Dr. Brian Paul Sweet, DO

This is going to be a long review because I feel like I have to express the frustration I've had with doctors so everyone can fully appreciate what a Godsend Dr. Sweet was to me. I have a lot of joint and neurological issues that serve a mystery condition I developed in my very early 20's. Whenever I have labs run, my results are always all over the place though not necessarily in the same way each time. And, while they do seem to follow a pattern, it's not one that anyone seems to be able to link with any specific disorder or illness. I went to the Urgent Care in Gulf Shores because I had an odd incident where I felt something like a hard thump on the back of my brain. It sounds odd, I don't think I even mentioned the exact sensation because it was so strange feeling I figured it would be written off like most of my other weird symptoms. It was followed by a swishing feeling, like my actual consciousness swung forward, out of my body and back. Then my vision went completely black… for several minutes. I regained vision in my left eye within ten to twenty minutes, but vision did not return to my right eye for a very long time. When it finally did, it remained blurry, like I was looking through heavily frosted glass, and was accompanied by one of the worst migraines I've ever had. I have Ehlers-Danlos, so everyone is always worried about aneurysms with me (even though I don't have the type most associated with them) so I went to the Urgent Care and they took me back immediately. They also seemed pretty concerned that it might be a type of aneurysm even before I told them I had Ehlers-Danlos, so I started to worry and cursed myself for trying to wait it out. Most people probably wonder why I waited so long to go- it was about a week after the initial incident... I still had the blurry, frost vision in my right eye and the migraine continued unabated and unfazed by everything I threw at it, so I figured I had to do something. I guess it took so long because, over the years, I've been to see SO many doctors and they can never tell me what's going on with me- they tend to shrug their shoulders and tell me they don't know what's going on, or (worse) they tell me nothing's wrong with me and then leave me to assume I'm nuts and causing my lab and imaging results to be abnormal through the sheer force of my cray-cray. With that in mind, if something happens, I usually don't bother to go see anyone unless I feel it's an emergency and I'm in immediate danger of dying. Even then, I'm hard pressed. More recently, I thought I was having a heart attack (I wasn't far off, which I found out later) and walked out of the emergency room because I figured "What's the use?" THAT'S how absolutely disillusioned I am with the local medical community. I was actually in immediate threat of dying and I still didn't think they'd be able to help me. But I don't feel that way about Dr. Sweet. He came into the room when I went for the faux aneurysm and immediately described the exact sensation I listed above, complete with the "thump" and disassociation. I was so amazed that a doctor finally seemed to know what I was talking about, I was speechless. He then went on to explain, in extreme detail that I've never gotten from any other doctor about anything, that it was a sort of muscle spasm and then told me how it could cause pinching in ocular nerves and cause vision problems like I was describing. They ran some tests to double check and confirm and, no surprise, that's exactly what was going on. Now, I have A LOT of muscle spasms and they occur in just about every part of my body, I'm very familiar with them and all their little nuances, but I'd never had that type before. I've gone on to have quite a few, never as bad as that first one, but at least now I know what's causing it. He took the fear out of it, which is really important when you have problems that can manifest as something deadly when they're not. Unfortunately, Dr. Sweet referred me to a local neurologist for a follow up so I could see a "real" neurologist who could maybe help me long-term with my other issues. He was probably the 2nd jerkiest doctor I've ever seen. He told me I was getting older (I was in my early 20's) and my vision was just going out. He then told me I needed to have my vision checked and waved me off when I told him I had to get regular vision tests and have the results sent to my rheumatologist due to a medication I was on (hydroxychloroquine) and my vision (until the incident and then again once it had cleared up) was above average (20/10, that's the best you can possibly have!). He told me those tests were obviously not good enough and my optometrist must be subpar. What was good enough for my other specialist to ensure I didn't have ocular damage was apparently not good enough for him. He also literally rolled his eyes when I told him it wasn't a gradual thing, I just felt a thump and then I couldn't see. Hadn't he read my chart? I honestly don't think he did, he didn't do anything but walk in and ask me questions and make condescending remarks every time I gave an answer. I don't know if it's just me, if doctors are just as disillusioned with their patients as I am of them, or if there are just a lot of doctors down here who are jerks, but it's really exhausting when you have all these weird symptoms and test results. I keep saying it's frustrating because it is SO frustrating no amount of my saying it can express how frustrated I actually am with it all. To this day, several years later, I still think about how amazing Dr. Sweet was in comparison to the other doctors I've seen (which is why I was looking him up in the first place, I keep hoping he'll open his own place.) And, yes, I REALLY wish Dr. Sweet had his own practice, I would definitely switch doctors. The neurologist I just descri

Dr Sweet lives up to his name. Would love to have him as my Family Dr.

I met him today at the urgent care in gulf shores he and his staff there where 100% better than any place I have ever been I am calling his office tomorrow to change to him being my regular doctor