Patient Stories
Are you a patient of Dr. Peyman? Want to share your story? Fill out our Feedback Form! You may also email her your testimonial so she can add it to her site.
The following stories are real cases from Dr. Peyman's practice, shared with the patients' permission.
Jen's Story:
"Dr. Peyman is a fine woman and a fine naturopath. She has a diverse knowledge base to provide her patients and co workers. Dr. Peyman helps the individual identify both their personal and professional goals as well as limitations. She has a vast array of referrals both internal and external resources to provide her patients. She is equipped to create complex, innovative, and strategic treatment plans for diverse and unique cases. Dr. Peyman also has strong communication skills helping to provide a safe, healing, and empowering relationship to her patients and providers. Last but not least, Dr Peyman does not give up. She is willing to try every type of measure to provide the highest care for her patients. Dr. Peyman is equipped to work individually and collectively to help her patients achieve sustainable recovery in both personal and professional endeavors providing. She provides high quality naturopathic primary care and an innovative database of internal/ external referrals to help her patients achieve their short and long term goals."
KS's Story:
“I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in my early 20's. I didn't want to be on medication for the rest of my life, especially because I wanted to start a family and didn't want to take the medications I was taking while being pregnant. I never felt I could go off my medication because I would never be able to stabilize my moods. When I started my remedy, I felt better and more confident in myself. I saw an immediate improvement! I was even-keeled. I became less and less critical over time and have since weaned off of any medications other than my homeopathic remedies. I feel like my heart is lighter and I am so much happier. I have energy and I feel hopeful that I can live a normal life again. Dr. Peyman has been great. I am so glad I found her and that she helped me find myself after years of being medicated. Thanks Dr. Peyman!”
Jeff's Story:
"When I first visited Dr. Peyman with a major depressive disorder, which I have been struggling with for almost a year, I had exhausted all conventional doctors and anti-depressant treatments. Nothing had made a difference. Sadness and despair were continuing to overwhelm me. I was continuing to cry often for no reason. My energy and motivation were almost non-existent. I visited her because I had no other options. Within a week and a half, I was back to myself – joyous, energetic, and grateful. Dr. Peyman sincerely cares about my well being. She takes the time to understand not only my symptoms but also me personally to holistically treat me. When I have shown improvements, she celebrates those strides with me. I truly do not know where I would be without having met Dr. Peyman. The depression was affecting my work, my personal life, and my friendships. Dr. Peyman helped me return to living."
KE's Story:
"[My] panic attacks ceased within 2 days and anxiety decreased progressively over the course of several weeks [after starting a single homeopathic remedy]. Dr. Peyman is a wonderful listener, she is attentive and compassionate." --K.E., who suffered from debilitating panic attacks that kept her from working. After 2 days of starting a homeopathic medicine individually selected for her case, she felt like she was starting to return to her natural self again.
Sergio's story:
Sergio was 35 when he came in for treatment of anger, mood instability, and high blood pressure. He wanted to be left alone, had headaches in his forehead that were worse from sunlight, and he would laugh about serious things when inside he felt emotional pain and rage. He started homeopathic Natrum muriaticum, and responded very positively. Sergio shares: "I am so glad that I finally decided to seek help, and that when I did Dr. Peyman was there to help me out. I lived for a long time believing that the way I felt was normal, that it was normal for me to feel the need to defend myself from everything and everyone all the time. [I felt] anger, impatience, irritability, stress, and antisocial in public crowded places. I noticed improvement the first week and in the second week I was feeling great. It's been two months now and I feel really good and relaxed. The need to be always on guard, on defense mode, is pretty much gone. I'm more relaxed with more patience. Also I feel a lot more relaxed in public crowded places, I can actually enjoy the company of people now. Thank you very much Dr. Peyman."
