Dr. Kathleen E. Hands, MD 540 Madison Oak Drive, San Antonio, TX 78258

"I’ve always had a good experience with Dr. Hands. I find her knowledgeable, professional, yet personable and very caring. I like that she’s not quick to prescribe meds if you don’t need (unlike other drs who treat everyone the same). She takes your health and underlying conditions into account as well as your own thoughts and concerns. And her receptionist, Kait is friendly, polite and always helpful. I follow up with Dr. Hands yearly and feel I’m in good hands."

"Dr Hands is very thorough but very honest. If you are on the wrong treatment she will tell you. If you disagree tell her why. She will listen but you need to bring the facts. Tell her all your health history. Give her time to fix you, it probably didn’t happen in a short time."

"Dr. Hands was knowledgeable about newer procedures for thyroid nodules and performed a procedure on me that helped me a great deal. Because she didn’t take insurance, I found another doctor for the RFA procedure that I needed. I appreciated her knowledge and assistance. However, she refused to run a full thyroid panel, stating that tsh is the only thing that matters. A simple peruse through ANY thyroid book will tell you otherwise. Even though I was on T4 meds, I still felt like death warmed over and my TSH remained high. I finally found a doctor that will run a full thyroid panel and sure enough, I have a problem with converting and needed T3 meds. Within a few weeks of being on T3 AND T4 meds, I felt like a human again for the first time in a long time. Dr. Hands should be willing to run a full thyroid panel and be willing to treat the ENTIRE organ. My two biggest issues came from her bedside manner and the things she said to me. The first being that she said that a slow thyroid has NOTHING to do with weight gain or weight issues and the sooner I understood that, the better off I will be. Again, it doesn’t take much knowledge at ALL to know that the thyroid very much has to do with weight issues. I’ve read over 50 books on the thyroid and sit on a thyroid advocacy board. I’m not a doctor, but it’s VERY common knowledge that the two things are linked. Next, and this is the worst one, in my opinion, she told me that my baby would be a cretin if my TSH remained high. I was 4 weeks pregnant at the time and my TSH level was elevated (around 4). I went to her for help, knowing that a higher TSH level can have negative effects on an embryo. For her to use the word cretin to a vulnerable pregnant woman is beyond my level of understanding. It was cruel, insensitive and unprofessional. When asking her to switch to desiccated thyroid meds, which she apparently is very much against, she said to me, “Are you a pig or a human?”. She has been bought by the pharmaceutical industry and gets kickbacks for pushing standard thyroid drugs like levoxyl. That was the final straw for me and I sought out a doctor well versed in the thyroid as a WHOLE. Within a short amount of time, with the right medicine, treating T3 AND T4, my TSH went down to .5 and has remained there for 1 year. I also lost 40 pounds without even trying (proving that a slow thyroid absolutely DOES relate to weight gain). In all fairness, most endocrinologists are similar in their treatment of patients and philosophy about the treatment of thyroid issues. I would highly recommend not going to an endo and finding a D.O."

"I am very grateful for Dr. Hands. I was told by another endocrinologist that I needed to be on thyroid medicine due to symptoms I was having, even though my blood work came back normal. Thankfully I went for a second opinion to Dr Hands. She did an ultrasound and with the blood work told me I should not be on thyroid medicine and that if I would have taken it, it would have screwed me up. She recommended that I get off gluten and sugar, which was a life changer for me. She was absolutely right! Boy was it hard, but so worth it! I am better and I am very grateful to Dr Hands! I love her no nonsense approach. I love that she tells it like it is. Don’t mis- take her approach to mean she is not compassionate and does not care. It is quite the opposite! I have recommended her several times and my friends feel the same way I do."