Ever see a naturopath?

[Dogmama]

I have some inflammatory condition that nobody can define. My rhuematologist calls it something like "general inflammation" - big help. I've had arthritis all my life & I'm now doing hand surgeries because the infrastructure is giving out. She also tells me I need to be off of my heavy duty NSAID that I've taken for 15 years (no way, I wouldn't be able to move). No help there.

I'm seeing a naturopath in a week for some help. She has been highly recommended by a woman who said she stopped her hot flashes (that would be really nice too!) I'm a little skeptical, having worked at a University where "if it couldn't be proved by a double blind study it isn't science." Although, I did work for Andrew Weil for awhile & saw many people helped by his residents. They are very expensive, insurance doesn't cover it & they want cash up front.

Has anybody been helped by a naturopath? This lady worked with Andy's crew as a preceptor so she should know her beans (ha ha - pun intended.)

[Sky King]

I have used and still use a naturopath. I also took my father when he was 83 and the two supplements he takes caused his physician to say "what ever you are doing, keep doing it" I discovered I was allergic to Soy by visiting mine when I thought I had the flu. Also a very good friend has been able to go off her blood pressure medication after starting supplements from the same naturopath. You have nothing to lose by trying. Good Luck!

[Cataboo]

One of my good friends is a naturopath.... She also works in a research lab, but she doesn't seem to apply her science to being a naturopath.

Alot of it does seem to be common sense and alot of the herbs used historically have helped people... And in general it seems harmless to try. And some of it just makes me hold my head in my hands... When she was looking for highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide to add to her bath to aerate her skin because some doctor in some class told them to do that...

She does often try to help me, and I guess the reality is that nothing she tells me makes enough sense that I bother to try it... My wrist issues will go away if I stop eating corn. Or stopping to eat wheat will do such and such... And the reality is that I don't eat much of either of those products anyways, I grew up with an asian mother, so my diet has a lot of fruits & vegetables, rice, and not much wheat or corn to begin with.

If you've got a chronic inflammation problem - I could see cutting back to a simple diet and slowly adding things back would quite possibly help you, because a lot of people seem to have wheat or whatever intolerances lately that just cause low level issues.

There are some foods with anti-inflammatory properties - olive oil has something that's related to ibuprofen in it, so adding more of those to your diet may help you.

The other thing that may help you is seeing if you can find an intestinal parasite or two - give your immune system something to make a productive immune response against and it may reprogram it from the non-productive one that you're making. It's periodically in the news that giving worms to IBD sufferers makes them better, as does giving hook worms to asthma sufferers...
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...54C0A96E9C8B63

[sookiesue]

You could try adding in probiotic supplements. They seem to help with all kinds of inflammations and irritations.

And I would give the naturopath a try - especially if she worked with Andrew Weil! Acupuncture may well give you some relief, too.

Good luck.

[Kiwi Stoker]

My sister did for her constant sinus infections.

Naturopath told her her symptoms would get worse and then would start to get better.

She was right about it getting worse. It got so bad my sister said "enough".

She ended up having surgery on her nose and that worked.

I feel it wouldn't hurt to try but also expect mixed results.

[VeganBikeChick]

I, too, recommend starting with cutting out inflammatory foods from your diet. Beware of the naturopath who pushes a lot of supplements on you. I liked the holistic advice I got from mine, save for the supplements. Acupuncture really helped with my gout.

[Dogmama]

I got some recent test results from my PCP, who is a D.O. but also prescribes some supplements. She made a few suggestions that I'll try before I go. Apparently I'm low on Vitamin D, she said use all of the omegas for arthritis & double my Estroven because my estrogen reading is zero (normal for my age according to her - and she would be weaning me off of hormones at this stage anyway.) At least that explains the hot flashes.