Does anyone know of any good Fibromyalgia Doctors in the area of Boston,Ma ?
Dianne
Hi Dianne,
No I don't know any but I have some suggestions, not sure if you have tried.
I belonged to and help run several support groups many years ago in Jacksonville, Florida.
We learned who was finding improvement, being treated differently than others and who disliked their care in those goups. If you can find several in your ara. Buston is big so I m sure there are more than one. And, go to them... ask people to help you, that might work. Also check the Fibromyalgia site but that may just be one person's opinion.
My questions would be, who is up o the latest modern treatment. Who treats this illness with supplements and holistic medicine vs. Rx medicine. What doctor believes that the foods we eat contribute to the gentic patterns we are experiencing and adds diet to the Rx plan.
Many advertise now days... check that out on the net too.
I do not know this doctor from adam: I am out of the USA but this is what i would look for in a specialist.
Dr. Joseph A. Hanak,is the Director of the Fibromyalgia and Myofascial Pain Clinic in the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. We provide state-of-the-art evaluation and treatment programs for fibromyalgia, primary and secondary myofascial pain syndromes, post-traumatic pain syndromes, repetitive motion or cumulative over-use syndromes and other musculoskeletal pain syndromes.
Besides traditional physical therapy and modalities, trigger point injections and a variety of injection techniques, including botulinum toxin (type A & type B) procedures, are offered. He is well trained. Tufts Medical Center.
Just ideas. Good luck.
Hopabout said:
Hi Dianne,
No I don't know any but I have some suggestions, not sure if you have tried.
I belonged to and help run several support groups many years ago in Jacksonville, Florida.
We learned who was finding improvement, being treated differently than others and who disliked their care in those goups. If you can find several in your ara. Buston is big so I m sure there are more than one. And, go to them... ask people to help you, that might work. Also check the Fibromyalgia site but that may just be one person's opinion.
My questions would be, who is up o the latest modern treatment. Who treats this illness with supplements and holistic medicine vs. Rx medicine. What doctor believes that the foods we eat contribute to the gentic patterns we are experiencing and adds diet to the Rx plan.
Many advertise now days... check that out on the net too.
I do not know this doctor from adam: I am out of the USA but this is what i would look for in a specialist.
Dr. Joseph A. Hanak,is the Director of the Fibromyalgia and Myofascial Pain Clinic in the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. We provide state-of-the-art evaluation and treatment programs for fibromyalgia, primary and secondary myofascial pain syndromes, post-traumatic pain syndromes, repetitive motion or cumulative over-use syndromes and other musculoskeletal pain syndromes.
Besides traditional physical therapy and modalities, trigger point injections and a variety of injection techniques, including botulinum toxin (type A & type B) procedures, are offered. He is well trained. Tufts Medical Center.
Just ideas. Good luck.
Hi Dianne,
I am not sure if Dr.Goldberg is still at Newton -Wellesley hospital. I saw him in 2006. But he does a number of articles for the Fibromyalgia network and has done research. I believe he is in the rheumatology department. Good Luck
You might be able to find a good doctor at Mass. General Hosp. They have the interns & residents from Harvard. I know they have good neurosurgeons there. Usually a hospital that is affliated with a university will have neurologists or orthopedic, musculoskelatal drs.who are pretty good. If they have a pain management clinic, that is another specialty you may consider.
Usually any place that receives federal funding is a good bet. They HAVE to treat you to keep receiving those federal dollars! Try to get on your state's medicaid. You have to have a certain amount of medical bills for a certain time period. Also get a dr to fill out paperwork for disability. You have to be deptressed to where you can't do your activities of daily living, also pain which causes depression. The social security website has all the info, which is available to professionals for downloading in PDF format, tells how they figure that you are disabled.
