My Story

I personally know what it's like to experience a chronic health condition because I, too, was stricken with one for many years prior to getting my life back.

To start, when I was in my early 20s, I developed a so-called "autoimmune disorder," which occurred immediately after getting the Hepatitis B vaccine. I got that vaccine because I was told that it would be a good thing to have at the time, especially due to working as an EMT with an ambulance company where I would be at a higher risk of being exposed to blood. Little did I know how that simple shot, which only took about 3 seconds to get, would change the rest of my life.

I spent many years suffering, going from one doctor to the next, but never receiving any real viable solutions. I knew very early on that conventional medicine (pharmaceuticals and medical doctors) wasn't going to provide me with a cure, or even an effective treatment. Basically, all they had were steroids to prescribe, which suppresses the immune system. Using steroids  is a terrible idea long-term for many reasons, but that would have to be discussed at another time.

Needless to say, I felt for many years like I was going through hell, experiencing strange symptoms, which made no sense to me at the time. But I always remembered what someone once told me, when you are going through hell, keep going, because you don't want to get stuck there. I took that great piece of advice and did exactly that. Living with an autoimmune disorder taught me to always keep moving forward, which meant I should keep learning and trying different things to improve my health.

Over the years, I chose to maintain a positive mindset about what happened to me. I personally don't think life's experiences just happen randomly. That's why when I look back at the earlier years of my life, I don't regret what happened to me, because hey, if it didn't happen, then I would never have become a Naturopathic Physician, and I'm sure that a lot of my patients wouldn't have been too happy about that.

My experiences with an autoimmune condition led me to eventually become a Naturopathic Physician. It wasn't easy, especially dealing with the symptoms that I was experiencing, while at the same time studying day and night for four years doing my doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine. But I did it, and learned a lot more about autoimmunity, which helped me start to reclaim my health.

Then, sometime either during my schooling/training or sometime after, I started to experience a number of new symptoms that were stranger than what I had experienced with the autoimmune disorder. I was stumped to what was causing it.

At that time, I decided to find others to help me. I saw many different doctors, but no one had any real answers to why I was feeling so bad. I became very frustrated, especially when I started to hear from some of these doctors that it was all in my head. That really agitated me at the time. Telling someone it's just in their head because they (the doctors) didn't have an answer to why someone is experiencing particular symptoms isn't a real answer.

Then, one day, I finally received an answer. After taking a blood test, I was officially diagnosed with Lyme disease,  I had taken this test in the past, many times, but it always came back negative. I would later find out that the blood tests for Lyme disease aren't very accurate, with them resulting in many false-negative results. You can read more about this in my article 3 Reasons Why It’s So Difficult To Diagnose Lyme Disease.

On a separate note, it’s even more difficult to diagnose some of Lyme’s coinfections, which I found out later.

After the diagnosis, it all started to make sense to me, especially after finding out that Lyme disease is often called the great imitator. This means that Lyme disease can imitate, and even be the trigger to, practically any disease, including, but not limited to, neurological disorders, heart disease, anxiety, digestive disorders, hormone conditions, autoimmunity, allergies and/or sensitivities, etc. However, the most important thing at the time, after the diagnosis, was that I could finally start to get treatment.

Even during treatment, I still couldn’t help but feel that I wasted years of valuable time trying to get a doctor to help me figure out what was causing my symptoms. However, that time turned out to be very valuable, not only to me, but eventually to my future patients. I realized that I had a chance that I never had before Lyme Disease. I could now understand what many people were going through with this disease, how to help diagnose them properly, and especially how to effectively treat them on many different levels using Naturopathic Medicine. My experience really helped me in a way to become an expert with Lyme disease that I never could have been in the past.

Since recovering from Lyme disease, as well as an autoimmune disorder, I vowed that I would share all the tremendously valuable information that I learned from my own experience over the years. I now use that personal experience to educate and treat my patients. All of these experiences that I endured have made me what I feel to be much more effective in treating people who come to me no matter what health complaints/conditions that they may have.

Professional Credentials and Certifications

Dr. Salvatore Fiorentino is a licensed Naturopathic Physician, and is the founder and medical director of The Center for Natural Health, located in Westport, CT.  He is a graduate of the College of Naturopathic Medicine, University of Bridgeport, where he earned his doctorate. In addition to earning a doctorate, Dr. Fiorentino earned his master’s degree in Environmental Studies and Science from C.W. Post, Long Island University, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude.

Prior to medical school, Dr. Fiorentino first began his health care training as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), and maintained his certification for over ten years. While employed as an EMT, he completed his bachelor’s degree in education and pursued his interest in teaching science. He taught science in New York State and still maintains his permanent certification as a biology teacher. In addition, Dr. Fiorentino was also a certified personal trainer and New York State certified athletic coach during his time teaching.

Dr. Fiorentino considers his background in teaching as an asset to his Naturopathic medical training because he believes it helps him to better listen, understand and educate his patients, while empowering each individual to pursue optimal health.

Areas of Special Interest

 
Dr. Fiorentino sees patients with complaints of all kinds, and has particular expertise in the treatment of people who have Lyme Disease, Autoimmune Disease (especially Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Crohn's disease, Ulcerative Colitis), Digestive Disorders, hormone imbalances, environmental and food allergies and sensitivities. He also has extensive experience in the detoxification of heavy metals (especially mercury) using the Dr. Andy Cutler protocol.

I'm not only here to treat you, but to guide you on your path to reclaiming your health and wellness. I take your health condition very seriously, and I'm glad that you finally found your way here. I look forward to working with you.

In Health, 

Dr. Salvatore Fiorentino

Learn about the 3 Essential Principles to True Healing here.

Read the latest from our Blog here.