How to find a GOOD DOC

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Bot­tom line, it can be mad­de­ning to find a GOOD DOCTOR when it comes to correct thy­roid care. Patients have found that correct thy­roid diag­no­sis and treat­ment has nothing to do with the TSH, total T4, or any T4-only medi­ca­tions like Synth­roid or Levothy­ro­xine. And most doc­tors simply don’t get it, and that’s why so many thy­roid patients have sta­ted they feel for­ced to self-treat.  But it can be wise to do what it takes to find a good doc­tor to work with.

So what’s a GOOD DOC? He/She is one who willingly presc­ri­bes natu­ral desic­ca­ted thy­roid, uses the labs free T3 and free T4, and is willing to let you dose by the eli­mi­na­tion of symp­toms rather than the ina­de­quate TSH. A bonus is one who unders­tands what we have lear­ned about adre­nal insuf­fi­ciency and how to treat it. But having a doc­tor with enough know­ledge of adre­nal issues may be dif­fi­cult, and why it’s impor­tant that you walk in the doctor’s office infor­med.   The STTM book has even more details which you can refer to right in the doctor’s office.

But where are they?  Read everything below before using the sug­ges­tions. These are in no par­ti­cu­lar order.

And BEWARE:  no mat­ter how good a doc­tor sounds, it’s very impor­tant that you go in there infor­med. This site, and even more so the STTM book, will help you do so.  In fact, having the book right with you, with book­marks, can be power­ful for you, and send a mes­sage to the doc­tor that you mean busi­ness. One patients sta­tes that she found a doc­tor who said she presc­ri­bes desic­ca­ted thy­roid like Natu­reth­roid and tests the frees. But the same doc­tor sta­ted casually “Desic­ca­ted thy­roid is hard to regu­late” as a way to dis­cou­rage the patient. But this patient had read this site and the book, knew it was not “hard to regu­late”, quo­ted from it, and insis­ted that she wan­ted Naturethroid…and she got it.

NON-US patients: see #9 and #10 below.

1. ARMOUR WEBSITE:  try the Armour web­site where you can type in your zip code and find a phy­si­cian who sta­tes they presc­ribe Armour. But be care­ful.  We’ve already had a gal go to a doc from this list, and the doc sta­ted “I am Armour friendly, but not Armour ecs­ta­tic.” In other words, being able to raise her Armour was like pulling teeth. Again, call and ask the above. I obtai­ned my first doc­tor from this list, and did get on Armour, but she knew NOTHING else, and I had to find a bet­ter one. (A word of cau­tion: Armour was refor­mu­la­ted in 2009, and patients are repor­ting their hypothy­roid symp­toms are coming back with a ven­geance. As a result, many are now switched to a good other brand like Natu­reth­roid or Erfa’s Thyroid.)
2. PHARMACY INFORMATION: Another great option is to approach the Phar­ma­cist (NOT the emplo­yees) at a large phar­macy, and ask who tends to presc­ribe desic­ca­ted thy­roid. Most Phar­ma­cists are friendly and will let you know. Don’t hesi­tate to go to more than one Phar­macy. To strike Bingo, see if there is a Com­poun­ding Phar­macy nearby or check your Yellow Pages for one, or go to Goo­gle and type in your city and “com­poun­ding phar­macy”. Doc­tors who use Com­poun­ding Phar­ma­cies tend to presc­ribe desic­ca­ted thyroid!
3. WEBSITE: Or, go to the Ame­ri­can College for the Advan­ce­ment for Medi­cine where you might find doc­tors with a good know­ledge of desic­ca­ted thyroid.
4. BRODA BARNES WEBSITE: Also, email here: info@BrodaBarnes.org and see if they can help you find a Broda Bar­nes doc­tor in your area. Broda Bar­nes doc­tors unders­tand the impor­tance of using desic­ca­ted thy­roid in treat­ment! Down­side: you may be asked to pay for a list for your area.
5. OSTEOPATH WEBSITE: Or, you can check out Osteo­paths, also called DO’s, here. They can be ove­rall more open min­ded. BUT, you’ll have to call and find out if they are a GOOD DOC.
6. SALIVA LAB DOC LIST: A doc­tor who uses saliva labs may be a doc more open-minded about desic­ca­ted thy­roid, and perhaps even cor­ti­sol. Diagnos-Tech, a lab for saliva (but not one we recom­mend – they seem to have gone downhill in qua­lity as of 2009 and pro­duce results that do not con­form to symp­toms), has a list of docs who use their lab: http://www.diagnostechs.com/ You type in a zip­code. Again, don’t stop. Call and ask the ques­tions above of any doc you find. (Thanks to Har­bor­mom for brin­ging this to my attention!)
7. PATIENT FEEDBACK: Or join a patient group, and in the sub­ject line of your post, ask for a doc­tor recom­men­da­tion in such-and-such town.
8. ENVIRONMENTAL WEBSITE: Doc­tors who are board cer­ti­fied in Envi­ron­men­tal Medi­cine tend to be those who would presc­ribe desic­ca­ted thy­roid and unders­tand adre­nal fati­gue, says a doc­tor who emai­led me in April, 2009.
9. CANADA: Unfor­tu­na­tely, the Erfa thy­roid web­site is not allo­wed to list doc­tors. But there are three ways to find a poten­tially good one:  first and fore­most, join the NTH Yahoo group from the talk to others page. They have a Good Docs file which inc­lu­des Canada . Second down, here is a list of Top Cana­dian docs, but be care­ful with this list. It allows patients to recom­mend any doc for almost any rea­son, and that doesn’t neces­sa­rily mean they presc­ribe desic­ca­ted thy­roid or do dosing correctly. And third, join seve­ral groups from the Talk to Others page, and put in the sub­ject line of a post that you are loo­king for a good Cana­dian doc.
10. INTERNATIONAL: join the NTH Yahoo group from the talk to others page. They have a Good Docs file which inc­lu­des other countries.

Finally, if you do find a doc­tor that seems good, you can send him/her a let­ter that explains who you are and what you want. Or you can use it to know what to say at the first appointment.

And remem­ber: there is no per­fect doc­tor, and they don’t know “everything”. You have to be your own best advo­cate and know­led­gea­ble.   Read this site and take notes, or even bet­ter, take the STTM book with you. Doc­tors tend to res­pect books and poo-poo refe­ren­ces to web­si­tes.  Learn what we have found that works, and what does not work, and teach your doc­tor! Become very fami­liar with the chap­ter con­cer­ning mis­ta­kes patients make, called The Ten Big­gies.   Unders­tand that you have to stop giving all your power to the man or woman in the white coat when in the office. It’s your body, your wisdom…and what you seek in the doctor’s office is teamwork.

Want to order your own lab­work?? STTM has part­ne­red with two key labs just for you to dis­cuss with your good doc­tor. No presc­rip­tion requi­red. Go here and see #1 and #2: recom­men­ded lab­work