Anyone ever used a Doctor of Naturopathy?

knitpurlgurl · 07-18-2008, 10:44 AM

One of our state's advisory board on Autism members is an ND. I looked up her info and she seems to have remarkable training in autism spectrum disorder treatments. I made an appointment with her for my son. I have worked for docs for 12 years as a Certified Medical Assistant and taught medical assisting for 5 years - so I am not poo-pooing traditional medicine. Infact, I had never really considered 'natural' medicine to be medicine. But as I whisk my son from doc to doc and give him med after med, I got to thinking: Why NOT try it? If it doesn't work, I can always go back to pure traditional medicine. Why not try to integrate both medicines to give my son the best of both worlds? This woman boosts to work with your physician to come up with an appropriate treatment plan. I just wondered what we could expect and what others' experiences had been. Thanks in advance!

suzeeq · 07-18-2008, 04:37 PM

I haven't been to one, but from people I know who have, I'm sure it couldn't hurt him more than the meds, and just could help your son. Good luck!

susi · 07-18-2008, 05:11 PM

I havent hear of it either or been to one, but i am a great beliver of natural medicines. i was very cynical until it showed how well it works.

there are time when 'normal' medications and methods are needed but other than that natural does work.
I have heard about a lot of children with adhd that are being controlled by natural med's rather than the normal once. and they are having graet sucess with it.

good luck and i hope she can help you guys

scout52 · 07-18-2008, 06:02 PM

I've done both. I have had chronic migraines since I was 12-13 years old. (I'm now 31). I mean really bad.4-5 a week. The eeg showed even when I said I was pain free the eeg said I had a headache.

I was on different medicines to prevent the migraines but being young and very physically fit I would "grow" out of my medication and either need to greatly up the dosage or just switch to another one because upping the dosage was no longer an option. I learned about biofeedback at 19. This is like a mediation/breathing process that teaches you to reverse the migraine. I have a hard time explaining it. You reverse the symptoms of the migraines and it stops the migraines. I learned to literally control the too much blood flow to my brain. I would have a fever when I had a migraine and my hands and feet would be freezing. So I learned to bring the blood back to them and reduce the fever. Does that make sense?

Every migraine sufferer works with their neurologist to figure out their food and environmental triggers so you can remove them or reduce them and that helps.

From the age of 19 to 29 I controlled my migraines completely through biofeedback and no medication besides the occasional excedrine. Something changed and I can't figure out my new trigger because they are back stronger than before so we are doing the same thing as before and I'm seeing an ayurvedic specialist who works with my neurologist to figure out what my trigger is but I'm on Topamax now until we can figure it out. I still do biofeedback but I have no idea what has changed.

The ayurvedic specialist did take away my menstrual cramps and make it way lighter!! through diet change.

sorry this is long but if you have any more questions let me know.

Mariblue · 07-18-2008, 10:24 PM

We took my son to a naturopathic doctor when he was around 3 1/2 years (maybe 4 years) old. Up to that point I'd been taking him to doctor after doctor with no help from them. Turns out that most of my sons problems were allergies, and the ND helped sooo much, it was totally worth it. We now see a great medical doctor who mixes natural and traditional type medicine, and that works well for us.
It's definately worth looking into.

ETA: You might ask for information about food allergies for your son, if you haven't looked into that already. It can be quite common for Autistic kids to have food sensitivities, particularly Gluten and Casien (Wheat, Barley, Oats, Rye, Dairy) being the biggest problems.

knitpurlgurl · 07-18-2008, 11:47 PM

Originally Posted by Mariblue

We took my son to a naturopathic doctor when he was around 3 1/2 years (maybe 4 years) old. Up to that point I'd been taking him to doctor after doctor with no help from them. Turns out that most of my sons problems were allergies, and the ND helped sooo much, it was totally worth it. We now see a great medical doctor who mixes natural and traditional type medicine, and that works well for us.
It's definately worth looking into.

ETA: You might ask for information about food allergies for your son, if you haven't looked into that already. It can be quite common for Autistic kids to have food sensitivities, particularly Gluten and Casien (Wheat, Barley, Oats, Rye, Dairy) being the biggest problems.

We've known about his food allergies since he was 1 yr. Every 5 years he gets re-tested for more food allergies (they can develop these throughout childhood. So far, he is only allergic to cow's milk). We've had him tested for wheat, eggs, and peanuts as well.

InterNette · 07-19-2008, 02:33 AM

They are excellent doctors. I went to one for several sessions for some problems, I found the whole thing amazing and was much better afterwards. I had the works from adjustments to accupuncture and some other treatments I dont know exactly the name of. They believe in finding ways to help the body heal itself and to do no harm. I recommend them 100%. Sadly most insurance wont pay for these treatments and that is shame.
I have a friend who I went with on a 3 hour drive to see a pet holistic doctor. If I hadnt seen it for myself I would never have believed what I saw. The cat was deaf and that was due to a bad reaction to her shots. She had a reaction and her head swelled and she had seizures and ended up deaf. Now she wasnt the friendliest cat after she became deaf. You couldnt pet her easily without her attacking you. She had been deaf about 5 years when we drove her to this doctor in central florida. He did the whole evaluation with these tines and then he gave her an adjustment like a chiropractor. Immediately she became docile and loving. We drove home and she was purring and happy and never had she ever sat on my lap or allowed anyone to touch her besides her mom. She sat on my lap and was all rubbing and loving. She allowed me to carry her and so on. Everyone was shocked as she had a real evil reputation. We made these trips regularly every 6 months and it was so worth it. Like I said I would have never believed it if I didnt see it.

Debkcs · 07-19-2008, 09:58 AM

A holistic doctor can help where regular M.D.'s can't. Just from the perspective of being able to try things that the others won't or can't.

An N.D. will take blood and urine samples, if he/she is worth anything, as well as use x-rays and other testing modalities as needed. My friend took her son to one in Portland whose nutrition and exercise regieme enabled the boy to get off of his medications for ADHD. He's now like all the other boys in his class, not 'stoned' most of the time. I can even stand to be around him now, before it was a trial each and every time.

vaknitter · 07-19-2008, 04:13 PM

I hesitate to say I used one, but I have consulted with a couple. I have Crohn's disease and found that the side-effects of 21 pills a day to be more than I could tolerate. Luckily my PCP is interested in non-traditional medicine and in consultation with a Doctor of Naturopathy helped me choose some natural options to control my Chrohn's. I haven't been on any "meds" for almost 5 yrs now. I don't see the Naturopathist on a regular basis, just that once.
That said I work in a Children's Hosp and I have seen some Austistic kids do really benefit from a more holistic approach. You know your child best and will now if what you are trying is helping or hurting him.
Best of luck