How Dr. Spurlock and Lumigrate came to be ....

Mardy~

VERY Interested in talking w/ Dr Spurlock~ and have 1 big question for him~ does he know of any Dr in the NJ/PA/DE area that does the same treatment style as he does??  Even NY City or DCA ~ 

I'm southern NJ~  just don't think I can fly, its too much for me right now, and here i used to fly practically each weekend when i was working w/ the airlines~

thank you~

Cherie

You know, Cherie -- I thought it was so wonderul that YOU asked that because one of the things he has asked me to help provide is a listing of doctors and providers that he can help answer this question, as he gets asked it ALL the time!  And I know Jen in Albuquerque is interested in coming all the way to Grand Junction to see provers here I discuss, and since I've spent a little time in Durango which is between where she lives and here, and I know it is VERY progressive ... it's a training ground for athletes and has a LOT of cool people that have moved from around the country for all kinds of things, so it's almost like California in this little college town in the end of the mountains south from where I live in 'The Banana Belt' of Western Colorado. 

If it were taken on gradually with a conversation on my part with the provider to see what they are like and then with other doctors if there is a question as to practice type and all that, I think it would be an awesome service.  (I have created something you can Search for at Lumigrate.com that is called 'Mardy's List' which so far only has a list for Western Colorado.)

Mardy's List has on it providers that people ANYWHERE can access (by using phone or Skype), and in the forum that is in there is another piece on how to go about finding providers.  When you go to Mardy's List, just like you see above this piece, there are links from left to right which starts you in Forums then the section you're in, then the forum you're in right now.  So you can just click on the one on the right and you'll see all the topics in the forum.  

Hope that helps you navigate around to find more information if your interest has been piqued here.  ~~ Mardy

 Cherie,

There is a very good doctor in Philadelphia that will really work with you.  His name is Andre Garabedian, MD.  Dr. Garabedian is well versed in all the things to look for and treat.  Look him up.  The only problem with him right now is the clinic he works for.  You will probably have to buy a package to see him, but the treatments he offers are well worth the price.

Wm. Marcus Spurlock, MD

Three years and one half years ago, our son then 17, was diagnosed with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD or CRPS). We had been to doctors and hospitals all over the US. His symptoms worsening each day, we did not know what to to do next. It seemed that the doctors either wanted to "experiment" on him, or give him narcotics, or tell us it was all in his head.

A dear friend here in Mississippi has fibromyalgia and she recommended Dr. Spurlock. Long story short and 15 months later, our son is functioning much better. He is back in college with a 4.0! He is not pain free, BUT Dr. Spurlock went the extra mile and saw where there were underlying issues. By working on his hormone and thyroid levels and many other things that had NEVER even been checked, our son, now 21 is seeing some light at the end of the tunnel.

We highly recommend Dr. Spurlock! Thank you!!!!!!

Cherry, thank you SO MUCH for taking the TIME to register and post this.  It means a great deal to people to see this validation.  I didn't post anything at the time you placed this here thinking I'd leave space for someone to post and not be hogging the show and now realize that almost two years has gone by.  

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome was the topic my student intern and her supervisor, the very talented upper extremity OT assistant/therapist, chose for her final presentation and my question was 'it seems there's something similar / overlapping with fibromyalgia', but she had not seen anything of that nature in all her research.  It was the ONLY time we/I called to the big hand therapy experts I knew of in Vail and Denver to ask if there was more we could be doing with a patient is why they chose that topic; clearly we needed to all learn more about it!  (And we were actually aware of and doing as much if not more, VERY confirming).  We learned there was some gadget that the person steps or pushes on, depending upon which part of the body is affected, and it vibrates and does some neuro-reeducation, essentially, and none of the therapists in my city of 100,000 had the equipment nor knew of that treatment.  So that might help your son.  

ALSO, we got our patient with that to Dr Chris Young, who you see here in the Forums (psychology/ neuropsychology -- things of the head), and also in video (Health Management), as there is a real piece of the puzzle of why someone's body will flip out over something that has to do with the mind/body/spirit connection.  So I hope that helps you -- in the case of the young patient we had referred to us, the PTs all thought the girl had no stress and the family/ home was all good but when psychology got involved, there WERE things the girl was stressed out about.   

I have now met Dr Spurlock for a 'visit' and he is so very impressive and got my medications and testing on track, which is being held up on my end just waiting for insurance timing to be right.  He sent the prescription to a pharmacy in my home state of Colorado that I'd never heard of, ITC Compounding and Natural Wellness Pharmacy (they go by ITC Pharmacy for simplicity's sake), and I was every so impressed by THEM and they now also contribute information on Lumigrate.com!  You'll see them in this forum on fibromyalgia specialists and in any of the forums having to do with fibromyalgia, thyroid, supplementation of nutrition, or anything that relates to gut health.  They have many similarities with Dr Spurlock in terms of how to go about treating these complex disorders, but they have a different philosophy of dosing hormones, called 'physiologic dosing'; the A4M teaches 'hyperphysiologic dosing' (American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine).  You'll be most familiar with that form if you're aware of Suzanne Somers).  

