A friend of mine posted a link to this article, "11 Integrative Medicine Breakthroughs Of 2011" a little while ago on Facebook. Most of the items seem like common sense to me, but I am glad that they are formally recognizing that yoga helps bad backs and acupuncture is safe for kids. The article also introduced me to the term CAM. It stands for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Turns out I have used some forms of CAM for several years. I managed my depression with acupuncture while trying to get pregnant and the first trimesters with Superman, as well as the days leading up to my induction with Mr. T. I have done yoga to help my flexibility and increase my core strength when my back was hurting me. I take an amino acid to avoid getting cold sores when I go to the mountains (but apparently I didn't take enough a couple weeks ago because I ended up with 2 after our tubing trip). I used a chiropractor for my lower back pain during the pregnancy and then Mr. T received craniosacral treatments shortly after he was born.
It wasn't until recently that I decided to take it a step further. As most of you know, I am on a journey to feel better. It started just as weight gain, but as I continued to try and figure out what was going on, my therapist recommended "Intuitive Eating". As I began to pay more attention to how I felt before, during, and after eating, I began to realize that I was feeling pretty crummy. Actually, more than crummy. I was downright sick and had no idea.
The logical thing to do would be to my primary care physician. When I decided that I didn't want to do that because of my lack of help in the past from her, I knew I needed to change primary care physicians (and am in the process of doing that but am not having much luck). I also knew that maybe I needed to look at alternative medicine for the answer...so I began researching naturopathy, found a naturopath (ND), and met with her. (I did end up at my old primary care physician's office so that I could get lab work paid for through my insurance. The nurse practioner gave me a flier on how to lose weight and circled the walk at least 10,000 steps a day after I had just finished telling her that I walk between 11,500-13,000 steps a day on average.)
All I can say is that for the first time in a really long time, I have felt truly heard when I talked about my medical issues. I wasn't looked down upon, I wasn't ridiculed for thinking that something else might be going on despite the lack of evidence at the time, I was listened to because I am the expert of me. What a concept!
So I have been working with my Naturopath for just over two months and have not only learned why I feel like crud, but how to fix it....for good. I have been complaining to my "regular" doctors for years and been told nothing is wrong with me or that I just need to take x pill for 10 days and then I would be better. It infuriates me that mainstream practitioners are so quick to blow patients off just because their lab results are within the normal range.
Now if I could just find a regular physician that works well with naturopaths, I would be golden.
Showing posts with label doctor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label doctor. Show all posts
Monday, January 16, 2012
Monday, February 28, 2011
Namaste
I had my ob appointment this morning. Usual stuff, measure the fundal height, check the heart beat with the doppler, and ask if I have any questions. Of course, I rarely have an appointment when I don't have a question (or two or three or ten). Today one of my concerns was my lower back.
I am not kidding when I tell you that I am in pain morning to night and if I happen to wake up in the middle of the night and need to go to the bathroom, I wince with almost every step I take. When I have to lean over to get Superman out of his crib, it feels as if my whole lower back spasms. When I am sitting on the floor playing with Superman and he decides to toddle off to another part of the house, there is a part of me that wants to plead with him to stay in one spot because getting up and down can be so painful.
I have tried Tylenol and that did absolutely nothing. I tried stretching and that helps a little, but I am not entirely sure I am doing the right stretches. I tried heat and that feels good at the time, but doesn't provide any longer term changes. I need help and I thought that physical therapy was going to be the route I would go.
Imagine my surprise when my doctor looked right at me and said that I must find time for yoga. She said that she has had patients completely transformed during their pregnancies because of it.
I have to admit, I did yoga for most of my pregnancy with Superman and it was amazing. I looked forward to it every week, even when I was exhausted from teaching all day. The problem is that it is in the afternoon and I don't have childcare. The idea of paying an extra $25-35 every week so that I could go to yoga seemed silly (cost of class plus childcare). So I had bought a DVD, but the only time I can really do it is when Superman is sleeping and frankly all I want to do when he is sleeping is rest.
But, the doctor said do yoga (and some other stretches she gave me) for 2 weeks and if I still didn't feel better, she would refer me to a physical therapist. I want to feel better. I want this pain to go away so I can enjoy my son, my pregnancy, and get back to normal a little bit. So I tried it today.
