Dr. Shiva Lalezar, DO

Dr. Lalezar doesn't treat symptoms—she solves mysteries. While other doctors handed me prescriptions and shrugs, she uncovered the toxic burden and hormonal chaos stealing my life. What makes her extraordinary? She treats you like a complex human being, not a checklist. She explains the "why" behind your suffering in ways that finally make sense. She combines cutting-edge detox protocols with hormone mastery that most doctors don't even understand. If you're exhausted, hormonal, and told "your labs look fine"—Dr. Lalezar is the one who'll find what everyone else missed. She doesn't just practice medicine. She gives people their lives back.

Unfortunately, I can’t respond directly to this business that put a response to my original review. I don’t want people to fall for this. I just want to let you know do your research on this woman. Look at all her one star reviews on other sites cause these 5 star reviews are sus. I can only speak from my true experience, when I briefly work for this person she asked me to ask all of my friends to put reviews on Google, so you’ll see Jerald Washington, Anel, and Eli Calzada these are my friends that never saw her. There was a few others but they have since deleted their reviews at my request. Also, 2 of the 5 star reviews is the doctor on Google under her name. I feel like this is false advertising. I did not defame her. This is my true patient experience. I’m in the process of asking for my medical records right now. So we’ll see what happens. I have the right to share my patient experience. That isn’t defamation. I would never defame someone. It’s also been two years since I was… originally on this diet and I’m still having health effects and that’s what made me do a review. I want to spare anybody else for being doubled over in bed for 15 minutes with cramps or growing unwanted facial hair. There’s a reason why this is listed as a controlled III substance in California, and also is not recommended for the treatment of obesity by people that are really doctors. It’s not healthy and I want to spare you guys the pain that I am in because of the negligent overprescribing of the hCG hormone. She put me on 3 to 4 rounds. All I'm going to say is do your research and proceed with caution.

I am very disappointed that this holistic practitioner didn’t explain to me the risk of the hCG diet. She put me on it continuously when I was your patient and when I briefly worked for her. I remain silent for two years about my experience of being her patient, but after doing research on this hormone I can’t remain quiet anymore. It’s extremely dangerous and can be linked to ovarian cancer! I also disclosed to her that I struggled with an eating disorder and she also didn’t do her due diligence as a medical professional and stop the conversation there, which from my research should’ve happened. She was far too interested in getting my $2300. Yes, she charges $2300 for a diet that’s $400 to $600 anywhere else. I drank the Kool-Aid and was so excited about losing a pound of fat a day. Due to my past issues with eating disorders, I did terribly on this diet and failed repeatedly but she kept prescribing it, saying this is the only way to reset my hypothalamus and have my weight… finally stabilized at a lower weight. After struggling with my weight for most of my life, this idea was a dream come true. I believed her because she’s a doctor. I probably did four rounds of this and lost almost no weight. What I would lose, I would gain back again, and she would put me back on this dangerous, irresponsible diet. When I told her that I fell back into binging and purging, she told me to fast all day and only eat a steak at night. Yes, a doctor told a patient with pre-existing eating disorders to stop eating. If I was told and explain the side effects, I would’ve never done this diet to begin with. This is not a safe hormone and the FDA doesn’t recommend this to be prescribed for weight loss. Yes, the fast weight loss sounds intoxicating but it cost me dearly. My menstrual cycles have never been the same. I had very light and quick menstrual cycles before now they are heavy and super painful. I have grown facial hair that I never had before when doing this diet. I didn’t link it at first and spent $5000 on laser hair removal for course hair on my chin. This is a side effect of this hormone. It’s not a common one, but it is definitely a possible side effect. My weight also is all over the place like never before and takes a lot of effort to stabilize. My fat distributes differently on my body now. My lower body and legs are much heavier than they were before. I am working with a real nutritionist and trainer and starting to see great results to correct this. This hormone is also linked to ovarian cancer and can cause fertility issues down the line. Needless to say, I am very disappointed in this practitioner and that she’s even putting people on this diet without explaining the risks. I found it out by chance by doing research through the fda.gov and other places and I’m very scared. I hope that I don’t get cancer in the future or have issues conceiving children, but I guess we’ll see. It definitely wasn’t worth of 15 pounds that I yo-yoed and ended up putting 25 pounds on after I was done with this diet. If you’re reading this and considering doing the hCG diet anywhere, I would advise you against it. A balanced diet and exercise is the only way to go, unfortunately, I know that’s not the answer you want because I didn’t want that answer either, but I wish I took a healthier approach now.