I like to provider different schools of thought and look for things that mostly overlap and felt that they were a good 'fit'; you'll see them both in a forum about fibromyalgia specialists here in Forums and the fibromyalgia section.  

Again, I encourage anyone who has utilized any of the providers we utilize at Lumigrate to take a moment and give back to them by writing an endorsement statement.  I'll be sure it gets copied into the right place to be seen if you miss.  

~~ Mardy

NOTE -- due to wanting to keep the quality of he website's contents at a certain level, and the time / energy resources it takes to monitor forums and new users and etc., we don't encourage registration and conversations as we enjoyed in the past. There are increasing numbers of 'hoodlums' on the Internet and they can target websites such as this and we were hit with spamming as you'll see if you look around a few areas perhaps, thought I am working gradually to clean it up. IF you have an endorsement of a provider, please email me at mardy at lumigrate dot com, or find me on Facebook and drop me a message, and I can then cut and paste and add in at an appropriate spot. It's VERY valuable to have this kind of feedback and I thank you in advance if you'll do that. We all appreciate it.  ~ Mardy

 I've been embellishing some of the 'gems' at Lumigrate -- often they're simple little topics like this one that had nice input from YOUsers who took the time back when we were open for registration to the public. But adding onto them and making them less 'dusty', they will help more people to see them as they'll rise or 'bump' in the list to the top. So from RSDS dot ord, a PDF about Systemic Complications of CRPS. I have to say that I had some baffling symptoms over the many years that are actually mentioned in this. When we had an intern do her final presentation on CRPS/RSD as, in all the weeks we were rockin' with patients, the only time we were baffled and stuck was with one with this condition.

I called the hand therpy gurus and it turned out we knew more about or as much as they did. And then there were things that the presentation enlightened us about -- I'd wished someone from the PT staff had been able to get away from patient care to come to her presentation because I think they would have benefitted from it.

Seven years later I spoke with a woman who had seen the presentation and she went out of her way to say that the presentation had helped her with one thing that stood out and applied to her. I say this because we are ALL learning, there is just so much now to know and people's symptoms are really getting broader and in many cases more dramatic and in many cases complex and baffling. So, a resource --- Mardy

www.rsds.org/pdfsall/Systemic-Complications-of-CRPS.pdf [14]

Aah, we get back to exercise with this thread, as you'll see at the following link that the person who had much to write on this message board that's about Lyme and with an RSD topic attributes their improvements and remission to PT. There is a WEALTH of information here, I encourage you to go on the link and see. This is a really great addition for other threads at Lumigrate too, but I wanted to add it here since this was the original place where RSD was brought up in the forums at Lumigrate. 

flash.lymenet.org/scripts/ultimatebb.cgi [16] 

As I frequently do, here's something to get you going -- literally, encourage you go to to the site IF it looks like what you're interested in for info. The question was started by a user by name 'everythinghurts' and asked about if Lyme could be a contributing factor with RSD, this is what two people wrote, right at the top, and the comments go on and are VERY good: 

There are some who believe RSD is Lyme/Bartonella.

I had RSD for 4 years, and am now currently in remission. I know it could come back anytime, because when I stop exercising, I start getting strange feelings in the foot where my RSD started.

I had Lyme then, too, just didn't know it. I wasn't diagnosed until 2007, but did my battle with RSD from 1997-2001. I got Lyme, it is believed, in 1977 or 78.

Antihistamines (Benadryl) did more for my pain than any pain medication ever did when I had the RSD. Epsom salt bath soaks also were wonderful.

--------------------
-Razzle
Lyme IgM IGeneX Pos. 18+++, 23-25+, 30++, 31+, 34++, 39 IND, 83-93 IND; IgG IGeneX Neg. 30+, 39 IND; Mayo/CDC Pos. IgM 23+, 39+; IgG Mayo/CDC Neg. band 41+; Bart. (clinical dx; Fry Labs neg. for all coinfections), sx >30 yrs.

 

To clarify terms for those who may not know:

RSD is an older term used to describe one form of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). 

It's often an umbrella term, even for even other umbrella diagnoses such as fibromyalgia, CFS, etc.

I do not believe this should be a separate diagnosis if it's caused by lyme. Yes, it can be caused by lyme - or other tick-borne or other stealth infections.

Certain nutritional deficiences can also cause this, such as magnesium deficiency (which is very common with lyme, too).

Bottom line: work with your LLMD on this, on any and all symptoms that are lyme or TBD connected.