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Dr. Nadine Alex

Dr. Nadine Alex is an endocrinologist in Baltimore, Maryland that I visited in 1999.

There were some things I loved about her, some I didn't like, so I thought I'd get her in our system with some info on my visit.

1) She took a long time with me, let me share lots of information about my history and seemed truly fascinated to understand my situation. SHe blew me away in this regard. She took NOTES. We talked for an HOUR. She seemed open-minded AND intelligent for much of our d iscussion. In that regard, she is the best doctor I have ever been to.

2) She's also keenly interested in PCOS and studied it as some part of a special thesis or something she did in school.

3) She's overall a really appealing, attractive, likeable woman who did not do anything rude, unkind, or snooty towards me. Again, for this alone, she'd prob. be the best doc I'd ever seen.

4) Unfortunately, she was very narrow and limited about certain things. In discussing my thyroid treatment, she seemed obsessed with the idea that I might have thyroid cancer and I really felt pushed towards some sort of thyroid-biopsy, etc. I did not think this was appropriate or necessary at the time, nor do I now. I give her credit for meaning well, but it seemed a very bleak thing to focus on with a patient, and kinda suspect, since no other endo ever suggested this. She continued in this vein even after a long exam she did of my thyroid (feeling through neck) that came up with nothing "suspicious".
Who knows, maybe she's right---but it felt a little obsessive to me.

5) I had just started up again on the pill about 10days before my visit with her. Because of those 10 days, she insisted I would need to get off the pill and stay off of it for OVER THREE MONTHS, before she would even consider doing the TESTS to help determine a PCO diagnosis. At the time, this seemed like forever...I could not understand why I should have to wait months and months just to begin to start testing . Mind you, this was AFTER she examined me, noted symptoms and signs, and we discussed my PCO-compatible history and endocrine issues for an HOUR. It blew me away that given the obvious problems, I was supposed to go without birth control and just continue to suffer without any attempt at treatment at all for months, before even beginning to undertake a diagnosis.

6) Dr. Alex was extremely insistent that I could NOT have had a strange negative reaction to synthroid, a thyroid medication. I understand it's the point of view of the manufacturer and the official attitude of the American Medical Association, so I wasn't shocked but it was very frustrating.

Just a few months later, an article came out in the New England Journal of Medicine (very respected) that backed up what I was saying, but it was too late...the combination of frustrating issues led me to another doctor by that point.

7) To her credit, Dr. Alex did follow up my initial thyroid bloodwork with a call to my home, when I cancelled my appointment with her. Someone in her office, actuallly, spoke to someone at my house in person and the gist of the message I got was "Dr. Alex wanted to make sure you were going to get follow-up care because your test results show a very significant health issue which needs attention." I had already moved on to a doctor who seemed to get these issues more, but this call freaked me out a little and I called back for more info.

8) When I called back, her staff could not find my file or explain what that message meant. In fact, I have tried back intermittently over the years since then and my file has been permently lost, apparently. The staff apologizes but there is no record of my visit or any explanation of what it was all about, despite all the time the good doctor and I spent on it. Such a pity!

In summary, I loved Dr. Alex but found that she and her staff were not helpful to me at all.

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Dr. Bruce Rind

Dr. Bruce Rind is a wholistic physician working in the Washington, DC/Maryland metro area.

I saw Dr. Rind in 1999 and 2000 and had some of the best ! -- and strangest experiences I've had with a doctor, as well as a couple of troubling issues, so here's the rundown on what happened if you'd like to see him.

I found info about Dr. Rind online where he was very popular with people talking about some far-out, out-there types of health issues. I was worried he would be a quack, but his website info was great. And in fact, I'd already been on a journey of my own research for a long time....so when I found Dr. Rind's info, he was the first doctor who seemed to be talking about the same issues I'c already concluded about in my own private research~

So it was like....hallellujah ! His office did not take any insurance and in fact, the whole experience was a little different. His office had all this literature about adrenaline and thyroid problems, strange disorders, chelation treatment, vitamn supplements, etc.

