BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Thyroid Health Not So Great Thyroid Doctors

Hi Linda. My computer's acting up so I'll be brief.
You may want to get hold of Elaine Moore's book, Thyroid Eye Disease, and contact her at her site on suite101. If your hypo had clearly become hyper I could give you more direct help. Maybe you should still check out the graves_support@yahoogroups site. Their homepage has lots of great info. You seem to have thyroiditis, which is different.

It is GREAT that you are getting hold of your labs. That is one of the single most important things we can do. But as useful as TSH and antibodies are, you also need to know the rest ofyour thyroid panel, i.e. Free T4 and FT4. Elaine will be sure to ask you.

Good luck and take care, Fayge

HELLO LINDA,
You can also check out this great website called about.com thyroid disease guide. I think you can get there with newsletters@about.com. The lady who started it is Mary Shoman. There is so much good information. The site also has message boards & forums where many othe people share what is going on with them.

In my opinion if a dr. is not listening to you, it is best to get another opinion. I went through a nightmare of being mis-diagnosed & un-diagnosed for 7 yrs. At some point in time I also had a slow thyroid. It is a very long story. But what happened was this past Valentine's day I had to get surgery on my stomach & esophagus. I'm feelign much better. But I went through many doctors not listening to me at all. I had to get very aggressive.

I was all over the city of Chicago & suburbs trying to get help. My husband & I even went to Mayo Clinic twice & they were terrible. That place is good if you already know what you have. But they really drop you & won't try very hard to find out. I'm sure some people had good experiences there but we did not. I was told by many doctor's it was "all in my mind", it was menopause, it was anxiety & everything but what it really was.

I really had to fight for my right to know what was wrong. I finally found a wonderful family Dr. & surgeon who actually care about their patients. You know your own body & what is right & wrong going on with it. Don't allow any Dr. to just dismiss you. I was never sick a day in my life before I became ill. This may sound funny but through out my illness I always looked very healthy. So, that was another strike against me. I was told there was nothing wrong with me because I did not look sick! Some doctor's told me you look good & you don't look sick, so nothing is wrong! But my husband & daughter seen how much I was suffering. I hope that everything works out for you.

It is lousy to for anyone to be so ill & to get the run aound & not believed. But please fire any dr. that is not listening to you & not taking full action to help you. I'm from Chicago so I am sorry to say that I don't know of any endo doctors in your area. But on the aboutthyroid.com website they have list of good doctors in every area. Now, please keep in mind that not all of them are good. I tried a few in my area & they were not good. But some of them may be. It is a hit or miss thing at times. But this site can give you some more info & help. Some of the doctors helped people alot too. Take care of yourself & keep us posted. Best wishes, Judy K.

Below are three docs from the good docs list on another board I follow.

1) Dr. Gary Kershner 18 Leonardville Road; Middletown, New Jersey 07748 (732) 671-3730; Fax (732) 706-1078

He's open to armour and treats subclinical hypo to the patient, not just to numbers.

2) Dr. Thomas Cacciola; 403 Fairview Ave.; Paramus, NJ 07652; 201-261-8386

early 2007: He sees 5 to 6 thyroid patients a day. He listens to your suggestions about your treatment & just
doesn't brush off your symptoms. Tests the free's, prescribes Armour. UPDATE 12-07: patient states he did NOT test the
free's, getting too busy, and wouldn't listen to new ideas. So all he does is prescribe Armour.

3) Elaine Hardy, MS,RN,APN,C.;Holistic Family Healthcare, PC; 319 Airport Road
Hackettstown, NJ 07840; 908-850-0888;
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Anyone have Dr. Don Michael of South Bend, IN? Info? I have been to his site, but ya never know. I just want to be really sure that he is as great as the claims before I pay him hourly and find my daughter's insurance won't cover him. I appreciate any help.

About Doc Don in South Bend: he seems good, just a pity that you can't find someone on your insurance. If you know what to ask for and demand, you should be able to get the tests and meds.

Hi everyone, thanks for the help. I found a couple that accept her insurance and she chose one in chicago. located 1/2 block off the train stop. he seems pretty good. he was impressed with the online blood tests I ordered. he has no idea how many thyroid sites/boards I visited to make sure I could get the MOST current useful info to him to begin treatment as soon as possible! she is back on synthroid and also cytomel. she seems pretty good. no more sweating. brain fog is minimal. constipation is bad but she is learning to love good old prune juice! lol still losing weight on phentermine which is boosting her self confidence immensely. and she is very excited about new classes at school. I have her on organic foods, some supplements/vitamins and purchase fluoride free water to drink. Life with her lately is wonderful compared to when she arrived back at home in May! She was a mess. Thanks again everyone.

Hi everyone, I am yet another Newbie and I am very happy to be able to tell you my opinion. I have been looking for a way to expose my doctor. Dr. Stanley Hartanowicz, MD.. Kettle Creek Road, Toms River, NJ. I started out with Hypothyroidism, I trusted this man, he started treating me and I was impressed at first, then he started to increase my Naturethroid without retesting my blood. Getting to the point, he doubled my 1 grain meds to 2 grains without tests. I sensed something was not right so I sought out another Doctor a friend and a few others told me about. He tested me and found that my expert endo. had messed me up so muich that I am not showing Hyperthyroidism results. He then asked about other things I was worried about. It seems that that terrible dr. gave me hormones without the benefit of blood tests. It is a good thing I stopped taking them, I felt uncomfortable, because he over medicated me for them also. He ordered 1.5 mg of Bi-est and 200 mg of Progesterone. When my new doctor heard this he sat down in misbelief, he could not understand how a doctor could give such I high level of progesterone without the aid of blood tests. Today I am home trying to find ways to warn people of this and also i am now doing the right thing, I am taking a 24 hour urine test and a 24 hour saliva test. Others will follow to make certain that I am being treated properly. My new Doctor is Dr. Peter Bhirro, Lacey road Forked River NJ PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHO WE TRUST. I think this is as wonderful idea!!! Cindy

Dr. Emmanuele at Loyola in Chicago is a great endro doctor. I had Thyroid cancer and I find her to be very good at helping me

I am in north central Illinois. I am in desperate need of finding someone. I've gone through a number of tests. My blood sugar levels fluctuate, usually hypoglycemic but spike easily. Heartrate increases with any exertion. Blood pressure is up. Lots of other things too. My family doc thinks its just stress. An endo he sent me to said its all in my head and that I only have panic/anxiety. I did see one doc on your list who said I had thyroid and adrenal issues, but now I'm not sure about going back to him. Do you have someone you can recommend?

what was your experience with Dr. Schultz?