RE: Question About Naturopath - WAS: Cat Scan and chest x-ray radiation exposure

[Guest guest]

(I changed the topic thread since this is about something entirely different

than scans.)

Natural/alternative medicine does not have a governing body who sets

protocol as conventional medicine has with the FDA (many find this

refreshing). Natural practitioners/alternative medicine beleive there are

many ways to heal the body. Everyone is an individual and is affected

differently by their particular lifestyle, stresses, emotions, toxicity,

diet, etc. and that should be taken into account. Just as in conventional

medicine there are docs that will resonate with you and ones that will not.

It sounds like the first naturopath was more a CAM practitioner or maybe

even a Functional Medicine practitioner. Personally I think that Functional

Medicine is great IF the practitioner has actually studied it and was not

just " honored " (paid for by the practitioner) with the letters after his/her

name by a medical board without any formal study. Yes, this is happening

and it also happens in conventional medicine.

I do think it is important for a person to understand why they have

particular health concerns. If one doesn't know how they got to be where

they are, then most likely the same mistakes will be repeated. The chiro

that helped me also did a lot of talking at the first appointment. Why?

Because he wanted me to understand why I had cancer and exactly how the body

works and heals. Yes, mostly what I wanted to hear was how he was going to

get me well....but in hindsight I was very glad he took the time to make

sure that I knew why I had cancer. In fact his first question to me was

" Why do you have cancer? " Most people have no clue other than the " genetic "

answer....neither did I. This is also how I start out with most clients

" Why do you have cancer? "

As far as practitioners offering supplements, I can only speak for myself

and my motives. In conventional medicine there are maybe three-four drug

companies that make a particular med; however, that med is usually the same

with each company -- just a different marketing name. So it really doesn't

matter which one a doctor recommends unless he/she is getting a kick-back

from the pharmaceutical company. The first thing people usually recognize is

that we do not offer only one company's supplements. The reason is because

no one company offers the best of everything, in my opinion. And not all

supplements are made the same, contrary to what some say. I also have

strict requirements about what I do offer -- how the product is made, where

it is made, where the ingredients are sourced from, types of

fillers/binders, toxic excipients or toxic chemicals, etc. The last thing I

want is to add more toxicity to the body and for someone taking therapeutic

doses of supplements all of these make a difference. And because I

personally and professionally use these supplements, I know that the

supplements work when used correctly. For instance, if I suggested Calcium

Orotate and the client went out and bought Calcium Orotate in a capsule they

would not get the absorption (they would actually have to take up to 3x

more) that would happen if the Calcium Orotate was in tablet form with a

food glaze in order to escape stomach acidity. Does the normal client know

this -- no. In my case, I do a tremendous amount of research into

supplementation. I was taught the importance of this. Most of the

supplements sitting on health food store shelves are not at the strength

that someone who has health concerns needs nor will one know how to take

them therapeutically. This is also one reason that natural medicine gets a

lot of criticism. People take supplements that are cheap, full of

excipients and binders and fillers and very little of the actual

supplement/vitamin they need.....then when they do not get results, they say

natural medicine didn't work for them!

I walked into my first visit with my natural doc with a bag of supplements

that I had read about or had been recommended by others and I just knew he

would be impressed. LOL He just barely glanced at them. My ego was a bit

bruised. I could have let this affect my judgement of him but I decided to

give him the benefit of the doubt -- he was the practitioner, not me. He

ended up developing a protocol using supplements that he knew worked and my

healthfood store supplements neither fit the protocol nor were they at

effective strengths. Made perfect sense to me. It would almost be the same

as me walking into my MDs office with several drugs and telling him this is

what I picked out so please use them. He wouldn't be impressed and I would

possibly be sabatoging my own healing because I didn't want him to sell or

recommend something specific.

Some naturopaths do practice other modalities like iridology. Some practice

Reiki, hands on healing, energy work, bio-feedback, reflexology, etc. My

doc was a chiropractor and also did energy work as well as emotional

counseling (I gave him a run for his money on this one). The only thing he

did not do was to explain " how " each supplement was to work. Possibly he

was trying to get me to find out the answers to my own questions. Every

time I got a new supplement I went home and got on the Internet. Never once

did he give me a questionable supplement.

Traditional naturopaths usually do not do physical exams. That is left up

to conventional medicine as is lab work, scans, etc. In fact, conventional

medicine is pretty good at diagnosis -- not always, but most of the time.

Once a diagnosis is made it is up to the person to decide how they want to

go about healing.

Just like conventional medicine, practitioners will be different. There are

Traditional Naturopaths and what I call CAM Naturopaths (more conventionally

trained) and everything in between - licensed and non-licensed -- and some

chiros are also naturopaths. I really prefer to be thought of as a teacher

and a part of the client's health team. I can give someone the tools they

need but it is up to them to take responsibility for their own health in

order for good outcomes. I do require that every client who comes for

cancer nutritional balancing have access to a conventional medical

practitioner who will do lab work at least every three months, if not more.

