How To Find A Good GI Doctor
#358132 - 04/27/10 09:56 PM
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This actually might serve as a good sticky for everybody.
I haven't seen one in a year, I think in my experience, they are worthle$$...but I don't want to give up.
Further, I've been challenged by people here to display my frustration to the GI who capitalize$ off our $uffering.
I live in CT.
What is the best way I can find a good, compotent GI who specializes in IBS?
Nothing is frustrating like taking time out of the day, going to the trouble of seeing a doc only to have them say "eat whole grains."
How can we find a good GI, or are GI's simply u$ele$$ for u$?
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IBS-C and Bloating
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There use to be a list of GI doctors somewhere on the board. Cannot seem to find it with a search. Maybe someone knows where the list resides. I will look through my IBS research publication database and see if I can find an GI doctor in your state. It could take a while. Maybe some one on the board has a recommendation.
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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and added my GI guy and one from New York.
For future reference, here's the link:
Doctors thread
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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You might contact Yale Digestive Diseases at Yale University or Connecticut Gastroenterology Institute at Bristol Hospital and ask for a recommendation.
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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Quote:
and added my GI guy and one from New York.
For future reference, here's the link:
Doctors thread
Did this Dr. actually help, what was your experience?
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IBS-C and Bloating
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Quote:
You might contact Yale Digestive Diseases at Yale University or Connecticut Gastroenterology Institute at Bristol Hospital and ask for a recommendation.
You know this from 1st hand or have read?
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IBS-C and Bloating
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There are doctors in both of these institutes whose published GI research is internationally recognized. As a result most GI docs in these institutes probably have a state of the art understanding of IBS and its management. They may not have any new answers but if there are any I would look to a medical group or institution that does GI research as well as clinical practice. They tend to stay abreast of recent developments. And Yale has as good a reputation in many areas of medicine as the Mayo Clinic - IMHO 
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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No GI doctor is going to be able to fix your IBS - there isn't any cure and there isn't even any drug that always controls symptoms for everyone. What you can ask of a GI doc first and foremost is that he (or she) do all the tests necessary for a solid diagnosis of IBS.
Beyond that he should understand what IBS is and should not think it's "all in your head". He should be willing to work through the possible remedies with you - anti-anxiety, anti-depressants, whatever meds there are for C or D or whichever you have - and prescribe each of them in turn to see if they work. You should also expect that he's aware of new drugs as they become available.
If you find a site on the Internet that says it can help your IBS, you should be able to go to your GI guy and tell him about it and have him say one of the following:
1) Sure, that might help.
2) No, I don't think that will help but it won't hurt so give it a try if you want.
3) No, that's bad for you. Don't do it.
Ideally, your GI doc should also be aware of clinical trials that you might participate in.
My doctor, Dr. Schumann, fits all those criteria. But he can't "fix" my IBS. No one can.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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Can a your doctor, or a good dr, help significantly improve symtpoms?
I don't think that is an unreasonable request.
You mention anti-anxiety and anti-depressants...how would they help and don't they CAUSE constipation in many instances?
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Quote:
Can a your doctor, or a good dr, help significantly improve symtpoms?
It depends on how responsive the patient is to the available treatments
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I don't think that is an unreasonable request.
As I just pointed out in another thread, this is not the proper forum in which to insist your requests are not unreasonable.
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You mention anti-anxiety and anti-depressants...how would they help and don't they CAUSE constipation in many instances?
Some part of IBS seems to be anxiety-related. If that is the case with your IBS, anti-anxiety meds may help. You need to ask your doctor about the possible constipating side-effects of various anti-anxiety meds.
IIRC, there are two types of anti-depressants: tricyclics and SSRIs. The tricyclics are good for IBS-D, bad for IBS-C. Among the SSRIs, some help with IBS-D, some with IBS-C. You can do a Board search and see what other people have said about which anti-depressants seem to work for them. Or ask your doctor.
Anti-depressants help because in some cases (maybe all cases) IBS has something to do with serotonin in the gut. Since anti-depressants impact serotonin wherever it is found in the body, they can act on serotonin in the gut as well as the brain. Try reading "The Second Brain" by Dr. Michael Gershon.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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Well, I have OCD and General Anxiety.
One of the problems in getting treatment has been figuring out WHICH meds to help anxiety/ocd are IBS safe.
Again this is what I dislike about IBS, how it compounds treating other conditions.
Has anybody talked about SNRIs are for IBS-C?
I was recently taken off SSRI and onto an SNRI.
Speaking from experience, I have been medicated for years and I don't think anti-anxiety/SSRI help IBS-C.
In fact when IBS started a decade ago, I was actually on Zoloft.
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