Dr. Prerana R Panchal, MD

Dr. Panchal is a very knowledgeable and caring Doctor who will spend all the time you need to get the help you need. I highly recommend her.i

I think that Dr. Panchal is very straightforward and honest and takes pride in running an ethical practice. In my experience, she is very thorough, easy to talk to, and takes the time to explain my disease and treatment options clearly. She even goes the extra mile to write everything down for me. Ultimately, she has made me understand my disease, which has helped me cope with it tremendously. I also have fibromyalgia and am extremely happy with my treatment under her care. From not being able to function on a daily basis, over time I have been able to do everything without pain. In terms of her practice, the wait time is relatively short, and the office staff is pleasant.

I was recently diagnosed with Fibromyalgia by a Rheumatologist after a long battle, with many different tests and suffering from many different symptoms. I wanted to get a second opinion so my primary referred me over to Prerana. I made the appointment but the soonest opening was two months away, which didn't bother me much because I understand that they are busy. The day of my appointment I arrived and waited for the the rheumatologist, Prerana, to come in. When she came into the room she was nice but when I told her my age she said "you look like you are in High School". I wasn't too offended by it but didn't think it was necessary to make that comment. I proceeded to tell her why I was there and went over all of my symptoms and gave her a copy of the blood work results that were previously ordered by a different Rheumatologist. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia a couple months prior and was dealing with all of the symptoms well before that and at this point I was extremely… frustrated because no treatment options were working for me. I thought that maybe Prerana was going to give me some advice and maybe offer up some pain management ideas. Instead she told me that I looked perfectly fine and healthy and she could not really help me because my blood work looked good and I was on medication, that my Psychiatrist of many years prescribed me, and that she could not give me any medication, which I was not necessarily looking for. I went to her because I was looking for a Rheumatologist to offer up advice about the disease and ways to help with it. She clearly knew nothing about it or didn't believe me. She then told me that I needed to work out more and do exercises daily because that would help... after I clearly stated that working out made my symptoms worse, however I was already working out mildly a couple times a week because it gave me energy even tho I knew I would feel worse a couple days after. She wrote up all of these exercises to do and said that I needed to do it for a about a year before I saw any improvement. She pretty much dismissed me after that. I was in complete shock walking out of the office and I have never felt so offended by a doctor in my life. It was clear that she thought that I was just in there looking for medication or that I was making it all up. I was very upset leaving the office and felt as though it was a waste of money and time. It was very unprofessional of her and being a Rheumatologist you would think that she would have a little more knowledge about Fibromyalgia. A few weeks later I had an appointment with my Psychiatrist who has been working with me for years and we have been trying different medications to help all of the symptoms I have been experiencing. To my surprise I was told by him that Preana had sent him a note after my visit telling him that I had no rheumatoid factors and that I should be taken off all medications and should not be prescribed anything from anyone. I'm not sure who she thinks she is but she does not know my history or story at all and it is not up to her to make that call. I simply went to her for a second opinion since being diagnosed with Fibro and wanted to make sure the diagnosis was right and if so different recommendations on how to help it. Not just telling me to work out more. I'm not sure how she ended up in the position she is in but I would not recommend anyone who is concerned about rheumatoid factors to visit her. Very, very unprofessional.

I have only seen Dr. Panchal once so far. She was very compassionate, listened carefully to what I had to say and most importantly took me seriously (which is a great feeling considering the bad experience I had with my previous rheumatologist). My follow-up appointment was scheduled for 3 weeks after the initial appointment (which feels like forever) but I am trying to stay positive and tell myself it is so that she can carefully review everything for a correct diagnosis....we'll see!