Carter's Story:
“Dr. Peyman is a God-send to our family. She took our son in and we could tell how much she cared. Our son began to open up and talk to her. Dr. Peyman listened and made him feel comfortable like nobody else had been able to do up to that point. She began a homeopathic remedy for our son. My husband and I got to the car and told each other we would give it a couple of weeks and then we would have to get him on that other medication. We weren't quite sure this could work. Once again, we were wrong. I will never forget what happened next. It was three days later and we were sitting as a family watching a show. (That never had happened without problems.) We glanced over at our son and he looked calm and happy. He was laughing at the show. Laughing! The next morning, he slept in. He had not been able to sleep in his entire life. Never! He was always too anxious and worried that he wouldn't be on schedule or on time. Those days are over. As the weeks and months continue on, the results are dramatic. Everyone in our family comments on his "real" smile and happy demeanor. Since meeting Dr. Peyman, we have not seen one rage that lasted longer than five minutes. Our son started to give us hugs, long hugs and tell us how much he loved us. It has been nine months and I still well up with tears every time he hugs me goodnight or in public. The rest of the school year, he was able to enjoy school and his friends and he is excited to start the new year next week. The week before Christmas, I would hear him outside on the driveway each morning. He had a cup of hot chocolate and a garbage bag. He was picking weeds and wanted to know if he could earn money to buy the newest video game. Fast forward to Christmas morning and he bought both myself and my husband a Christmas present with that money. He was so excited to give us this gift and he probably doesn't understand that is the best gift I have ever received in my life! He is not just better, he is completely different. He is loving, kind and really thoughtful. He is happy, calm and excited. He is the person he was always meant to be. I know we finally have our son and all his wonderful qualities present. This is who he really is! Thank you Dr. Peyman for believing in him!! It is our hope that any parent struggling with these issues can understand that the problems will continue to escalate, it will not get better with time and denial is not a remedy. We wish we would have visited Dr. Peyman years earlier, not only for our sake, but for his. Don't wait!”
Jason's Story:
"I began working with Dr. Tara Peyman due to my rapid-cycling bipolar disorder (depression & mania), irritable bowel syndrome, a candida-related infection, and also chronic fatigue. I had done about 4 months of nutritional counseling prior to meeting her for the bipolar-related issues and had some success with that. I was safely off of all my medications by then, and my emotions were much more manageable, but there were still significant problems both mental/emotional and physical to be resolved. The other counselors couldn’t handle the IBS, candida, and fatigue in addition to the bipolar disorder. It wasn’t their specialty. So, I decided to work with a naturopathic doctor who could deal with everything instead.
"My bipolar symptoms started around age twenty and almost completely destroyed the next ten years of my life: I lost multiple jobs, relationships, two homes, was hospitalized numerous times, and was even briefly homeless because of all the problems it caused. I can honestly say during my ten years of bipolar disorder that I did not experience more than three days in a row where I had any peace of mind. I would be lucky to have a single day without some troubling emotion, health-issue, or mindset deeply affecting me. Few people knew this about me. I was a wreck and hated my life! Fortunately, I started educating myself about the different forms of treatment for my conditions and followed a path that led to Dr. Peyman with a combination of homeopathic and naturopathic care.
"I’ve been safely off of all my medications for about six months now (With previous treatment place and ANHC combined). It feels great to say that! My mental and emotional problems are about 10% of what they used to be and showing continual improvement. One thing that I love about my treatment with homeopathy is that it doesn’t just “get rid of your mental problems”, but rather it causes some beautiful and amazing shifts within you as a whole person. It affects everything somehow. I feel, believe, rationalize, and think more positively now. I noticed I’m more peaceful, calm, confident, optimistic, safer-feeling, focused & centered, and strong. Even things that are normally not thought of as being a part of a condition have changed too, for example, with the absence of dealing with anxiety all the time I noticed a positive attitude of “let’s take charge of life and start winning” has shown up out of seemingly nowhere. I’ve been able to drop most of my “baggage” and fears from my past. I’m ready to move on! Another improvement is that I’ve been able to retain the creativity and mental-speed I used to have but now it never gets out of control or goes manic like it used to when cycling. My energy is calmer and more stable, which is great with the higher mental processing.
"The candida-related infection, chronic fatigue, and IBS have improved dramatically too. The Fatigue is almost all gone. (Now, I just need to start exercising more!) We still have a few more months of treatment in those areas I think, but I love the progress I’ve made anyway.
"The improvements were sporadic in their timing and amazing to experience. Overall, I noticed some minor improvements within a few days of treatment and then some big changes over the next few weeks. The dramatic changes have happened in the last two months. As of this writing, I’ve been working with Dr. Peyman for months now and I am a completely different person in all the right and healthy ways. I’m excited to see how my progress will continue!
"I tell my friends all the time about how much better I’ve been doing and want encourage anyone that is considering treatment options for their condition to talk at least talk with Dr. Peyman and see what she can do for them. If my so-called “incurable” health and mental conditions could be healed then I think she could help just about anybody."
