Magda was a new patient who was referred by one of my ENT colleagues for “refractory reflux”. She’d been on the proton pump inhibitor Nexium at a dose of twice daily for over a year, and was still complaining of symptoms. She’d cut out caffeine, alcohol, chocolate and late-night eating when the symptoms first began, […]
These days having a colonoscopy is no easy feat. In addition to the usual inconvenience of a clear liquid diet the day before and a bowel prep to clean you out (thoroughly!), most endoscopy centers now require a negative COVID test a few days before your procedure, and then self quarantine until your procedure is […]
Kaye was in her mid 60’s with a long history of hypertension, a cardiac arrhythmia that had been stable for several years, and an eye condition that wasn’t well defined but seemed to be progressing. She contacted me via our website to ask if I could help with some constipation she’d been experiencing over the […]
A few years ago, a very nice woman named Lucy came to see me about some symptoms she was having. From the beginning she was convinced she had a parasite, and her story is in many ways, representative of the trials and tribulations of figuring out whether that may indeed be the case. Lucy had […]
Annette is a patient born in Argentina who I saw in consultation for Crohn’s disease. Like most people from that part of the world, she received the bacillus Calmette–Guérin, or BCG, vaccine against tuberculosis as a child. Since the vaccine is prepared from a strain of live tuberculosis that has lost its virulence in humans, […]
Hilary didn’t have a history of lots of antibiotic use in the past, but she was a picky eater in childhood who avoided fruits and vegetables like the plague. She was now in her thirties and in good health until a case of severe gastroenteritis, with nausea, vomiting, fever, and dehydration led to a five-day […]
Lucia came to see me mainly to confirm that she was following the right path. She had a healthy childhood, but was treated with a year of tetracycline in high school for moderately severe acne. During the year she was on antibiotics she didn’t feel quite right, with frequent nausea, an upset stomach, and cradle […]
My patient Barbara is a fifty-seven-year-old judge who in the last several years has been very careful about her food: no trans fats, nothing processed, no red meat, organic fruits and vegetables from the farmer’s market, and at least 20 grams of fiber a day. Given her healthy eating habits, she was completely perplexed as […]
Jenny didn’t have much in the way of bowel symptoms, just bloating after meals and some constipation. She came in to see me because of severe fatigue, brain fog, thinning hair, and a history of infertility, and she wanted advice on what supplements might be helpful for these problems. As soon as I heard her […]
Glenn had been on various antibiotics for cystic acne for seventeen years. His skin would initially respond well, but after a year or two the cystic lesions would return, and his dermatologist would switch him to a different antibiotic. Ten years after he first started taking antibiotics Glenn began to have persistent loose stools and […]