How To Find a New Dr.

[pmgamer18]

Finding a trustworthy competent male hormone doctor is probably the most important step toward treating hypogonadism. Do take the time and effort to find a good one. You will not be saving time by merely going with someone your doc refers, unless you qualify him/her as being competent and experienced. Many group members have spent years with bad treatment, and finding a doc is probably the single biggest reason people come to this group.

IMO you want a doc who treats male hormone issues as a regular part of his/her practice. Your doc will probably suggest an endocrinologist or urologist, but many don’t know male hormone therapy, or are even philosophically opposed to it. I suggest you research & find a specialist yourself. Here are some tips:

For compiling a list of "SUSPECTS" near you, try:

Back trace docs from pharmacies that sell them male hormone products:

College Pharmacy (Colorado Springs, CO)
http://www.collegepharmacy.com/
click "Find a Health Care Provider". There's a form to fill out. Submit the form & they'll e-mail a list of docs nearest you. In the “I would like to find a provider who specializes in:” I suggest choosing “Pellet Implants”; you might not want them but those docs know most other therapies too.

Bartor Pharmical (Rye NY) They manufacture testosterone pellets (docs who do pellets also know most other therapies). Call 914-967-4219 and ask if they can recommend three docs near you.

Women’s International Pharmacy (Madison, Wisconsin
http://www.womensinternational.com/doctor.html

Kronos Compounding Pharmacy (Las Vegas, NV) has a list of docs:
http://www.kronospharmacy.com/Conte..._physician.aspx

ApothéCure (Dallas, TX)
http://www.apothecure.com/dyn/referralrequestform.html

DOCTOR SEARCH. NOTE: THERE MAY BE PLENTY OF “OLD SCHOOL” OR OTHERWISE INCOMPETENT DOCS ON THESE LISTS. SCREENING PRIOR TO THE FIRST APPOINTMENT IS STILL ESSENTIAL.

Docs who have shown an interest in treating male hypogonadism can be found at:
http://www.tuneupyourt.com/find_a_doctor.html


Life Extension Foundation, List of Innovative Doctors:
http://www.lef.org/doctors/directoryofdoctors03.html

American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM). Look for docs with “HRT” listed in their practice codes.
http://www.acam.org/dr_search/index.php

There’s an AACE docs search page at:
http://www.aace.com/memsearch.php
In theory they would use the AACE Hypogonadisn Guidelines,
but are still too “old school”.Confirm they treat hypogonadism prior to a visit.

To pre-qualify and select the right doc, call him or his staff and ask: how many men he/she treats for hypogonadism, if he/she offers hCG therapy in addition to TRT, if he/she uses Arimidex to keep E2 down, and checks for Primary or Secondary Hypogonadism.

You have time to ask the doc some pre-screening questions (probably through his/her staff). Like: What does he think about the AACE hypogonadism guidelines? (American Association Of Clinical Endocrinologists Medical Guidelines For Clinical Practice For The Evaluation And Treatment Of Hypogonadism
In Adult Male Patients—2002 Update, available in the Files section here. How many hypogonadism patients does he treat? Does he ever use hCG treatment? Does he regularly test for estrogens, specifically estradiol? Does he ever prescribed anything to keep estradiol down? Does he use a stimulation test to determine hypogonandism is primary or secondary? Does he ever use hormone pellet implants?

Did your doc mention that TRT like Androgel can make you sterile? I'm assuming your marriage plans might include having children. If so, a different treatment than testosterone supplementation would be needed. It would involve taking a hormone that stimulates the body's ability to make testosterone.

IMO, a complete range of initial tests should be done, way above and beyond the total testosterone levels you had tested. An hCG stimulation test (or similar) should be done to see if your body can respond to stimulation.
This was made by Bruce at the Yahoo Hypogonadism2 group.
Phil

[sampson]

Great Post !!!!! This should be a Sticky ...

[snipe]

Terrific post, pmgamer18.

I found my Doc back in 2001 from the Life Extension Foundation listing.

[Millard Baker]

I've attached the AACE "Hypogonadism" and "GH" documents for your reference.

[earthdog]

Also don't forget http://www.worldhealth.net/p/447.html, the organization Swale lectures at. You will have a good chance of finding a doc that is familiar with Swales protocol here.

This hould be a sticky! Could help a lot of bros.

[pmgamer18]

So someone tell me how do I make this a Sticky.
Phil

[Weatherlite]

Only a moderator can do it. So, SWALE or Mr. Admin will have to do it.

[SWALE]

The Members have made their demand. Stickied.

Let me add a few points to the original post.

These operations only list Providers who are their members. The pharmacies only list Providers who buy their meds from them (in order to build business). And I have heard some pretty crazy stuff being recommended by these compounders, in an effort to make more money. Some of it, even from large pharmaices, was exactly the opposite of the truth. This is what can happen when Pharmacists try to act as if they are doctors.

Appropriate TRT will not make a fertile man infertile. As far as TRT goes, "test is best".

A stimulation test is of little value. When ordering tests, the physician must always ask him/herself "what am I going to do with the results? How is it going to change my treatment? In this case, the treatment will be the same: TRT. Using a SERM-class drug as TRT just does not work.

I am not in favor of testosterone pellet implantation, but that is just my professional opinion.

[pmgamer18]

Thank you SWALE.
And I need to give the credit for this info to Bruce at
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/hypogonadism2
Phil

[SWALE]

Thanks, Bruce.