Valerie's Story:
"When I first visited Dr. Peyman, I felt like I was drowning and was headed for a major breakdown if I didn’t do something different soon. I hardly smiled or laughed anymore, I was missing work, avoiding family and friends, and having panic attacks frequently. I was at one of the lowest points in my life. I had told my psychiatrist that I was doing poorly and he didn’t change anything with my medication and I felt so frustrated with conventional medicine and treatments. I felt like no one was listening or even caring about me. I spent five minutes with a psychiatrist and he would write me a prescription and send me on my way. I had thoughts such as “he doesn’t know anything about me or how awful I feel.” I came mainly for help with anxiety and depression but gained help from other symptoms. I was feeling hopeless, scared, depressed, overly emotional, anxious, had low self-esteem, low energy among other things. I was taking antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications. However I was still suffering from symptoms and had been struggling on and off with depression and anxiety for over ten years.
"The improvements I saw while under Dr. Peyman’s care have been nothing short of remarkable. I have been a patient for over five months and I have never had so much individual care and complete care from any other physician, therapist, psychiatrist, or psychologist. I have a strong fear of doctors and Dr. Peyman has eased my fears completely. I trust her medical judgment completely. I have seen a decrease in all of my symptoms. Even from things I didn’t think of as symptoms I have received relief from. I have less crying spells, little to no allergies, little or no panic attacks, more energy, more optimism, less stomachaches and headaches, more positive thinking, less thoughts of pure hopelessness, and am just happier.
"[It took] about two months to three months to see significant improvements, but probably two weeks to a month to see little improvements.
"Dr. Peyman is unlike any other doctor. She wasn’t rushing to get through her appointment with me. She asked all of the right questions. The questions no one ever asked me. The fears I shared with her are things I normally never tell anyone. She gave me a safe place to allow myself to be completely honest with her about how I feel. She allowed me to email her or call her if needed. She has helped me overcome my fear of doctors, and of needles. She isn’t afraid to look outside the box for possible causes of sickness, and to listen to me when I bring up concerns. She is so knowledgeable about all kinds of treatments and also different diseases. I trust her when she says to do something. I never thought that what I was eating could be contributing to the severity of my anxiety and depression. After I took the food allergy test, I realized that food I was eating several times per day were possibly causing or aggravating my symptoms. The care she gives is easily summed up in one word- complete. She treated me not as a set of symptoms or diagnoses but as a young woman who felt lost and extremely hopeless. She has given me my life back and my hope- which is the greatest feeling, knowing that I don’t have to and I won’t let depression and anxiety rule my life. I have not been physically ill once since I have started treatments with her. Improved physical health is just one of the positive effects I have seen from homeopathic remedies. She is so attentive to my individual needs and has searched high and low until she has found the right homeopathic remedy and combination of natural medicines for me. I have been able to lower my anti-anxiety medication and I do plan to one day come off of prescription medication. The best things that Dr. Peyman have said to me have been “I’ll be here for you every step of the way,” and “even if you don’t have hope, I have hope for both of us.” I couldn’t be happier or more grateful for the treatment I have received. I am so looking forward to the future of my continued process of “healing.” I know she will be there every step of the way and even when I don’t have hope, she will have it and remind me that I am getting better, and can trust the positive happy feelings and that they will last. Thank you Dr. Peyman! You will always be my favorite doctor and I can’t thank you enough for getting me on the road to hope and true self confidence. I love AZ Natural Health Center and will never go anywhere else for my health care needs.
"I would recommend your services to friends and family and have done so. It’s absolutely incredible!"
Tricia's Story:
This is a case of a 33 year old woman with severe bipolar I, who at first presentation to my office was in the midst of a depressive episode. She had not had a manic episode in several years, but her mania had been disabling in the past, and the depression can also become very severe. She was taking 2.5 mg of Abilify and 150 mg of Wellbutrin, and wanted to try a naturopathic approach to stabilize her moods. She also had a history of digestive irregularities and tension headaches.
When I asked her to describe her symptoms, the first thing she told me was that when she feels depressed, she feels a “welling up” in her throat. On further questioning, she continued to explain that it felt like a lump in her throat, with a sensation of fullness and pressure that makes her feel like she is choking. This feeling would come and go specifically in correlation with the intensity of the sadness.
She also felt desperate and had suicidal thoughts with the depression. She became easily overwhelmed emotionally from little things, and cried very easily and often, for no clear reason sometimes. She was very particular and conscientious about things, and needed things to be a certain way or she would feel irritable. She was generally chilly and felt worse with cold weather.
