I saw an endocrinologist last year - Dr Zaheer Bayat based at the Sandton Mediclinic.
I can't remember how much he charged for the first appointment, but I am pretty sure it was over R1500. Had a full range of bloods drawn, which cost close to R10k. I think R8600 for the blood tests if I remember correctly.
Follow up appointment to discuss the results was something like R1000. I can't remember. Not as expensive as the first session but more than a GP.
I went to him because I was/am having heart palpitations. So, with heart palpitations, common culprits are things like your thyroid, electrolyte levels, etc etc. He tested all of that. He asked about my family history, he asked about everything. He took basically every type of blood test that could be related to heart palpitations.
Everything came back fine - no issues. I am still having heart palpitations, but I think I am now a little bit closer to finding the cause.
In any case, while he wasn't able to find a cause, what I liked about him was that he took me seriously. The next step was to see a cardiologist to see if there was any fault with my heart itself, and of course there wasn't. The cardiologist however was very dismissive - you know when you get treated like you are faking it and it is all in your head. Nothing more to discuss, sorry for you, get out of my office. I don't want to name the cardiologist. My point is, Dr Bayat was expensive but he took me seriously. He even asked me to email him if the cardiologist was able to identify the cause. He was geniunely curious as to what was going on.
For those curious, I think the cause of my heart palpitations is either BPA or too much fasting. BPA is a plastic commonly used to line the inside of tins. I have been eating tinned mackerel every day for well over a year now. I have a hunch that the BPA I am ingesting is the cause of my palpitations, since they stop when I go on holiday. The other possibility is fasting, because fasting is a stress on the body. I am not eating canned food anymore as of today, and I will not fast for the next month, to see what happens.
