Rabiegom:

I am in a similar situation, on a low dose of MMI and I only see my endo PA 3-4 times a year. My TSH, Free T4 and FreeT3 are almost in the normal range but I still wasn't feel well; much less great. I don't have any serious Graves symptoms anymore except the vision issues w TED. And honestly, when I was feeling so bad, I couldn't even think straight to explore other options!

At this point, I just can't say enough about my wonderful experience so far. Have you read Dr. Eric's book? I would do that even before I considered working with him. I think you need to decide if you can commit to his philosophy and recommendations - otherwise you will be wasting $.

I think that his services are very realstically priced given the fact that I am hoping to eventually go off my meds and heal my immune system (and prevent other auto-immune issues). That is priceless to me . . . but there are quite a few out of pocket expenses.

The first step is to contact his office and register for one of his webinars. The information that you get from the webinar is a comprised version of what is essentially in his book. If you like what you hear, you submit a preliminary application. Once you are accepted as a client, you fill out a very thorough history and sypmtoms list.

Cindy (who works in Dr. Eric's office) can give you all the details about payment - you have 2 options for a year long "membership". You can pay in full at the beginning or make regular payments. He does not process insurance claims.

But . . . you will probably need a few diagnostic tests. If your primary or endo will order them - great you can use your insurance. But neither of my Drs really embrace a holistic approach - so I have to pay for things myself.

Now remember, you are also going to probably need a handful of different supplements and you will be eating mostly organic foods. I have never taken supplements, so I was not expecting the HUGE expense. We usually eat organic food so that wasn't too overwhelming for our family.

So yes, working with him is a serious financial commitment for our family but I didn't really feel like I had any other options. I wasn't willing to self supplement and I knew that I needed some professional support to help keep me on track!

And there is a side benefit - I have lost 5 lbs in 5 weeks. I was not one of those fortunate women to loose weight w Graves. I gained 25 lbs; but that was because I was developing diabetes. So if I can manage things well w Dr. Eric's help and prevent diabetes - I am thrilled!

ElissaD - Any thing else you can think of?

Good luck and let us know how we can help! I am still very new to this "Graves Disease" but I feel better than I have felt in 6 years.

Kim

Thank you so much Kim!
Allot of great info! I will get the book and go from there. Congrats on your weight loss too. I did lose weight before being diagnosed with Graves. This is why I went to the Dr in the first place. Lost 25 pounds in 2 months. Now unfortunately due to being over medicated and breaking my leg in Oct I have gained it all back plus a few more. I am pretty bummed about that. Eating properly would certainly help.
Thank you again.
Mary

Hi, Kim,

I'm so happy to know your eyes have improved! Yahoo!!

You covered everything about Dr. Eric for Rabigom. Good work! I'm hoping with Dr. E's help, I will feel normal again without taking pharma meds. He has been great with answering my questions and addressing my concerns.

I've been feeling blah the last couple weeks with breathing problems and the palpitations have become much worse in spite of beta blockers. .I was doing well on 50mg iodine, multi vitamins and vitamin D when I first became symptomatic, and my thyroid levels improved after only three weeks. . But just when I was feeling really great, I saw a well known Chinese herbalist and drank two doses of her Chinese tea. I'm not sure if it was the tea, but I became symptomatic again, this time, much worse. I finally decided to take the MMI prescribed by my endo. He wasn't happy with the alternative treatments I took and told me those supplements are "very dangerous" and unless I take MMI, I was in danger of thyroid storm! He also said MMI is the safest treatment. But I'm still feeling blah after two weeks on MMI.

Have you read Svetla Bankova's book on GD? She has a lot of tips for managing the eye symptoms.

Take Care and be well,
Elissa

That's a great website, tomorrow Dr. Eric Osansky is having another webinar, I'm signed up for it. Yes he does promote his services at the end, but all the knowledge and videos are free. What I think about treating Graves naturally is for me the only way to go.
I somehow missed the free booklet, I thought there was only his book for sale. My story is I seen an endocrinologist a year ago, and I understood nothing at all. I even listened to him about the uptake test. Thanks to the Internet I looked it up, and what, radioactive, no way. I ended up with no doctor and some form of hyperthyroidism, alone, but had my PC. Lost 20 lbs, and finally got some bugleweed. It was a lifesaver. I continued to learn and to nourish myself and found Dr. Osansky. Followed his advice in searching for a natural health care provider who would take my insurance, because I can not afford him. Anyway, did find someone, and he at last diagnosed me without radioactive iodine. He used TSI and ultrasound which the endo doc did not do. And so here I am.

Carn:

I am so glad that you found someone who can help you - and will accept your insurance! This "getting healthy thing" is REALLY expensive!

You know, if you make the diet and lifestyle changes recommmended by Elaine Moore and others, you are well on your way to better health! You can decide to what extent you want to take supplements to manage your symptoms while your immune system starts to heal.

I am still taking MMl at a low dose. When I have my July appt with my Endo, then we can talk about seeing how to wean me off the medication depending upon my lab results. My symtpoms have been all over the board this past 1 1/2 years - some of that was due to the fact that I was only taking 1 dose a day, instead of the recommended divided dosage.

Why don't you start a new thread and see what some of the "GD masters" have to say! This group is so knowledgeable and helpful! They can support just about any question.

Good luck!

Kim

Hi Kim,
Thanks for the input, thanks for taking an interest.
I got Elaine Moore. I liked this one: Chakras
When someone is not allowed to speak his or her views freely, the throat chakra becomes blocked.
http://web.archive.org/web/20070223050418/http://www.suite101.com/lesson.cfm/19330/2903/4
Yeah, holding back from speaking is one of the many triggers.
I could see starting a new discussion, it would be
something like this. I only seen my new doctor twice a few
months ago. He did two things, the first he gave me a diagnosis, which is of course autoimmune GD. The second
visit he gave me two things to do. One, do the AlCat food
allergies test, which I did not do, you'll see why. The other was to take natural vitamin E and Cod Liver Oil. The later sent me off into another world with research. Cod liver oil took me to Weston Price, then to the Sally Fallon and Natasha Gaps Diet. I literally lost sleep staying up all night watching their videos.
The Gaps Diet people talked me out of food allergy testing, just
heal and seal. Sally straightened me out about the whole food world. And I went a step further into the paleo template. Despite Weston Price and Sally, maybe I should avoid grains.
So where am I now? Bone broth with eggs yolks and sauerkraut for breakfast. When I take my Vitamin E, take selenium. So to do that I need to soak my Brazil nuts.
So this is where I'm at, and I have not see my doctor all these
months because I have not done the AlCat test yet.
Well finally I now have expressed myself on this subject, my throat chakra already feels better, thanks for listening.

Try that link again.
http://web.archive.org/web/20070223050418/http://www.suite101.com/lesson.cfm/19330/2903/4