How expensive are DAN! drs? - Autism Spectrum Message Board

Willstrideryder · 01-19-2007, 12:36 PM

Does anyone know how expensive DAN! drs are? The nearest one to us is 3-4 hours away. Medicaid won't pay I'm sure.
I know our boys have issues biomedically, for sure. In fact several weeks ago our 3 year old (Autism) had a severe muscle cramp in his leg. He is non-verbal and couldn't tell us what was wrong. He just stared at me with an unusual intensity--I knew we had to do something. As we prepared to take him to the ER, his pain went away and he was able to straighten his leg again. This same thing happened the next day. I did some research and realized that I had not given him his "special" vitamin/mineral shake for several days. I believe he was lacking in potassium. Anyway, I know he needs to see a DAN! doctor. That is the last avenue we haven't taken. What do you think?

elmhar · 01-19-2007, 01:34 PM

Whenever I am considering a new doctor, whether for myself or any other family member, I call the office & ask about payment policies, insurance billing, typical costs. They should at least be able to give you an estimate of an intake visit, plus initial labs, and whether or not your insurance is likely to help out.

Over the course of a yr., without any insurance help, I would think it could easily run to several thousand. Though oftentimes people get benefit without doing the whole protocol.

Several yrs. ago my son was evaluated by Pfeiffer Treatment Center, not officially DAN! but they do some stuff that is similar. The cost of the eval & labs was about $1500.

May I ask, what is the special shake you give your son? My teen is getting a lot of leg cramps & I'm sure it's a potassium thing, he's been off fruits & veg lately (asserting independence).

Best wishes.

Laenini · 01-19-2007, 03:06 PM

Just a side note, I was getting a lot of leg cramps and chalked it up to nutritional problems. I started taking calcium, potassium, magnesium....none of these seemed to really have an effect. Then I found out that some chronic neck pain I had been having for years and had been told was just chronic muscle cramps from stress was really being caused by a bulging disc/bone spur complex pressing into my spinal cord. I had surgery to remove it in November. I have not had a single leg cramp since the surgery! So, the moral of my story is that leg cramps should probably be checked out by a doctor as they can have a variety of causes, some more obvious than others. Good Luck!
Leanne

Willstrideryder · 01-19-2007, 08:14 PM

Elmhar,

Thanks for your reply. You always have great advice--from alot of experience I'm sure!
The shakes we give are from a company called "Reliv". I hope I can say that. We first started it last April and it definitely helped our little one have more energy, better BM's, and better moods. My mother-in-law buys it for us--otherwise I don't think we could afford it. Before we started it we were giving different supplements throughout the day, this just does it in one shot. I talked to a mom who had 2 kids that "regressed" into autism after developing normally (you know, after they had their immunizations) and she said that after 6 months their kids were speaking again and regaining what they had lost. Anyway, I know they have helped, just as I'm sure giving all of the different supplements helped. This was just easier for us. Maybe you can Google it, if you're interested.
Hope your teen gets feeling better soon-those leg cramps are awful!!

elmhar · 01-19-2007, 09:40 PM

Thanks for the tip. I will look into that shake.