Can anybody recommend a GP in Auckland Please

[gareththomasnz]

hey this is my first post here - I'm 41 & been working out 25 yrs.

I have a blog at http://www.freefitnessguru.com/blog

I have high ferritin in my blood, nothing to indicate inflammation, negative for haemochromatosis, no infections or Hep etc...

What it is is my diet - I like to eat shitload's of food, much of it is pretty high in iron.

So over the years it must have accumulated. Now I got it tested and its pretty high and I need to get it down.

I didnt have it tested for about 10 yrs which I now regret as I dont drink, smoke or use any drugs and like to keep in top health.

Anyway my GP is a bit of a dick and has a hangup about inflammation - which I don't think I have. Fact is the guy has dicked me around and I want another GP.

To lower the ferritin I just need to give blood which takes 10 minutes. So far I have been waiting like 3 months for somebody to do this.

The GP would not even write me a proper referal to the blood service - asshole. At the moment I am waiting for the blood service doctor to approve me for a phlebotomy.

My blood profile:

iron 23 umol/l (10-30) normal

iron binding capacity 31 umol/l (45-75) low The ratio of sTfR/sFt,

iron saturation 0.74 (0.15-0.50) high (%TS)

ferritin 363 ug/l (25-250) high

haemochromatosis gene - negative

I hate doctors - its way too hard to find a decent one.

One that understands weightlifters.

Any recommendations ?

[HumanPerformance]

You could go to Dr Glenn Twentyman at the mens clinic in the city ( yes he is still working despite his recent TV appearence) or try Dr Graeme Washer in st heliers, he used to see alot of bodybuilders but not sure if he still does.

[gareththomasnz]

Thanks - I'll check them out

http://www.camltd.co.nz/services.html

Um that second dude is a proctologist.

Any other suggestions welcomed

[gareththomasnz]

Well its very disappointing that nobody could really help out.

But its even worse that I found out there are only 14 Sports Physicians in New Zealand.

How pathetic is that ? :roll:

I am fed up with dealing with idiots. Today a lady at the NZblood service told me cholesterol is not affected by diet - for Christ's sake.

Its not cool. Meanwhile she was better than the GP A-hole but she wants to do yet more blood tests for another month. Then they will take my blood after that.

This is now months after my initial blood test - it should have been done like 5-6 months ago.

I'm starting to think medicine in NZ is screwed.

Any way here is a proper "sports medicine" clinic with qualified doctors.

http://www.sportsmed.net.nz

I hate to think how much they will cost but I've had enough of people that don't even work out advising me on my health.

The ideal would be sports physician who is a bodybuilder also - I'll keep hunting.

Find the rest here https://www.acsp.org.au/modules/formuli ... php?sid=10

Thats it man if you are an athlete - these are the best quacks in the country to see.

[matt.be]

You could go to Dr Glenn Twentyman at the mens clinic in the city ( yes he is still working despite his recent TV appearence) or try Dr Graeme Washer in st heliers, he used to see alot of bodybuilders but not sure if he still does.

I'll vouch for Graeme Washer, used to be my GP till i moved out to Ponsonby.

See him training at les mills in the city every now and then

[gareththomasnz]

OK I'll try washer and the sports guys.

[Optimass]

Thanks - I'll check them out

http://www.camltd.co.nz/services.html

Um that second dude is a proctologist.

Any other suggestions welcomed

That second dude has been working with body builders for decades :nod: although I had heard he was no longer consulting .... but may have him confused with some one else :doh:

[curtb]

You could go to Dr Ian Rapson of Three Kings Medical Centre if your out that way. Very professional and down to earth

[gareththomasnz]

I finally got the iron removed from my body by nzblood

Never did find a decent GP to deal with it and emailed a complaint to the one I had been using.

Heres what they did - they took half the blood out of my body over a 7 week period and didn't put any back in. Just under half actually - 2 liters.

Your body uses stored tissue iron to replace the red blood cells hence any excess iron is eventually used up - there is no way to remove iron other than bleeding.

Maybe this condition evolved from the days of sword fighting and bayonets where it would actually give you a hereditary advantage to be resistant to blood loss ?

Anyway these days its highly toxic and eventually kills you so I say CHEERS to NZBLOOD.

Because I had too much iron in my body I only experienced very mild anemia for a few days after each venesection. My red blood cell count has actually been normal all along and the only side effect has been a reduced vo2max.

I still feel a mild reduction in cardiac output but my last venesection was only 5 days ago. I don't need another for 2 months now so will work hard on cardio between now and then.

I should only need 3-4 venesections per year from now on.

I'll add one last thing - the evening after venesection I always feel totally chilled out - completely as cool as a cucumber. It must lower blood pressure although my blood pressure is excellent anyway.

[HumanPerformance]

Very interesting post gareth, enjoyed learning something new .

[haakuturi]

Did Dr Washer see you at all?

He's my surgeon, I wasn't aware that he was a GP as well/before that!