Formosa Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine

Since this doctor is my reason for moving to Georgia, I think it’s only fair that I start my Georgia reviews with the good doctor. My New York and Canada food reviews will have to wait haha~
Before I start the review, I must warn you, I talk about most doctors like they’re blood sucking money followers. Now that we got that out of the way, let me also tell you a bit about my medical history.
I’ve been diagnosed with everything under the sun, from juvenile arthritis (when I was 12) to lupus (age 14) to MS (age 22) to crazy (all my life). I’ve been basically crippled and then traveled all the way around the world searching for «miracle doctors» and all the medicine I’ve taken led to me nearly 90% covered in psoriasis. If you don’t know what that is, basically I look like a red flaming flaky lobster. Oh yeah, Google it, trust me, you’ll gag a little.
So around 4 years ago I discovered a little thing called «detoxing» and I started feeding myself a massive amount of coconut oil and apple cider vinegar. While people my age were taking shots of tequila I was using Hooters shot glasses to take shots of coconut oil. Did it go well? Yeah! I’d say so! I lost about 15 pounds and cleared about 50% of the psoriasis. But the problem is, I knew something was still wrong, seeing as how from time to time I still feel as if someone has a strong hold on my heart and shocking the hell out of it. And I barely have any use of three fingers in my left hand. Finally things got bad enough that my dear mom begged me to come home to the States. She literally said, «If my boy is going to die, I want to be with him on his last day.» Yes, I’ve come to realize I get my Oscar winning acting skills from mommy dearest.
Once home in Florida, my mom took me to see two acupuncturists. One said I was going to die soon and the other asked how I was still alive hahahaha these people know how to get your money eh?
I was also still detoxing on my own so I tried a bunch of stuff and that put me into this near comatose state where the «die off syndromes» put me under a damn near sleeping spell. But my true love is in Taiwan and no one was gonna save me any time soon so eventually I got my butt up and fought the urge to check into a hospital.
After that, I don’t know how it happened, but I went to New York and Canada lol I had this idea that if I’m gonna die soon I wanna finish some childhood dreams.
Then big bro says to me, «Come to Atlanta and I’ll take you to see my friend Alex.»
I’m thinking, Alex is the Wizard of Oz or something? Turns out he’s a Chinese doctor. Eh. Another doctor. But big bro says he’s willing to pay if I’m willing to give it a shot. See, it’s not so much about the money… it’s my big brother actually wanting to be around me. I’m that black sheep… and getting close to big bro sounded like a pretty cool idea.
First day in Dr. Chen’s office, there were two people behind the counter, super friendly, immediately started talking to big bro in Chinese. (I’m all like WHOA their Chinese is really good! Then I’m like duh… they’re Chinese. Adds to the «authenticity» of the practice I suppose? At that moment I also wondered if I would trust a white Chinese doctor. Hahaha sorry I have major ADD)
The two behind the counter turned out to be Dr. Chen’s wife and daughter. They fill the prescriptions and treat you like family. No seriously, the hospitality is EXACTLY what you’d get if you visited an Asian family. They’ve got that whole Asian thing down pat.
When I first saw Dr. Chen I was very defensive. Can you blame me? I’ve been poked with hundreds and thousands of needles and I’m only 27! I took everything he said to me with a grain of salt lol. I’ll believe it when I see results.
He prescribed me everything under the sun, from tree bark to ginseng to donkey skin. Yup you heard it right, donkey f’ing skin! And trust me, it hit the bank hard!
Did I get sick? Yes. Did the psoriasis go into full flare? Absolutely. But I know from experience that means the meds are actually working. And it wasn’t like he ALWAYS prescribed the super expensive medicine. As soon as I saw a sign of improvement, he toned it down. Is it still pretty expensive? Yes… and insurance doesn’t cover it. But if you look at it another way, I used to be on shots and meds for arthritis and the insurance didn’t cover those either. They cost about 300 – 500 bucks per shot, so that’s…well my math is horrible but I also know I’m not a rich kid.
Today marks about a month since I’ve started seeing Dr. Chen and here are my results:
My heart rate is more stable, I’m able to hit the gym and do my «physical therapy routine» and walk/​jog half a mile without having a heart attack. Digestion and «movements» are getting regular for the first time in… hmmm…10 years? Yup. About that much time. And the best news is, THE PSORIASIS is clearing! I told Dr. Chen I’d do whatever it takes to get better and he’s been teaching me along the way. Made a believer out of me!

I had high hopes that traditional Chinese medicine would help me with my chronic conditions.
Dr Chen tries to be personable and he’s good about answering your questions in both Mandarin Chinese and English. The only thing I didn’t like was when he would get defensive and constantly tell you that Chinese herbs are «pushing out toxins» out of one’s body. The herbs he prescribed for me started to become too strong that I felt more uncomfortable than the worst flares of my condition. While the acupuncture sessions provided some relief, eventually they stopped working for me and I had to focus more on drinking herbal concoctions. I eventually stopped drinking the herbs because they really were too aggressive that I needed a break from them.
What’s convenient is that Dr Chen’s wife is the on-​site herbalist, so you can get your prescription all in one stop. For me, I used to have to drive over to Buford Hwy to get my herbals. Another pro is that they use an online system for appointments, so you’ll get reminders in advance of appointments.
Another thing about this practice is that it can get expensive. When you first visit, there’s a one time fee of $ 35. Each acupuncture session is $ 50. If you drink herbs, a day’s worth or one satchel of herbs is $ 12 – 13 so that a week’s worth of herbs is anywhere between $ 72 – 75. In the state of GA, traditional chinese medicine is not covered by insurance, so all costs are out of your pocket.
Final thoughts are that there may be some things that Chinese medicine will cure and Dr Chen can probably help you with it. I decided to try this an alternative because so much of what I’ve been doing wasn’t working, but based on my experience, I don’t think it’s going to help me with my condition. It’s not to say I don’t believe in the efficacy of chinese medicine, but I believe there’s a particular set of illnesses that can be cured. It’s still important to listen to your body, so if you’ve got some kind of infection and you don’t think Chinese medicine is working, please go see a doctor.
Dr Chen means well and I wish him the best of luck with his practice in Alpharetta which is a great location especially since there’s a heavy Chinese population in the area.