It does cost to go to naturopaths and it should. The problem is that many

are used to paying an insurance co-pay of $15.00 for an office visit with

their MD not realizing that the office visit actually cost $150.00 (for a 15

minute visit). Many pay $10.00 co-pays for meds. The month I was doing

chemo I was given an anti-nausea medicine that cost $1500.00!!! We only

paid a $10 co-pay. I about fell over when I saw that price but what was

worse is that it didn't even touch the nausea. We should expect to pay for

all services rendered by an MD, ND, DC or any other practitioner. Many of

the health savings accounts allow the services of a natural practitioner.

There tends to be the mindset that natural medicine should cost almost

nothing and certainly not as much as conventional medicine -- not sure why

that is but I do see this mindset more than I would like to. )

I could give a seminar on this but will stop here. I don't know if I have

adequately answered your question but what it comes down to is that one

should go to who they feel comfortable with...it may take some shopping

around just as it should with conventional doctors. Taking that time to

" shop " may be the very best decision one makes in the beginning of their

healing journey. After my first visit with my natural doc, my husband and I

got into the elevator and I commented, " This is where I need to be. " I

can't explain why, but I knew this was the place. My husband wasn't totally

convinced because he knew our insurance would pay for none of this. The

cost turned out to be about $3000/month which included supplements and a one

hour weekly visit plus chiropractic adjustments and a couple more

modalities. We didn't have the money saved for this, but for some reason as

I was driving home that day, I wasn't worried. It's like God said " ok, you

are now where I want you -- trust me to provide. " Long story short, He

provided all the money and also money for some health machines....that very

afternoon! He provided everything I needed to heal and now it was up to me

to implement everything militantly and in the correct manner. I dove in

feet-first and went about the business of getting well. The first three

months were heavy on detoxification. I decided not to listen to nay-sayers

or those who were negative about my choices. In fact, I removed myself from

them and allowed no negativity about my choice of treatment. I didn't have

time to waste on debate. I did absolutely everything my doc asked -- if he

told me to read a particular book, I went home and ordered it; if he told me

to be in bed by 9:30 PM, I did; if he told me to take a 30 minute walk

before bed, I did. Some would say that was blind trust; instead, I think it

was me deciding to play an active part in my healing. You see, I didn't

want to waste time tryng to second guess him, find better products, find

cheaper products, etc. I needed to spend my time focused on healing. There

were a couple of times, after reading Politics In Healing by Haley,

that I asked why I wasn't taking certain supplements. His answers were

usually " because you don't need them. " Yes, I did have a life, a family and

I was also a private piano teacher with 35 students. I must add that in the

beginning I wouldn't allow myself to totally believe that I could get well.

I hoped, but was cautious. It took me a while (to my husband's and docs

regret) to get to that point. But eventually, I did. Even after my first

good lab reading, I was a bit fearful to allow myself to believe I was well.

Little did I know the healing part was just the beginning of an amazing

journey that continues to this day....for those interested, my testimony is

at: http://www.ahha.org/articles.asp?Id=96

Be Well

Dr.L

-----Original Message-----

Dr. Lanphier, perhaps you could answer a question for me about different

naturopaths. I contacted one by phone, had a great long discussion with her

about my situation and in anticipation of my first in office visit, she sent

me a stack of paperwork to complete. These papers were about my health and

they wanted me to monitor my ph level, do a food diary, monitor my

temperature, etc. It was very thorough, and even discussed how I would have

to have bloodwork done through the hospital and pay for it. I was very

impressed and felt confident that she was knowledgeable and could help me.

For various reasons, I didn't go to her, but a long time later I ended up

going to another naturopath that I found online (due to costs/location). I

just assumed he would operate the same way, however, my first visit to him

was not what I had in mind.

I didn't do any extensive paperwork about my health. We talked - more like,

I listened to him talk, he didn't really listen to anything about me. He

pretty much lectured me about healthy living and went down a list of all of

the things I should do - all of which involved spending a great deal of

money, and quite ironically, he was affiliated with all of the companies

that were going to get money out of the deal.

He poo-pooed all of my current supplements and convinced me that HIS

personal line of supplements were best and I should buy those.

He did look in my eyes and read them, but the diagnosis was so general that

I have a hard time believing it was real. He said I was tired, and I had

back pain (I didn't, but he said I could and didn't know it, lol).

I kept trying to show him my tumor but he didn't want to look at it at all.

he said if I just follow the directions (strict raw diet, veggie juicing,

alkaline water, his supplements) that the tumor would go away.

I really walked out of there feeling as if I had just spent the hour with an

Amway salesman (and no offense to any Amway salesmen here! ) Maybe I

should say, a car salesman? lolol

Why such a big difference? I am waiting to be able to see the first

naturopath that I contacted because I feel as if she is going to be more in

tune with what is really going on in my body, since she is actually

requesting bloodwork and asking me to monitor myself so she can have

records.

The second guy, honestly, just felt like a salesman pushing all of his

products. He has his hands in everything, from his own line of supplements

and enzymes, to an affiliation with the alkaline water machine people, to

several other labs that sell even more items that he says I need. I was

flabbergasted that I really couldn't afford to follow his protocol, other

than the strict raw diet he suggested. Everything else had a price tag.