This was extremely helpful in figuring out what to do, it hadn’t occurred to me that a Bayesian calculation would be useful here. After tallying up all the variables I came to the conclusion that my current methods had a lower chance of helping me than I had always implicitly thought. What I referred to as “extreme risks” may not even be the truly risky options when considering other factors; like how the longer someone has myalgic encephalomyelitis the less likely it is they can get better. I realized the types of solutions I’ve been trying give me the mental satisfaction of having “done something” but they might not stand the best chance of actually working.
I trust this one doctor more because I am trying to treat this condition rather than manage it and patients of his have reported more actual reduction of symptoms than almost any other ME doctor I can find, except possibly Dr. Sarah Myhill (but she isn’t accepting new patients). I have seen many health professionals (general practitioners, psychiatrists, dietitians, etc.) already but only the one mind-body specialist has treated the ME rather than just managed the symptoms.
After careful consideration I decided in the end to go to the appointment. He ordered a lot of lab tests and it was quite a bit more expensive than I thought, but I had anticipated that possibility beforehand and went ahead with it even so. I should get all the results back in one or two months.
Given that you had success at improving your condition with one mind-body paradigm, why not try others?
This is precisely what I thought after seeing what the mind-body specialist achieved. I tried numerous approaches over the following year and a half; such as seeing a therapist, cognitive behavioral therapy from a book, and acting on suggestions from the specialist. Unfortunately I didn’t see any further progress for my primary health concerns (there were some favorable, unrelated side benefits though). My guess is that only some of the physiological issues going on within me could be corrected this way, at least for any of the mind-body paradigms I’ve tried.
Given that you speak about travelling to the US it would also be worthwhile to know where you are living at the moment to know about what’s available to you.
I live in Calgary, Canada at the moment. I am currently on the waitlist for local doctor Beverley Tompkins although from my conversation with her receptionist I think she is probably someone who will mostly give me treatments I’ve already tried. The most highly recommended specialist in my city is Dr. Eleanor Stein but she is not currently accepting other patients due to a high volume waitlist. While I’ve done some searching for effective specialists in Canada I am not having too much luck, although I haven’t been thorough with my research yet. I thought I found a decent one with Dr. Alison Bested, but she left the Complex Chronic Disease Program a few years back and I can’t get a hold of her or even confirm where she is.
This was extremely helpful in figuring out what to do, it hadn’t occurred to me that a Bayesian calculation would be useful here. After tallying up all the variables I came to the conclusion that my current methods had a lower chance of helping me than I had always implicitly thought. What I referred to as “extreme risks” may not even be the truly risky options when considering other factors; like how the longer someone has myalgic encephalomyelitis the less likely it is they can get better. I realized the types of solutions I’ve been trying give me the mental satisfaction of having “done something” but they might not stand the best chance of actually working.
I trust this one doctor more because I am trying to treat this condition rather than manage it and patients of his have reported more actual reduction of symptoms than almost any other ME doctor I can find, except possibly Dr. Sarah Myhill (but she isn’t accepting new patients). I have seen many health professionals (general practitioners, psychiatrists, dietitians, etc.) already but only the one mind-body specialist has treated the ME rather than just managed the symptoms.
After careful consideration I decided in the end to go to the appointment. He ordered a lot of lab tests and it was quite a bit more expensive than I thought, but I had anticipated that possibility beforehand and went ahead with it even so. I should get all the results back in one or two months.
This is precisely what I thought after seeing what the mind-body specialist achieved. I tried numerous approaches over the following year and a half; such as seeing a therapist, cognitive behavioral therapy from a book, and acting on suggestions from the specialist. Unfortunately I didn’t see any further progress for my primary health concerns (there were some favorable, unrelated side benefits though). My guess is that only some of the physiological issues going on within me could be corrected this way, at least for any of the mind-body paradigms I’ve tried.
I live in Calgary, Canada at the moment. I am currently on the waitlist for local doctor Beverley Tompkins although from my conversation with her receptionist I think she is probably someone who will mostly give me treatments I’ve already tried. The most highly recommended specialist in my city is Dr. Eleanor Stein but she is not currently accepting other patients due to a high volume waitlist. While I’ve done some searching for effective specialists in Canada I am not having too much luck, although I haven’t been thorough with my research yet. I thought I found a decent one with Dr. Alison Bested, but she left the Complex Chronic Disease Program a few years back and I can’t get a hold of her or even confirm where she is.