The depression first started after a stressful experience that left her with feelings of anger, loss, and disappointment. She has always suppressed her emotions, and ignored them to try to push on and deal with everyday life. Over time it became impossible to suppress the anger and sadness anymore, and she started to feel unstable.
The most unique symptom in this case was the sensation in her throat that is specifically associated with her depression. This symptom, along with crying easily, irritability from little things, and the emotional etiology of suppressed emotions and anger, is indicative of the homeopathic remedy Ignatia amara.
I prescribed Ignatia 6C as a daily dose and followed up in a few weeks. I also recommended a high-dose probiotic supplement and fish oil, and discussed healthy dietary and exercise protocols to help stabilize her mood. She had felt great for about one week after starting the remedy, and then experienced a significantly stressful experience at work with someone threatening to sue her. She stopped improving emotionally and her depression immediately returned. This kind of emotional stress, or any new physical stress, can interfere with a person’s response to their homeopathic medicine. I increased the potency of Ignatia to 30C and had her return in one month.
At her next follow up, she was feeling much better. She was no longer crying easily, she was feeling more energetic and less irritable, and the sensation in her throat of constriction and fullness was gone. Her headaches and digestion had improved as well. I had ordered thyroid testing, and with those results we discovered that her thyroid function was suboptimal, which could have been contributing to her mood disorder and digestive problems. I prescribed an herbal thyroid support supplement to stimulate her thyroid to work more efficiently and to reduce the need for thyroid medication. She is responding well to these treatments. She did not need another change to this protocol for several months, because her mood was so stable. I expect that she will be able to taper off of her conventional medications completely, and enjoy a natural return to health.
Elizabeth's Story:
Elizabeth was 42 years old when she presented to my office with concerns of severe emotional instability. The way she described her problems was that she was an “emotional extremist.” She would over-react to little things with severe anger, and then feel totally disabled with anxiety or sadness just a few minutes later. She had been previously diagnosed with bipolar disorder, ADHD, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression. With all of these previous psychiatric diagnoses, my first goal was to determine an accurate diagnosis for her case.
I came to the conclusion that she in fact had borderline personality disorder, and that the anxiety, depression, and bipolar diagnoses were inaccurate. She does, however, have ADHD and PTSD as well as her personality disorder. Her ADHD started in early childhood, and had persisted throughout her adult life as well. She had found it nearly impossible to complete tasks that she started, or remember what she was going to do from one moment to the next. With her attention disorder she was restless, inattentive, and forgetful. She would criticize herself and become very upset with herself for not being able to remember things. These problems with her inability to focus caused low self-esteem and self-consciousness. She became fearful that she would fail at everything she tried.
Also at a very young age, she was severely sexually abused and emotionally neglected by her family. She developed the belief that she was unloved, and she felt abandoned. She was very angry with the person who repeatedly assaulted her as a child, and she would think hateful thoughts about him all the time, dwelling on how she wanted him to pay for what he had done to her. She still experiences post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms of flashbacks, insomnia, nightmares, and a fearful feeling when anything reminds her of the abuse.
She is highly sensitive to criticism, so much so that she will feel overwhelmed with anxiety and anger if her husband makes a small comment that would not be perceived as critical to most people. Her anger from feeling criticized then leads to yelling, crying, and a desire to run away and be left completely alone. In addition to her primary symptoms, she also is generally aggravated by the heat of the sun, is highly sensitive to little noises, and craves salt, sugar, and bread.
Based on the extreme sensitivity to criticism, her hatred and vengeful thoughts toward the man who had abused her, fear of failure with low self-confidence, need to be alone, aggravation from the heat of the sun, and strong desire for salt and bread, I prescribed Natrum muriaticum 6C, 2 pills once daily.
She also has digestive irregularities and frequent yeast infections, indicating the likelihood of a chronic intestinal candida overgrowth. I have seen several cases of bacterial or fungal dysbiosis aggravating mental illness, and this is another case in point. I started her on a trial of Nystatin and probiotics to correct the fungal imbalance, and she has responded well to these treatments as well.
I spoke with her just a few days after she started the new homeopathic medicine, and she reported that she felt emotionally stable for the first time in years. She was able to concentrate and get things finished without even needing lists to keep her mind on track. She could remember things more readily, and felt like her mind was more clear and calm. She was much less sensitive to criticism, and felt more relaxed overall.