I am so mad at myself for not doing it sooner. My back isn't feeling better right now, in fact, it kind of hurts a little more. But while I was doing the stretches I could feel the muscles in my back and abdomen engaging, working hard to keep my core strong. This is exactly what I needed. It may take the full two weeks, but I am hopeful that this may be the end of my back pain. Fingers crossed!
I am not kidding when I tell you that I am in pain morning to night and if I happen to wake up in the middle of the night and need to go to the bathroom, I wince with almost every step I take. When I have to lean over to get Superman out of his crib, it feels as if my whole lower back spasms. When I am sitting on the floor playing with Superman and he decides to toddle off to another part of the house, there is a part of me that wants to plead with him to stay in one spot because getting up and down can be so painful.
I have tried Tylenol and that did absolutely nothing. I tried stretching and that helps a little, but I am not entirely sure I am doing the right stretches. I tried heat and that feels good at the time, but doesn't provide any longer term changes. I need help and I thought that physical therapy was going to be the route I would go.
Imagine my surprise when my doctor looked right at me and said that I must find time for yoga. She said that she has had patients completely transformed during their pregnancies because of it.
I have to admit, I did yoga for most of my pregnancy with Superman and it was amazing. I looked forward to it every week, even when I was exhausted from teaching all day. The problem is that it is in the afternoon and I don't have childcare. The idea of paying an extra $25-35 every week so that I could go to yoga seemed silly (cost of class plus childcare). So I had bought a DVD, but the only time I can really do it is when Superman is sleeping and frankly all I want to do when he is sleeping is rest.
But, the doctor said do yoga (and some other stretches she gave me) for 2 weeks and if I still didn't feel better, she would refer me to a physical therapist. I want to feel better. I want this pain to go away so I can enjoy my son, my pregnancy, and get back to normal a little bit. So I tried it today.
I am so mad at myself for not doing it sooner. My back isn't feeling better right now, in fact, it kind of hurts a little more. But while I was doing the stretches I could feel the muscles in my back and abdomen engaging, working hard to keep my core strong. This is exactly what I needed. It may take the full two weeks, but I am hopeful that this may be the end of my back pain. Fingers crossed!
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Doctor Dilemma
Let me start by saying that I love my doctor. Specifically, I love his approach to medicine. But sometimes? I think about leaving his practice because when I call the advice line, I am not always comfortable with the advice I get. Then yesterday happened and now I am really not sure if we should stay or not. Let me back up...
Superman had his one year, well baby appointment. Overall it went fine...or at least ended that way. The way our doctor's office works is that you get brought into the room by a nurse who takes down any concerns and does the child's weight and height. Then (on well-baby appointments) the nurse practitioner comes in. She does a full exam, addresses any concerns, and talks with you about the things you should know about a child at X age.
Finally the doctor comes in, looks over the nurse practitioner's notes, pokes and prods the child a little bit, talks with the parents about any remaining issues, and then you are done. (Unless your child needs vaccinations. Then the first nurse comes back and gives them to your child. Then you are done.)
So everything was going well until the nurse practitioner (or NP as she will be referred to from this point forward) came in. The one we usually see was out sick, no big deal but thought I should clarify that I hadn't met her before. Anyway, we talk about some of my safety concerns (Superman is OBSESSED with drawers right now) and she bugged me a little with her condescending response, but whatever, I asked the question.
I also had a question about the amount of whole milk he should be consuming (he gets about 24 oz per day now). She says that is too much...should be more like 16-18 oz. She then wants to know how he is eating. I tell her that he loves cheese and yogurt and feeding himself. The he does pretty well with eating in general, but has times when I wish he would eat more but refuses. She says that he can't possibly get enough food feeding himself. I tell her that he sure seems to eat till he is full, but that I could be wrong.
So then we looked at Superman's stats. At 9 months he was at the 24th percentile for weight and 74th percentile for height (we think they measured his height wrong because up to that point he had always been in the 30-somethingth percentile). At this appointment he was in the 18th percentile for weight and 33rd percentile for height. The NP said that this was a concern. She said that it probably is because he is self-feeding and he can't get enough food.
I explain that the doctor told me that a dip in percentiles is normal from 9-12 months because they become so much more mobile. In fact, when we were there for a sick appointment back in December and I brought up the issue? He told me to stop worrying! That S looked great and as long as we keep offering him food till he is full, we are good.
