Bad experience with Naturopathic practioner

Wanting a more holistic response to allergies than I was getting from Kaiser I decided to try a Naturopathic practioner. I chose David Field because his wife, a yoga teacher, is very skillful, caring, and has integrity. I was hoping for the same from him. My first clue was that when I called last Tuesday morning I was offered an appointment for that afternoon. I heard the receptionist say that the first one hour session would cost $150, which seemed like a lot, but I made an appointment for Thursday. The receptionist asked me to bring all my medications and supplements.

The hour session consisted mostly of Mr. Field telling me that my supplements were of very poor quality. This was interspersed with little stories about himself, such as how he took Benadryl when he was bitten by an assassin bug. There was very little inquiry into the food I eat or other aspects of my life that might be contributing to allergies. He did say that there seems to be especially vicious pollen this year.

He recommended four supplements which he had for sale. I bought three of them. After a few days I realized that the allergy pills, capsules of dried nettle were less effective than the tincture I had bought at Rosemary's Garden. The digestive supplement didn't seem very essential. I did not open the bottle of multivitamins. Today I carefully read my receipt from David Field's office to see how much money I could get if I returned the multivitamins and was astounded to see that I had been charged $190 an hour for the office visit. Imagine having the gall to charge $190 an hour for the opportunity to push over priced supplements!

I could have done better both financially and result wise if I had simply gone to Rosemary's Garden, Oliver's, or Community Market and read the labels on the supplements to find ones made for my symptoms. I still don't know what diet or life style changes could be useful. I recommend that you avoid David Field's office!

Barrie Mason