She has only needed Natrum muriaticum, at a few different potencies over time, to keep her moods stable and her mind clear. She has started dialectical behavioral therapy workbooks to help herself understand her emotional triggers, and to stop the cycle of instability in relationships.
This case will require continued dialectical behavioral therapy or some form of skills-oriented counseling in addition to the homeopathic treatments that have already helped her. Borderline personality disorder is a complex disease that is usually very difficult to manage. She has shown a very positive response to treatment so far, and as long as she is persistent with getting the care that she needs, complete recovery is possible.
Lorraine's Story:
Lorraine is a 43 year old woman with bipolar disorder. Her history includes psychotic symptoms with the manic episodes, and rapid cycling in and out of suicidal depression. When she initially presented, her main symptoms were fatigue and severe insomnia; she had not slept well since childhood. Her most recent mood episode was depressive, but at her first visit she was so heavily medicated that she did not feel much of anything emotionally. She also has type 2 diabetes, which she had been controlling fairly well with diet, but her blood sugar levels were still not ideally regulated. She was taking Abilify, Effexor, Ambien, and Remeron when she presented to my office.
I asked her to tell me more about her symptoms. She described her depression as an experience of strongly wanting to die, and feeling completely desperate and hopeless. She had attempted suicide in the past, by overdose of medication. One of the more characteristic symptoms of her depression was that she would feel severely depressed until her menstrual period started, and once it did she felt completely better.
Her manic episodes involved auditory hallucinations of someone chanting her name, and visual hallucinations of a small man standing beside her and talking to her. She would become extremely suspicious of others during the manic episodes, and suspiciousness could also occur during her depression. She was unable to sleep from severe physical and mental restlessness. I observed that when not talking, she would move her tongue from side to side inside her mouth.
In her homeopathic case analysis, I paid attention to the most prominent and unusual symptoms in the case, the nature of the depression and mania, and I considered which homeopathic remedies could cure the totality of symptoms best. Her dramatic and sudden improvement in her depression with the onset of her menstrual period, the suspiciousness, her specific hallucinations, the despairing sadness with desire for death, and the unusual movement of her tongue that I observed, indicate the homeopathic medicine Lachesis muta. I started her case with Lachesis 6C as a daily dose. I also started her on a naturopathic nutritional protocol to manage her diabetes, and a high-potency multiple vitamin and pharmaceutical grade fish oil supplement.
At her first follow up visit several weeks later, she reported that she had actually slept well for the first time since she was a child. Her overall energy and sense of well-being had improved. She was not feeling depressed and had not had any symptoms of mania. Because of her positive response, and her desire to reduce her prescription medications, we then started to taper her off of her insomnia medication and antidepressants.
She continued to show increasing improvement over the next several months with Lachesis 6C. After about 3 months, she stopped showing improvement and her fatigue started to return; I increased the potency of Lachesis to 30C, and she improved again. After several more months of stability, she started to experience more agitation, restlessness, decreased need for sleep, rapid speech, racing thoughts, and emotional irritability. A positive sign in her overall progress was that this was not a full manic episode, but just hypomanic (which is milder), because it did not include any hallucinations. She needed a higher potency of Lachesis to treat this relapse of hypomania. She responded quickly to this medicine, and the hypomanic symptoms were dramatically reduced within 24 hours.
Less than 1 week later, she called to report that her sadness had returned and was rapidly worsening into suicidal depression. Her symptoms included a strong desire to hurt herself and desire to die, constant self-reproaching guilty thoughts, low self-confidence, suspiciousness that people were saying bad things about her, despair, fatigue, aversion to company, slight relief when listening to music, and a worsening of her sadness at night. These symptoms indicated a new homeopathic medicine: Aurum metallicum. I prescribed this new medicine, discussed suicide prevention protocols, and followed up with her later that evening. She said that her mood had stabilized within hours of starting Aurum metallicum, and her suicidal thoughts were gone. Within a few days, the depression had lifted, and she was feeling more like herself again.
This case will require long-term care, most likely over a period of years, but she has already shown excellent progress towards a real recovery. Because of her positive response to homeopathic treatment, she has been able to taper down from all of her conventional medications, and is now down to only one low-dose prescription. She will most likely use exclusively naturopathic and homeopathic treatments to keep her moods stable. I will continue to follow up with her every few months or as needed until she is fully in remission.