I'm very disappointed that this holistic practitioner didn't explain the risks to me of the HCG diet. She put me on it continuously when I was her patient and when I briefly worked for her. I have remained silent for two years about my experience of being her patient, but after doing research on this hormone I can't remain quiet anymore. It's extremely dangerous and can cause ovarian cancer!! I also disclosed to her that I had struggled with an eating disorder and she also didn't do her due diligence as a medical professional and stop the conversation there. Which from my research should have happened. She was far too interested in getting my $2300. Yes, she charges $2300 for a diet that's $400 - $600 anywhere else. I drank the coolaid and was so excited about losing a lb of fat a day. Due to my past issues with eating disorders, I did terribly on this diet and failed repeatedly but she kept prescribing it saying this is the only way to reset my hypothalamus and have my weight finally… stabilize at a lower weight. I believed her because she's a doctor. I probably did 4 rounds of this and lost almost no weight. What I'd lose, I'd gain back again and she'd put me back on this dangerous irresponsible diet. When I told her that I fell back into binging and purging, she told me to fast all day and only eat a steak at night. Yes, a doctor told a patient with preexisting eating disorders to stop eating. If I was told and explained the side effects I'd never have done this. This is not a safe hormone and the FDA doesn't recommend this to be prescribed for weight loss. Yes, the fast weight loss sound intoxicating but it cost me dearly. My menstrual cycles have never been the same. I had very light and quick menstrual cycles before now they are heavy and super painful. I have grown facial hair that I never had before when doing this diet. I didn't link it at first and spent about $5000 on laser hair removal for coarse hair on my chin. This is a side effect of this hormone. It's not a common one, but it is definitely a possible side effect. My weight also is all over the place like never before and takes a lot of effort to stabilize. My fat distributes different on my body now my lower body and legs are much heavier than they were before. I am working with a real nutritionist and a trainer and I'm starting to see great results to correct this. This hormone is also link to ovarian cancer and can cause major fertility issues down the line. Needless to say, I am very disappointed in this practitioner and that she's putting people on this diet without explaining the risk. I found it out by chance by doing research through the fda.gov and other places and I'm very scared. I hope that I don't get cancer in the future or have issues conceiving children, but I guess we'll see. It definitely wasn't worth the 15 pounds I yo-yoed and ended up putting 25 lbs on after I was done with this diet. If you're reading this and considering doing the hCG diet anywhere, I would advise you against it. A balanced diet and exercise is the only way to go, unfortunately, I know that's not the answer you want because I didn't want that answer either, but I wish I took a healthier approach now.

The people who posted negative comments don't seem to understand what functional medicine doctors do. I visited Dr. Lalezar's office after a year of requesting authorization letters from my primary care physician to see specialists in cardiology, endocrinology, GI medicine, immunology, and allergy. None of these specialists could diagnose or treat my physical symptoms and stated that my issues were mental health related. None of those doctors interacted with each other to figure out a collective approach to treating my chronic issues. I made an appointment with Dr. Lalezar and was booked within 2 weeks (as opposed to 3-5 months' wait for MD specialists). I knew to expect the following from a functional medicine approach: 1. Insurance doesn't cover most functional medicine treatments, so I'd be paying out of pocket and it would be costly. But I also knew that I'd be prescribed top quality compounds and that my doctor's staff would help me identify billing codes to get some of my… treatments reimbursed by insurance. 2. My functional medicine doctor would be looking for the root cause of my symptoms rather than treating the symptoms itself. This would be different from the bandaid/prescription approach I was used to - so if you have a persistent fungal infection, they look to treat what's making your immune system too weak and your body too susceptible to fungal infections in addition to treating the active infection. 3. I would probably get more sick before I got better as my body detoxed and healed itself. I would also probably need to change some habits, make some lifestyle changes and be more proactive in self-care. This would be different from the instant gratification and relief approach I was used to, but would improve my health long term. My first appointment was scheduled for 30 minutes but Dr. Lalezar spent almost 2 hours reviewing all of the labs, panels, biopsies, and my personal health history with me. She intuited that my issues were threefold - heavy metals, hormonal imbalances, and long covid. She began a protocol and one week later my tests confirmed her intuition was correct. I am now undergoing a healing protocol that will hopefully result in permanent recovery rather than spending a lifetime on a cocktail of sedatives thinking I am a hypochondriac and mentally unstable. I am 4 weeks into treatment and am genuinely perplexed and disappointed with some the negative comments by others. Dr. Lalezar has gone above and beyond providing care compared to what I received from any traditional MD office. Each consultation with her has been 20min-2 hours long (as opposed to 7-14 mins, one follow up for an MD). Her approach is holistic and she is evidence-based and provides diagrams and articles to explain disease states and treatment plans. She provides a personalized handout at the end of each visit listing the things you discussed and the protocols to be followed. Her staff is accommodating and helps find billing solutions and billing codes to get reimbursed by insurance where possible. If you are looking for a quick fix or something merely to mask your symptoms, functional medicine is not for you. If you are looking for synthetic, industrialized medicines that have horrible side effects and unethical supply chain and production, functional medicine is not for you. If you are looking not to make lifestyle changes and be proactive in your own healthcare, functional medicine is not for you. In terms of Dr. Lalezar's demeanor - she is tenacious and direct. She runs a professional office and is a confident and highly competent clinician. She maintains an immaculate office and expects the best from her staff (and their satisfaction working in that office is a further reflection of the health and vitality of her company). I wish that insurance covered functional medicine protocols as they are cost-prohibitive for most people, but Dr. Lalezar's fees are commensurate with the quality of care and health treatments that one would receive from a top DO. I recommend her without reservation.

Her treatments are expensive and experimental. Once you push back on her or ask a lot of questions about research that’s related to your health issues she zones out. I could see it in her eyes, oh you’re not going to spend 20k here and fall for my scam? She’s the worst dr I’ve ever seen ands I’m 48 with chronic health issues, so that’s saying a lot.

Just like the other patients who commented before, She does push for profits, she sells you supplements, which did not improve my condition at all and her treatments are very expensive. I wasted a lot of money and I'm not even sure if i have the correct diagnosis. Anyone future patients, I advice do not go to this doctor unless if you have a lot of money to waste.

This "doctor" has a personal interest that she puts before yours, and it's profit. She will try to sell you thousands of dollars in supplements before even testing you for anything! Beware. She comes across as caring and she might have good intentions, but what she does in irresponsible and manipulative. Visit an MD who doesn't have supplements and CDs for sale in his/her lobby.

I beleive wholeheartedly in Dr. Shiva's diagnoses. She FINALLY got to the bottom of my symptoms. I was elated to finally have a diagnoses and explanation for what I'd been experiencing, and for what other doctors claimed was all in my head. However, your insurance will very, very, very little if anything at all for her services. And they are expensive. I couldn't affor the $1,000 a month treatment. So while I have a diagnosis, I am still going untreated as I simply cannot afford it and there is no such thing as sliding scale with this office.