Her response was that maybe it was that he was drinking too much milk. She didn't address what he said at all. I was just dumbfounded. At this point I was exhausted and didn't want to deal with her any more. I thought about arguing with her about the fact that 1 year olds are supposed to be self-feeding and that it was supposed to be a great thing that he is doing, but decided to just keep silent and ask the doctor.
So the doctor comes in and I bring this up to him. I tell him that the NP thinks I should stop letting him self-feed and that I thought it was developmentally appropriate. He said that she was wrong and that he was doing just fine. We looked at the charts again and he said that his weight may be a little low, but given how active S was, it wasn't surprising (Superman did not stop moving the entire appointment. He was cruising around the room, pulling up on the doctor, trying to climb me...you get the idea.). He said to keep letting Superman feed himself and offering a good variety of foods, that he will eat when he is hungry.
So in the end I was fine with the appointment. I had the information I wanted...although I kicked myself for not asking the doctor about the milk amounts. But how do I deal with an office where the doctor is great, but some of his staff doesn't give out the same information as he would? I thought about calling the office manager and expressing my frustration, but my husband pointed out that the main boss is the doctor and since I already shared with him what she told me, there isn't more I can do.
What would you do in this situation?
Superman had his one year, well baby appointment. Overall it went fine...or at least ended that way. The way our doctor's office works is that you get brought into the room by a nurse who takes down any concerns and does the child's weight and height. Then (on well-baby appointments) the nurse practitioner comes in. She does a full exam, addresses any concerns, and talks with you about the things you should know about a child at X age.
Finally the doctor comes in, looks over the nurse practitioner's notes, pokes and prods the child a little bit, talks with the parents about any remaining issues, and then you are done. (Unless your child needs vaccinations. Then the first nurse comes back and gives them to your child. Then you are done.)
So everything was going well until the nurse practitioner (or NP as she will be referred to from this point forward) came in. The one we usually see was out sick, no big deal but thought I should clarify that I hadn't met her before. Anyway, we talk about some of my safety concerns (Superman is OBSESSED with drawers right now) and she bugged me a little with her condescending response, but whatever, I asked the question.
I also had a question about the amount of whole milk he should be consuming (he gets about 24 oz per day now). She says that is too much...should be more like 16-18 oz. She then wants to know how he is eating. I tell her that he loves cheese and yogurt and feeding himself. The he does pretty well with eating in general, but has times when I wish he would eat more but refuses. She says that he can't possibly get enough food feeding himself. I tell her that he sure seems to eat till he is full, but that I could be wrong.
So then we looked at Superman's stats. At 9 months he was at the 24th percentile for weight and 74th percentile for height (we think they measured his height wrong because up to that point he had always been in the 30-somethingth percentile). At this appointment he was in the 18th percentile for weight and 33rd percentile for height. The NP said that this was a concern. She said that it probably is because he is self-feeding and he can't get enough food.
I explain that the doctor told me that a dip in percentiles is normal from 9-12 months because they become so much more mobile. In fact, when we were there for a sick appointment back in December and I brought up the issue? He told me to stop worrying! That S looked great and as long as we keep offering him food till he is full, we are good.
Her response was that maybe it was that he was drinking too much milk. She didn't address what he said at all. I was just dumbfounded. At this point I was exhausted and didn't want to deal with her any more. I thought about arguing with her about the fact that 1 year olds are supposed to be self-feeding and that it was supposed to be a great thing that he is doing, but decided to just keep silent and ask the doctor.
So the doctor comes in and I bring this up to him. I tell him that the NP thinks I should stop letting him self-feed and that I thought it was developmentally appropriate. He said that she was wrong and that he was doing just fine. We looked at the charts again and he said that his weight may be a little low, but given how active S was, it wasn't surprising (Superman did not stop moving the entire appointment. He was cruising around the room, pulling up on the doctor, trying to climb me...you get the idea.). He said to keep letting Superman feed himself and offering a good variety of foods, that he will eat when he is hungry.
So in the end I was fine with the appointment. I had the information I wanted...although I kicked myself for not asking the doctor about the milk amounts. But how do I deal with an office where the doctor is great, but some of his staff doesn't give out the same information as he would? I thought about calling the office manager and expressing my frustration, but my husband pointed out that the main boss is the doctor and since I already shared with him what she told me, there isn't more I can do.
What would you do in this situation?
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