My first visit with the Naturopath Doctor was exciting.
In a 1-hour consultation, I felt like we made more progress with my health issues than the past few years with my regular family physician.
My regular family physician tends to dismiss everything I tell him and I feel like I’ve had no resolve for any of my digestive and reproductive issues. [I’m not saying that all family physicians are like this. I know there are great doctors out there.] I’m looking for a new doctor, but no one seems to be taking on new patients right now, especially because I already have a physician. I would have to first terminate my relationship with my current doctor and go on a wait list, which of course is a big risk when I’m not guaranteed to find a doctor right away. So I’m still on the hunt.
This is partly what made me seek out a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine. Because it’s a private health care service, finding a doctor is easy and quick. The only downside is the cost. My insurance covers $15 per appointment, so most of the expense is coming out of my pocket. I’ve heard so many great things about ND’s, so I feel like the benefit will outweigh the cost.
I arrived about 15 minutes early and was greeted by the ND himself. He gives me a warm smile with kind eyes, while shaking my hand with what I think is the gentlest handshake I’ve ever felt. I feel like I’m crushing his hand and I quickly loosen my grip. I’m given a few forms to fill out which are mainly about my health history and present concerns that I would like to address. After filling out about 4 pages, we head into his exam room for the consultation.
The next hour was life changing.
After a brief chat, the doctor told me about his training and background. Impressive to say the least.
“What do you know about Naturopathy?”
Oh shit.
I mumbled something about treating the whole person and made wild gestures with my hands.
He smiled and nodded in a way that made me feel like a genius. I like him already.
I learned that Naturopathy is based on a holistic approach to health. In other words, it looks at the person as a whole. All of the psychological, physical, and social issues that make us who we are today are taken into account. You cannot treat an illness until you find and address the root cause of the illness. The goal is to help the body heal itself rather than using medication (unless necessary, of course).
The doctor told me that his main areas of clinical interest are gastrointestinal health, detoxification, and treatment of anxiety and stress related disorders.
The next hour was filled with relief. He listened to me as if what I was saying was the most important thing in the world. He didn’t dismiss anything I said. He was empathetic.
He even cracked jokes when he sensed that I was starting to squirm when talking about my poop.
That’s a good doctor.
Thank you for that post Angela! I am in my first year of my naturopathic degree and reading about your wonderful experience really makes me happy. I know that you will be on the path to complete health with your ND. Thank you for blogging about it x
goodluck with your training!
I am so happy for you that you found him and that you had a life changing hour.
The first time I saw a natuopath about 8-9 yrs ago, it changed my life. And I only had a handful of follow up visits with him…maybe 4 hrs total. But he set me on a course, set things in motion, helped give me some tools that helped me begin to unlock the mysteries of my GI system, my overall health, food intolerances, and just helped me get on a path to great health. Overall.
life.changing.
So happy for you that you’re on this path too :)
It’s amazing what they can do in such a little amount of time, right?
Just some of the things he said during the consult made me think about things in totally new ways. Def. light bulbs going off!
ND’s are great! My mom worked through her menopause and hyperthyroidism using naturopathy and my almost-mom-in-law has been working with her ND before and after breast cancer. I am SO GLAD you had a great experience, can’t wait to hear more about it.
What is that delightful drink in the last photo? Tea with lemon and a glass straw?
It’s a lemon herbal tea with fresh lemon juice :) Straw is from Glass D’harma.
Hi! As a naturopath, this is really uplifting for me to read this. There’s a lot of pre-conceived notions out there as to what naturopaths can and can’t do, and I love to read so many positive thoughts. Thanks for posting this Angela.
I’m glad it was uplifting for you to read. That’s exactly how I felt when I left my appointment!
ANGELA!!! I’m so excited you found an ND that works for you. If you cannot find a Dr try finding a Nurse Practitioner, they are great and have a huge scope of practice! They tend to be open to ND’s and take more time with pateients….at least mine does! I love her!
I am so glad to hear that you had a great experience!
Hi angela, I have a question!
I just bought some raw hemp protein powder the other day and have only used it once in a green monster. Do you have any other suggestions for using it? :)
The only thing I use protein powder in is smoothies…I’ve tried it in baked goods and didn’t have great results. I find hemp is especially strong and quite detectable in things.
So glad you’ve had a good experience with your ND! I’ve been working with a holistic doctor for the past few months, and it’s so refreshing to actually have a doctor LISTEN and not dismiss my symptoms. I wish I could find an OBGYN that was more willing to consider my symptoms to be legitimate issues, but it’s pretty slim pickin’s here in the wild, west frontier. :P
All my MD has ever done for me is prescribe drugs to hide my symptoms rather than find out the cause and cure it. I’ve seen ND’s and they are so thorough. I enjoy their practices much more than the typical MD in the states. That’s just my personal experience.
