Fibro and Fatigue Center Experience?

Go online and read some reviews. I looked into that, but the reviews were not good.

I went to those centers. That's who helped me in Atlanta. They are very thorough in testing, which is why is is SOOOO expensive. But you do need to get all of the testing to know what you're up against-- what pathogens. Once you know what you're up against from a bacterial and viral standpoint, you can come up with a treatment plan. If you can afford to go there for about a year, you should see some improvement.

It feels a little bit like a racket because they make you pay up front, and it costs so much. My husband hates them because he thinks that they take advantage of people when they are at their sickest. I, however, don't feel taken advantage of, because I am fully recovered.

But I'll say this again... if you have viruses ONLY as the pathogens causing your problem, the only thing you need to do is take Valtrex/Famvir or Valcyte. You may even want to go to the Centers to get your testing and then go to Dr. Martin Lerner in Michigan for treatment (though I've never seen him)

I went to the centers back in 2006/2007. All of my information on the centers is from that time period.

They do not take insurance, except for bloodwork. You can file a claim with your insurance company after treatment for the doctor's visit, however.

At the time I went, they did not require you to enter a contract with them to get treatment. They do now, requiring you to pre-pay for an entire year just to get in the door. When I went, you could pay as you go, which was nice. The doctor's visits cost about $325, and the IVs were around $175-250. They put a lot of pressure on you to buy supplements; I did buy and take some of them (they could cost like $300 per month), but I never found a huge improvement from them, only a slight improvement. The most effective and probably only treatment that I would recommend are the IVs and pharmaceuticals (anti-virals, antibiotics, heparin therapy). You can buy and take supplements on your own.

At the time that I went, Quest Diagnostics was the company doing their blood work, so it was covered by insurance for me. However, for those who didn't have insurance, I believe that I heard that the bloodwork costs somewhere around $1500.

Now, to get in the door, I think that their cheapest plan is $2000 per year. That covers 4 doctor's visits and supplements, but not IVs, I think.

As I said earlier, this is all based on memory, and most of the information is from several years ago.

Did you look up Dr. Lerner, as I suggested?

Hi Minnesota,
I see that you posted your question in January, but I just found out about this site and just barely read your question. If you are still considering the clinic. here is my experience with it.

They took a lot of blood tests and found I had 7 chronic infections that were active and had the elevation of a current infection. They found my cortisol levels were almost nonexistant. The EBV virus titer was so high they couldn't chart it. As I was in treatment through blood test they were able to show me how the titer levels of the chronic infections went down to normal or just slightly above normal. The EBV titer came down to where it was chartable and kept getting lower also during the treatment. I went to the clinic here in Utah for about a year maybe longer....it has been quite a few years ago, but I loved the way I was treated like chronic fatigue is real and I liked the time spent as if I was the only patient. So different from other doctor visits. After about 6 months I was feeling better and thought I had found the answer to getting my health back, but then they changed doctors and the new dr. also had CFIDS and I waited for 1 1/2 hours for my doctor to get there one morning because he had had a migraine that night. Of course I was understanding, but needed a dr. I could rely on, I guess a lot of other patients felt the same because soon after they closed the clinic.

It was the first time in years I had felt better and my pain and fatigue was disappearing..............BUT I don't know what it was that was helping because I was on so many supplements from their company that the cost of what I was taking was so much that we had put a loan on our house to pay. Because it is holistic treatments and not medical treatment insurance would only cover the cost of the dr. appts and blood tests or regular meds, everything else was out of pocket and expensive. I was on so many different supplements and meds that I wish I knew what was making the difference. But the cost was too much to continue anyway. I think that the infusions helped the most giving my immune system get a kick start because I would be sick in bed after every infusion treatment as the die off of the would make me sick but after a few days I will feel so much better.

I loved the idea of putting the holistic approach together with the medical approach. The only draw back I can say now was the cost of treatments and supplements that our insurance wouldn't cover. After I ran out of the supplements and stopped going my health slowly declined again until now I am at my lowest point healthwise than I have ever been. So I say......If you have the money to cover the cost go for it......if not don't. I could let you know more specifics if you are interested.