The office was easy enough to find. I visisted Dr. Guzick about a month ago, and was referred by Good Neighbor Healthcare Center. The staff was very friendly, and I was seen withing 15 minutes of my arrival. I don't have insurance so my visit was $120. As for the reason why I visited, I get these red circle like patches on my skin that come and go as they please, all over my body. I have been to numerous dermatologists and have never been helped. I am now 30 years old and still suffer from regular acne along with these very visible red patches, that look like psoriasis but I'm told is not. So the visit went on, I explained to the doctor what was going on and showed him my skin. He wasn't quite sure what it was so he decided on some antibiotics to start. I appreciated the fact that he acknowledged I didn't have insurance, and stated that we can start with antibiotics. He let me know up front if this does not work, other alternatives could get expensive. The antibiotics were definitely affordable for me, the staff immediately gave me coupons which also saved me money at the pharmacy. The doctor prescribed me Prednisone for the morning, hydralazine for the evening, and Cordran, a lotion. I took each as instructed. The combination of all three helped tremendously. After I completed and stopped taking the prednisone I noticed the red spots started coming back, and the combination of the two medications I had left was not making any difference. This was the first time in my life my skin had completely cleared up, and was soft and smooth, and I looked in the mirror without wanting to cry at what I saw. I called the office and described the issue on the phone to the receptionist, and asked for a possible refill of the prednisone. The receptionist stated that they do not do refills I would have to contact my pharmacy and do a refill request. Ok fine, this I can do, I called the pharmacy and asked to do a refill request. They immediately sent over the information to Dr Guzick. I called the office to check status a day later. Another receptionist answered the phone, so I asked if they received the request and if the doctor approved it. The receptionist told me the request was received and that Prednisone was very addicting and strong, and I have to wing myself off of it. What?? This refill cannot be approved. I would have to come in for another visit for alternative options. Ok I understand this, however I was very upset that I heard this from the receptionist and not the doctor... I have been to so many dermatologist in my lifetime, and nobody has ever been able to get to the root of my problem, unfortunately unless you have money, nobody in the medical world seems to care about trying to help. I really am not trying to leave a bad review, the staff was friendly, the doctor was really nice. I just would have appreciated a call from the doctor explaining to me as to why another refill of prednisone would have been so horrible, especially since for the very first time I actually noticed a difference in my skins appearance. Unfortunately I have noticed that nowadays in the medical world a cure for something doesn't make them any money. I am not sure if I will go back, I am very frustrated with going to any doctor at this point, I have always been prescribed antibiotics that make the problem worse, now that something seemed to work, I need to find other alternatives, I just don't understand.
by Sad & Depressed~
xxx.xxx.13.199
June 24, 2012