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Looking for GI recommendation at Cleveland Clinic

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 1/27/2020 9:26 AM (GMT -6)
Does anyone have a GI doctor at the Cleveland Clinic that you highly recommend? And then, also, does anyone work with a nutritionist, homeopathic practitioner or other alternative medicine doctor they love in northeastern Ohio?

I have a GI now, but he tells me that the meds he has me on "don't have any side effects" and will not discuss anything with me besides perscriptions.

Post Edited (Smidgen0411) : 1/27/2020 9:24:21 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/27/2020 9:34 AM (GMT -6)
The majority of gasteroenteroligists will not talk about diets and alternative medications for liability reasons. Our Gasteros are only allowed to prescribe treatments that have been thoroughly vetted and proven to have a positive affect on our UC (double-blind, placebo controlled, large scale clinical studies verified by peers). That means medicines, as diets, and alternatives have not gone through the same level of scrutiny and proof (at most, small-scale, open-labeled studies that are prone to exaggerated placebo effect and not taken as seriously).

What specific treatments are you interested in pursuing that your current doctor will not?

If you want to explore the various diets mentioned for UC then there is plenty of information online that's free and you can trial on your own. There's IBD-AID and SCD are the two most common ones used for us.

Many of us here mention the supplements we use within our signatures. Just about everything that could possibly help with UC symptoms has been tried here over the years.

Most important lesson in UC: what's one's miracle treatment does absolutely nothing for another, and might even make another's symptoms a whole lot worse. That's UC fit neatly within a nutshell. There's many things that could help us, we have a lifelong disease and can make ourselves guinea pigs to try a lot over the years. Many of these alternatives will not work, perhaps you might find a couple keepers, but it is not a quick revelation which those are among the many, many alternatives available to trial.

There's Naturalpaths, Traditional Chinese Medicine, India's Ayurveda, Holistic medicine, and so many titles to those who dabble within the often less than scientific means of treating illness. There's Dieticians if that's the way you are leaning?
Posted 1/27/2020 9:51 AM (GMT -6)
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I guess I want a doctor who will talk to me about the treatment rather than treating me like a number and another perscription.

Is there anyone who is going to a GI they love at the Cleveland Clinic? Maybe I should have been more specific.
Posted 1/27/2020 9:52 AM (GMT -6)
And I get very frustrated when a doctor tells me there are no side effects with a drug. I know better than that.
Posted 1/27/2020 9:59 AM (GMT -6)
You might edit the title of your post to say something like "Looking for a good GI at Cleveland Clinic." You deserve a doctor who does not treat you like a number. I had to go through several before finding a few good ones.
Posted 1/27/2020 10:25 AM (GMT -6)
Thank you for the suggestion, Sarah, I've edited the title and initial post.
Posted 1/27/2020 10:33 AM (GMT -6)
Hopefully some folks will chime in. Just as an FYI, my current GI brought up curcumin and VSL#3 to me. I agree that most are not going to have much to say when it comes to nutrition or alternative medicine, but you can at least fine someone who treats you like a person and listens to your concerns. And someone who realizes medicines have side effects! Lol.
Posted 1/27/2020 11:48 AM (GMT -6)
I don’t know Ohio or where you’re at but my GI moved to Ohio. He was wonderful and had a great bedside manner and definitely did not treat me like a number. He’s not at Cleveland though. His name is Charles Oberer and I highly recommend him. I looked him up online and he might be in Beavercreek? If that’s close enough for you to drive to give him a try. He’s fairly young (30-40?) but really progressive and knowledgeable. He had me try turmeric so he’s open to anything that helps you feel better. I was/am still sad he moved because I loved him as a doctor and credit him with my remission.
Posted 1/27/2020 12:45 PM (GMT -6)
If you are sure Cleveland clinic is the best place to find this doctor, then call their gastero office and talk to the receptionist. See if any doctor there is the best for those who want suggestions beyond just medications. Cleveland might have some of the best gasteroenteroligists, based on qualifications/schooling but that does not mean that they are very open-minded about alternatives. Often the best have the least people-skills and are the busiest offices.

If you want a more outside the box kind of thinking, teaching-hospitals (a hospital associated with a nearby university, who's doctors also teach and have a fellowship student in your/my office visit appointments) seem to be a lot more open to it. My current Gasteroenteroligist is cited in a FMT study, as an example. It's interesting to talk with him as he's quite knowledgeable about current research and not just what's currently available for prescription.

All that said, I never found the alternatives to help, tried a lot of the various diets and some of the popular supplements and have nothing to show for it. So, alternatives are not always this untapped nirvana that'll quickly give you a remission. It might be a fool's errand in some cases, like mine. I know some do say alternatives have helped them, but that's not overnight and not everyone.
Posted 1/27/2020 12:55 PM (GMT -6)

iPoop said...
If you are sure Cleveland clinic is the best place to find this doctor, then call their gastero office and talk to the receptionist. See if any doctor there is the best for those who want suggestions beyond just medications. Cleveland might have some of the best gasteroenteroligists, based on qualifications/schooling but that does not mean that they are very open-minded about alternatives. Often the best have the least people-skills and are the busiest offices.

Yep, exactly. I hated my experience when I went to Mayo Clinic! Asking the receptionist is a good idea and something I've done before. I have asked who they would see if they were the patient.
Posted 1/27/2020 1:11 PM (GMT -6)
A quick google search of IBD clinics should yield you some results for clinics that offer nutritional or alternative options. There are a few out there. Talking to a receptionist may or may not help, depends on how busy the phones are. I can't tell if you are already seeing a dr at the Cleveland Clinic or not, but whoever it is you are seeing needs to be replaced one way or the other. My gi referred me to a dietician, I am fortunate to have him after 4 other failures for drs.

Like IPoop said, gi's or pretty much any dr for that matter for liability reasons will not practice out of their realm. They stay with what they were taught in medical school.
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