I’ve also had food sensitivity testing done which showed I’m sensitive to dairy. I’ve made an effort to lower my dairy consumption and I have so many less headaches now – it’s amazing!
yayyy so great that you found the right person for you! :) I truly think naturopathic doctors are awesome because they seem to make a more intimate connection, as well as use natural good-for-you stuff. Thanks for sharing Ang!
I’m so glad you had such a great first experience! We’re actually learning about counselling techniques in my Clinical Nutrition class right now and my professor really emphasizes the importance of listening to your patients. It’s shocking how SO many health care professionals forget to do that though.
Can’t wait to read part 2! :)
I discovered my ND about 4 years ago. She changed my life. I was getting recurrent sinus infections – two or three every year. My regular doctor prescribed increasingly strong antibiotics that were no longer working. He wouldn’t even make me come in for a visit, he’d just call in a prescription. My ND helped get get to the root of the problem and I’ve only had two sinus infections on the last 4 years. She also got to the bottom of my awful GI issues that I’ve had for almost 20 years. Changed my life. My insurance doesn’t cover it, which is ridiculous – they’ll pay for 3-6 rounds of antibiotics per year, but not the cost of one ND visit to fix the problem. Good for you for investing in your health.
I know this is going to sound all “conspiracy theory” but I seriously think that health insurance agencies and governments have major stakes in pharmaceutical companies. Its the only thing that makes sense, why else would you ignore something like an ND when HEAPS of people have more positive outcomes than going to a regular GP?? Not to say that GP’s aren’t important, i have a lot of respect for anyone in the medical field.
Salina, I think you have a point (and certainly I’ve thought this myself). That said, you need to keep in mind that they way medical community treats conditions is based on the scientific assumption of “averages” — and NDs tend to treat patients as individuals. Consequently, there is less opportunity for NDs to back-up their treatment plan with scientific evidence. This in turn makes it harder to hold NDs accountable to certification groups — and, consequently, for determining the cost of treatment. I guess what I’m trying to say is that the ND community has more latitude for treatment plans, which enables two things: (1) individualized care that often results in health gains for patients, (2) more quacks in the ND field, precisely becuase it is less regulated.
SO happy to hear it went well for you. I have been to a holistic nutritionist who used energy medicine to test my needs – it was amazing but unfortunately she was not well versed in vegetarianism so prescribed supplements that had cow heart in them! It was discouraging and I have been reluctant to go to anyone else due to costs of visits and potential supplements they will recommend. I look forward to hearing more about your journey with this.Thanks for being so generous to share with us so we can learn with you!
oh, that doctor sounds WONDERFUL. i wish i had one of those. just based on this post, it sounds like we share a lot of similarities as far as the gastro issues go. :0/ i love your blog… my husband and i recently decided to slowly assimilate ourselves towards a vegan diet. i recently found your blog through my search for began recipes and advice. thanks for being so awesome. :)
Thank you! Glad you are enjoying the blog :)
I felt the exact same way when I went to visit my Naturopath-Homeopath. She was so kind and such a good listener (I know that some doctors can be this too – it’s a shame that they can’t spend the same amount of time with patients!) In any case, really happy for you and I hope everything works out!
Oh my goodness that’s awesome!
The first time I went to the doctor for a real reason (turned out to be Endometriosis) I brought a written list of all the symptoms that I had been experiences….she dismissed ALL of them and put me on the pill. I was so distraught that I switched doctors immediately and found another unsatisfactory experience.
The closest to a good doctor I ever had (have) is my midwife. She has some qualities of a medical doctor that bother me but she is very accepting of how I want to do things in my life and caters everything to that. When I was delivery my baby she followed my birth plan to.the.T. It was amazing.
Im excited for you!!! Cant wait till the next part!
I’m so glad that your experience was amazing. I tell all my friends that have chronic anything or just don’t feel right to try and ND. They are so amazing! I see them at one of the Naturopathic school clinics, which makes it even more interesting watching the students do their clinicals and talking to the doctor’s about all the training they even go through. So glad you are on a track to a healthier you.
I love holistic doctors. I see one as well (he is a chirpractor/holistic combo) and he always knows the craziest things before I even breathe a word about my week just by examining me. It’s seriously freaky!
oh my goodness I need to go to this doctor. I’m going to my second gastroenterologist next week because my first one just didn’t listen to me. He didn’t care about my diet – how is diet not important when dealing with the digestive system???