Before you start looking for a new doctor, please read these suggestions.

I strongly urge you to stay with your own personal physician and follow the guidelines in my Ten Step Program. Your own doctor knows your history of risk factors for yeast infections. In fact, she or he may have even prescribed the very drugs that caused your yeast infection in the first place!

Show your current doctor my Information Packet and ask for the appropriate tests. If your doctor is still unwilling to test you for yeast infections and yeast allergies, then call customer service at your health insurance company and ask for a new primary care physician who treats yeast infections. Also ask customer service for a referral to a board certified allergist who tests for and treats Candida allergy.

Any family physician or allergist in your health plan who sincerely cares about helping patients and who is open-minded about the new paradigm in medical care for candidiasis and yeast allergies will be able to help you by following the guidelines in my Ten Step Program.

If these approaches fail, then you will be forced to go outside your health plan and pay out-of-pocket to obtain diagnostic testing for Candida overgrowth and Candida allergy. Contact doctors from the websites of the 12 Physician Referral Services listed in my packet.

While I cannot guarantee that you will be happy with any of the health care providers listed by these referral services, at least these groups are dedicated to helping patients who have been unable to obtain effective medical care for yeast-related illnesses from their own physicians. Beware of alternative practitioners who offer unscientific procedures (see Table of Contents, Step 1. for a list of unproven tests and treatments from A to Z).

Remember, you cannot diagnose yeast infections by symptoms alone. You need specific diagnostic tests for Candida infections and Candida allergy that only board certified M.D.s can offer. To avoid getting false-negative test results, you must get tested before starting self-treatment with over-the-counter antifungals and herbal remedies. Remember: Test before treating!

NOTE: If you suffer from recurrent vaginal yeast infections, you undoubtedly have been medically diagnosed many times and you know the symptoms only too well. But, that does not mean you can skip diagnosis. Obviously, you have not yet identified your predisposing factor(s) or you would not keep relapsing. Therefore, even in your case, my Ten Step Program still applies. You especially need to follow my self-help steps to prevent recurrences.

If your test results are positive for Candida infection and/or Candida allergy, bring copies of your diagnostic test results back to your family doctor and request appropriate medical care. Be assertive with doctors who don’t listen. Don't take "No!" for an answer. Your medical treatments for candidiasis and yeast allergies should be covered by your health insurance even if the tests were not!

Don’t have health insurance? Join an organization that offers a group health insurance plan for its members. But they may not cover preexisting conditions.

Prior to your doctor’s appointment, read my Information Packet and call me for a Phone Consult. I can make suggestions that will save you time and money, and protect you from many pitfalls in your quest for a cure of your long-standing yeast problems.

I sincerely hope that you can find a physician who is willing to follow the guidelines in my Ten Step Program and prepare a treatment plan tailor-made for your individual case. My best wishes for your speedy return to good health.