Thank you Chris, I will look into Mass General. I currently work full time as an Activity Director which Thank God allows me to retreat to my desk when needed. I am in constant fear of not being able to continue working. I just took the very first vacation of my life for my 35 wedding anniversery to the United Kingdom. What everyone else calls a flare, I am calling an attack of fibromyalgia came on.Night time pain made sleep impossible as usual. I had so looked forward to walking the Royle Mile in Scotland, pain attacked my legs and chest area making it impossible to walk more than 20 feet without having to sit for 20 minutes and repeat this process until I gave up. I am very angry with my current Dr, I begged for low dose of Prednisone for the duration of our vacation to prevent this attack. She refused ! Thanks for listening !
Hi Dianne,
I was googling around, found your old query about Boston docs, joined this site to ask you if you connected with.a Boston MD you found helpful. I am on the Cape, have avoided treatment and meds for twenty years but may reconsider after a consult since my symptoms have somewhat changed and become much more difficult.
Thanks for bringing up the name. I was trying to remember it, as I've heard good things about him too.
Does the doc have to be in Boston? I live in Greater Boston area. I really like my primary care doctor, Vidya Raju, who's on Rt. 1 (Broadwayy) in Saugus. Also found a good rheumie, Dr. Robert Sands, who's also with a teaching hospital. I saw him in Lynn, MA but I think he has other offices too.
Oh wow, I was an Activity Director too, at a very small place and had to push all of the patients to all activities and push really heavy wooden tables. THIS is what pushed me into full-blown fibro, I believe.
I'm so sorry about your awful attack while you were on your wedding anniversary. Oh, that's just awful!
I gave you some of my recommendations, above. Hope that you find a doctor more to your liking. At least we have some choices here. I really feel badly for people who live in rural areas or places without access to good doctors.
Best of luck to you!
I just checked and my rheumy, Robert Sands, also has offices in Braintree, MA. That's quite a hike from the Cape though. Maybe you could call his office and ask if they know of anyone closer to you who is good.
Thanks, Petunia, Braintree is closer than Boston even. I will check my insurance and give a look.
You're welcome. I hope that you like him. I felt that he gave me a bunch of useful info. I just hope he can help you out.
I like me rheumatologist Dr. Ang at Lahey. Very patient and takes time to explain everything. Kind. Warm. Very thorough with his testing.
I like my GP. She's in Saugus, MA. Her name is Vidya Raju. She's helped me a lot with finding pain meds. She's also been very open-minded about getting me in to see specialists. And she was the one who figured out that I had fibro.
I also go to Robert Sands as a rheumatologist. He's out of Lynn, MA. I do like him but I'm not sure how much it really helps to see him. Well, he did do a lot of testing to rule out other stuff. But he's not big on pain med because he doesn't feel they really help. I understand what he's saying but I'm not ready to do without my pain meds. But like Tiffy's doctor, Dr. Sands is kind and warm and thorough. These are rare traits in rheumatologists, I am told by some support staff.
Hope that helps you some, Dianne! Best of luck,
Petunia
Dianne,
I want to update my reply to you. My rheumy, Dr. Robert Sands, has now referred me to see a pain clinic that deals with biofeedback and other methods of pain control. I'm kind of excited by this; I'd like to see if any of it helps because the needles to my joints business doesn't work. So I'll keep you posted.
Dr Don Goldenberg and Dr William Winchell are both Rhuematologist who have exstinsive experience with Fibromyalgia. They both work at Newton Wellesly Hospital in Newton Massachusetts. Cinnamin
I've heard of Dr. Goldenberg. He's got a good reputation, from what I've read.
Hi Robin,
I have yet to find a Doctor that can take away my pain, I have been given the name of Dr Axel at Lahey in Burlington. I may try him next. I never thought I would end up bouncing around to Doctors. I will let you know if I find one that help. Hang in there !
Dianne
Ladies,
Yes, it is hard to find someone to help contain the pain in our area. My pain kept outgrowing the Lyrica and I can't get anything more to help with pain. I can't understand why doctors are so obsessed about making sure that we're not drug addicts while not worrying about if we are in pain. Makes no sense!
I hope you both find someone who works for you. Our area has some of the most top notch doctors in the world so it shouldn't be impossible to find them. Hopefully!