Slow progress

[stephbg]

My GP is lovely, but all too frequently clueless. Disturbingly so sometimes.



This afternoon I sat through over an hour of loud raucous children in the waiting room* in the attempt to find out with whom I should consult about my suspected salicylate (or other) food sensitivities. Dietician? Nutritionist? Witch Doctor? Doctor Who? Other?

One of my questions was whether I had to go to the fuss of the complete elimination diet which even involves avoiding anything smelly ("this looks pretty good," said my doctor on skimming the internet printout I'd brought along), or could focus on just food-based salicylate reduction, and how to glutamates fit in etc etc. I wanted to "consult a medical professional" before doing any experiments, but wasn't having much luck.

He perked up. "Gluten allergy? We can test for that." Not gluten allergy, I said with mild despair, glutamate intolerance. "I'd probably have noticed if I was allergic to gluten".

Eventually I extracted the information that "a dietician probably wasn't suitable," and in the subsequent vacuum I tossed in the name of a Nutrition Review Service who had a sign at a local shopping centre, run by a Doctor Igor. What's not to love?

Amazingly, my GP had heard of Dr Igor, but he is "just a GP with a special interest in nutrition" apparently. Sounded perfect to me, so I took charge and said right, I'll go see him then. No referral required.

Total new information**: 0
Total charge: $60

I'm easily frightened away from new medical investigations when I hit this kind of block. I think I'll keep doing what I'm doing for the next couple of weeks at least and get the next round of other specialist appointments out of the way. I'll buy a book, learn to cook lentils and maybe call Consumer Info for a couple of particular products. Then I'll make the call. Maybe.

I've bought salt toothpaste and plain soap, but I'm not giving up my special shampoo and conditioner *stamps feet obstinately*. Hopefully I'll be able to tolerate the chlorine at the pool.

(*) The mother was obviously the sick one and she made multiple attempts to keep the girls still and quiet but lacked the Command Voice for it. The kids were so damn energetic and she was just wilting. Poor possum.

(**) OK, he took my blood pressure which was even higher than last time, but it was the second time he'd taken my BP immediately after pointing out that my next pap smear was due soon.

Comments

[chaosmanor.livejournal.com]

I have been seeing my GP a lot recently, what with my brain exploding and all. I usually see him often because my lungs are ghastly, so it's a change for both of us. He stopped taking my blood pressure after we had the discussion about how it didn't matter if I had high blood pressure (I tend to, as a compensation for loss of lung function) because he couldn't give me medication for it (contraindicated for asthmatics because it kills them, and besides, if my heart was beating really hard to try and push my poorly oxygenated blood around faster, then forcing it to slow down was stoopid). That was when he announced that it wasn't going to be coronary disease that killed me anyway, it was going to be a chest infection, and I wasn't to worry about that. Cheerful bastard.

I went and saw an allergy specialist once, and he was Not Helpful. Coincidentally, I received an appointment notice in the mail today for an appointment notice for next week, with the new Drug Hypersensitivity Immunologist at RPH. This specialist will be Helpful, because I insist.

[splanky.livejournal.com]

I don't know if the Nutrition Review Clinic will be that helpful. I've been to see them (not Dr Igor Tabrizian - he's really hard to get in to). My current GP also consults through there and he also sees nutritional patients through Health Quest, which is in Melville. You might find a shorter waiting time there, particularly if you see Dr Hugh Derham, who I see, rather than Dr Tabrizian.

However, the focus of the nutritional medicine they do seems to be on mineral balance. You will be asked to have a hair mineral analysis before you go. They will look at the level of toxic metals, such as copper, and whether they might be blocking the absorbtion of useful elements, such as zinc. Not that this is a bad thing, it's all applied biochemistry, and I figure if your internal chemistry is right that can only Be Good.

I don't know if they look at food intolerances. I suspect not. It has never been mentioned to me as a possible cause of the problems I have had. I have an appointment with my GP on the 12th of Feb, and I can ask then if you like.

If you would like more information on where to go next I could see if my sister can talk to you. She has done a lot of research on the intolerances, she's done the diet, and she moderates the perth failsafe mailing list. If anyone would have an idea, she would.