Share review of Dr Alan Hakim

Dr Alan Hakim 2017-10-21 Person 5 5 0

It is difficult to put into words quite how glad I am that I booked a consultation with Dr Hakim. I've suffered from widespread pain and a multitude of other problems from a young age but nobody seemed to have any answers. I've seen countless NHS consultants who couldn't really seem to get to the bottom of what was going on and certainly didn't manage to 'join the dots' between the symptoms, even though it had been confirmed that I had generalised hypermobility and POTs. Without going into too much detail, I was disappointed by the standard of care I'd received and decided to book a private consultation with Dr Hakim - a decision I definitely don't regret. Dr Hakim was kind, compassionate, knowledgeable and he actually listened to my concerns. He conducted a full medical history and musculoskeletal examination before confirming a diagnosis of hEDS and explaining how hEDS relates to the other problems I'd been having e.g. POTS, bladder issues, etc. Honestly, nobody wants to have a painful, life-limiting condition but to finally know what's been wrong for all this time is validating and a huge relief. Dr Hakim assured me that, despite being an 'incurable' condition, my pain would likely improve with long-term physiotherapy. After the consultation, he wrote a detailed letter to my GP (I received a copy) making recommendations for further investigations/treatments to be carried out within NHS practice. He also told me that he was happy for me to write to him with any questions and that he was happy to correspond with NHS health professionals involved in my care. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Dr Hakim; he is a wonderful, caring Rheumatologist and his knowledge of hypermobility spectrum disorders and related conditions is excellent.