ME/CFS MEDICAL CENTER (the Netherlands & France, also takes patients from other countries using video consultations) (2024)

Did some quick searching:

Marten Otten is a gastro-intestinal physician, who 10 months ago started a website (buikpijnpoli.nl & buikpijnpoli.eu) for "specialist abdominal pain care". Google Translated english site: Home - Abdominal pain clinic (www-buikpijnpoli-eu.translate.goog)

His LinkedIn site: Marten Otten - Maag-Darm-Leverarts met specialisatie Voedingsintolerantie - Buikpijnpoli.nl | LinkedIn
[Gastro-intestinal physician with specialisation in food intolerance], it discusses mast cell issues as such:

Info
BUIKPIJNPOLI.NL the site for untreatable food intolerance.
In recent years, Buikpijnpoli.nl has gained a lot of experience in treating patients with food intolerance that is difficult to treat.
In irritable bowel syndrome, 80% of patients indicate that nutrition plays a role in the development of the complaints.
In 2016, an increased number of mast cells was found in the duodenum in a patient with severe food intolerance.
Tamira Klooker's thesis with promoter Guy Boeckstaens (Visceral hypersensitivity in Irritable Bowel Syndrome) made it known that the mast cell stabilizer Ketotifen reduces visceral hypersensitivity and improves the symptoms of IBS.
The patient's treatment with 2 mg ketotifen twice daily was so successful that she was able to lead an almost normal life again. In the literature, this picture with an increased number of mast cells was first described in 2006 as Mastocytic Enterocolitis (MEC).
After this first experience with MEC, we have now treated more than 500 patients with nutritional intolerance and a high number of mast cells in the duodenum.
In recent years, the number of medications that can improve the image has expanded significantly.
It is unpredictable which drug will work best for which patient. This can only be determined by trial and error.
At Buikpijnpoli.nl we use:
- Histamine 1 blockers
- Histamine 2 blockers
- Cromoglycates
- Montelukast
The medication must be increased slowly and not stopped too quickly to properly assess the effect. It is also sometimes necessary to dose higher than registered.
For further information see Buikpijnpoli.nl

His message that buikpijnpoli.nl got started on LinkedIn was from 10 months ago, so it looks like it wasn't the company where there was gained experience "in recent years" like the text says; The site claims: "Through years of experience with abdominal pain complaints from osteopathy within our practices (where the complaints are examined from a visceral point of view), we have gained good experiences with people with abdominal pain complaints."

See Also

Behandelresultaten van het CVS/ME Medisch Centrum 2021 tot medio 2022Iemand ervaring met long covid polikliniek Amsterdam?Eerste resultaten patiënten-enquête richtlijn ME/CVS | ME/cvs Vereniging

EDIT: According to the buikpijnpoli page the company buikpijnpoli itself got founded in 2017. So maybe the website is new?

According to LinkedIn Otten has experience with food intolerance since January 2022. I can't access his profile as an outsider so I can't see his other work experience.

They're making some of the right noises on the ME/CFS site (video consultation, standing test) but to me it looks
a lot like a physician creating startups for a market he sees, not someone with genuine good experience, and their "treatment" to me looks like a thrown together mix of things. EDITED somewhat iffy, but now that I know more it is probably because of the text used, not because they lack experience with ME/CFS patients

The dutch version of their website is a Wordpress page and the company is called the CFS/ME center there: CVS ME MC – van onze ME/CVS patiënten verbetert 86% - and holy sh*t, when you copy their url, like I did, the auto-text says: "of our ME/CFS patients 86% improves." EDITED TO ADD: which is quite a claim.

It could be opportunistic targeting of a vulnerable, neglected patient population (EDITED TO ADD: but I don't think it is), or it could be a genuine attempt to help because of for example a sick relative. Maybe they've been present at symposia, and are genuinly trying to offer support, but to me it looks like these guys are not experienced ME/CFS carers, and when looking at what they do and their background, it looks very fishy to me. EDITED: I still think it doesn't look very solid atm, but the centre's predecessor had ample experience and there were actual doctors involved, see edits below:

EDITED TO ADD: it's Ruud Vermeulens CFS/ME centre without Ruud Vermeulen. There is experience there, but I still doubt if Otten is the man to supervise patient care as he doesn't seem experienced in ME/CFS (yet).

EDITED TO ADD: The old CFS/ME centre got a couple of good reviews, the last one dated May 2023. Older info lists a number of doctors involved, but it is unclear to me if they are still there. See post #11