BUT, the coolest thing was that it all made sense with what I was experiencing! yay

I was relieved when I meant Dr. Rind (rhymes with pinned), who has a slight accent and a very warm and friendly demeanor. Unfortunately, he may be a workaholic though, because he seemed frantic, impatient, and busy out of his mind, taking calls right and left, even during my visit, and being interrupted by his staff who clearly felt frustrated trying to get his attention.

HOWEVER, this visit was one of the best days of my life because I'd been feeling so hopeless and despairing about PCO/endocrine issues that when Dr. Rind confirmed the plausibility at last, and maybe possibility that everything I thought was correct, it was so validating!

And he was NOT just humoring me. Believe me. Because in other areas he was quick to tell me how wrong I was.
But overall, he seemed dazzled by my self-diagnostic abilities and understanding of things he was just learning about at that time. (I was very comfortable throwing out words like triglyceride or lipotropics appopriately).

I did continue to see Dr. Rind but he and his office have a mixture of extreme pluses and minuses, so here they are:

Pros:

1) Openminded, revolutionary, wholistic doctor on the cutting edge of traditional and natural medicine. Can and will treat you in ways other docs don't even understand. Brave new medicine and he was an energetic, healthy-looking man to top it off. With cartoons on the walls of the office that made you laugh!

2) Friendly, sociable, intelligent. Clearly, a pleasant doctor for the most part. Respectful to me most of the time.

3) Gives the patient tools (e.g .keeping track of diet, body temperature across menstrual cycle, etc) to work on at home for extra ability to self-help.

4) Positive. Great doctor to help you feel "Hey, I CAN beat this."

5) Extra resources. Tons of extra information available to patient in brochures, online, etc. Helps you trust the unconventional as being based on some actual science and/or wisdom.

www.drrind.com

6) Has special vitamin formulations that he has designed, but are not required...you can buy the same stuff made by somebody else. He works with a local pharmacy to make his formulas and I felt GREAT taking them. PLUS, this high-specialization pharmacy was able to MAKE their own pills, formulas, etc.....so he could design a totally PERSONALIZED supplement/medication for you, such as sustained-release t3 (thyroid) hormone which is available at only certain special pharmacies (very few of them) in the USA.

7) Will "see" you by phone for some follow-ups, if you really can't get in to see him. This costs slightly less but is only a good option if you really don't need to be seen in person and he already knows you well as a patient.




CONS (big ones)

1) He is clearly very driven and very ambitious but also very workaholic. He started to seem more and more frazzled and stressed out, having trouble keeping up with his excessive patient load. This led him to start being impatient, irritable and cranky and a lot less pleasant or helpful. I felt bad for him, seeing he was tired and burned out because nobody else out there was doing what he did, but he began to be rushed and slightly hostile, talking fast and getting frustrated at anything unexpected that might come up in his furious pace to get to the next patient. He needs to freaking slow down already.

2) He's a little TOO gung-ho to prescribe his special vitamin formulations, etc. I felt pressured to use his products. They ARE great and better than what I had, but not always cheaper and sometimes you just have to go with what you can afford. At some point, he seemed like a real snake oil salesman....but in the last few years, as I've continued to research and pursue my own natural medicine path, I've been coming back time and time again to things that Dr. Rind told me to start taking 5 years ago! He was ahead of his time.....but he was so pushy about it, I resisted. So he was right, but I felt bullied.

3) NO INSURANCE TAKEN. Must pay in CASH and the first visit is $250. Yup, you read that right.

4) I said...that's cash. $250.

5) No lab at his facility meant arranging for some other special lab facility to do testing on then have it sent back to his office. Not a biggie, but a minor annoyance.

6) He's not a 100% right about everything but he thinks he is and gets annoyed when you disagree or he has to explain something. One adrenal glandular supplement he recommended for me made me feel distinctly nauseous and less than well, but he persisted until I started lying and claiming I'd taken it when I had not.

7) The more his workaholism got out of control, the harder it became to relax and trust that he had the mental focus, energy, and relaxation to think clearly about my case and give me good advice. I ended up bailing on him, although partly, to be fair, because I was feeling better!

In summary, I'm thrilled I went to Dr. Rind and think he's a brave medical revolutionary and also brilliant but he's really f'd up from workaholism.

Good luck to all sisters!

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