparently where they land tells her what is stuck or elevated in my system, so she can formulate the proper supplements.

Then she pops a few homeopathic ball thingies in my mouth, and uses this laser thing on my ear.  This is to cleanse the crap out of my lymph nodes.  I LOVE this.  It feels like an Ear Orgasm running through my head.  That's the only way I can describe it. 

Then she sticks an acupuncture needle in my ear, as the laser isn't working well enough.  This just sends tingles throughout my body.  I don't know if I'd prefer this over massages, as I LOVE me my massage time!  It just feels awesome. 

She usually uses this cleansing time to grab whatever supplements she feels will help me.

I leave with a more effective Probiotic Powder, and a bottle of drops to help with my Cognitive Function as I'm having a lot of troubles remembering my words and keeping focused.  

Yeah. You know what you get covered by your Benefits for Medical Prescriptions?  Have you ever looked at how much you're saving?  For these two bottles of Supplements, I'm paying your prescription fees out of pocket, as Medical Benefits don't see Naturopathic Medicine as something that should be covered other than the visit itself (which I have to Claim for). 

It's NOT cheap to go this route, and it really sucks that my visits are clumped under the same benefits group as Chiropractor and Masseuse.  I gave up my Chiropractor this year so I can get massages, but probably won't get another massage until August because we just paid out-of-pocket for two supplements.

And she knows I'm on a budget, and would prescribe more, but it's not possible, and she's cool with that. 

I do still use a General Practitioner for one of my prescriptions (she checks my lymph nodes every time), and I totally believe in Vaccinating your kids (we shouldn't have outbreaks of diseases that were eradicated decades ago), and when I get Cancer (it runs on both sides of the family) I'll go mainstream and pray that I won't be ignored yet again.

It still terrifies me that I've had to fight to make no headway in 10 years, but have made so much progress in the last 2. Will Mainstream medicine be there for me and listen when it's something more life threatening?