Functional Medicine - Understanding The Underlying Causes Of Disease

[FarmerAmy]

I wanted to share my recent experiences with you. I've been going to a doctor who practices Functional Medicine. I am new to the idea of Functional Medicine, but it addresses the underlying causes of disease. I have high hopes for this new doctor. I am tired of taking meds that only address symptoms!!

My new doctor has done a bunch of testing. So far we've come back with adrenal insufficiency and possible candida overgrowth (still waiting on more results for that one). I am taking a lot of supplements and am on a very restrictive diet.

In the past few days I've felt a little worse, but I think I am having difficulty adjusting to my new diet. It's hard to hope that I might have found a doctor who can help me--I've been let down too many times before. But so far she's the most promising doctor I've found.

I learned more about Functional Medicine by going to www.functionalmedicine.org

Anybody else have experience with Functional Medicine? I'd love to hear about it.

[Dizzysillyak]

I've been seeing a functional / integrative doctor for about 4 years now. It's been a real eye opening

experience to finally see a doctor who knows what tests to run that actually show what's going on

in my body. Imho Dr Wahls Ted video explains functional med perfectly. I like reading Dr Mark Hyman and Dr sarah

myhill's info too.

I was already on the Paleo diet when I met my doc but switched to the Wahls diet back in Jan 2012. I basically

just added more veggies, sea veggies and am eatng less meat at each meal. Imho, after trying and

reviewing other diet plans this one is the best choice. I don't follow it exactly but close enough.

My tests over the years showed so many things that I couldn't begin to understand it all. But that's the

advantage of having a doctor who does. All I know is that I had a candida

overgrowth, too little good bacteria, low digestive enzymes, inabilty to process fats, low pregnenolone, low dhea, high esonophils, hyperinsulinemia, etc, etc.

The diet or your supplements could be making you feel bad. I feel best on the paleo / wahls diet. I've had to pick and chose which

supplements to take based on my reactions. I can't tell you how many I took back.

Good luck. D

[FarmerAmy]

Thanks for the reply. Have you seen any health improvements with your functional/integrative doctor? I feel a little better on the cortisol supplements. But I feel like there is still a major piece of the puzzle missing.

[Batik]

It may be worth bearing in mind that the term "functional medicine" as it is used here means something completely different to how conventional medicine uses the term "functional", where it means, "nothing has shown up on testing," at best, and, "we think it's psychosomatic," at worst. In case anyone was getting confused!

[Dizzysillyak]

Um, sorry in advance for the book / rant. I just got carried away.

I can't say enough about how important it was for me to find a doctor who respects me and runs the right tests. My other docs ran tests if needed of course but not the ones that actually told me what was going on.

Basically, my doctors just accepted that I had ME/CFS and there wasn't anything that could be done. Sound familiar ? Everything I said was taken as an exaggeration of my symptoms.

That was after I saw a CFS specialist tho. Before then I was treated like a nut case by most of the local doctors. One got it but moved away. The doctors at MAYO clinic got it but they didn't help me either. And I was too sick to defend myself.

I was never tested for celiac disease even during my endoscopy in 2004. The NIH said that sometimes celiac disease was being misdiagnosed as CFS back in 2006 at least. That's when I found it on their website.

My DHEA and pregnenolone were never tested. Most of my nutrient levels, other than B12 were never tested. My B12 was low if you consider that these labs show a low number as being normal.

I was walking into walls and using a motorized cart (ataxia) and no one looked into it even tho my CFS specialist noted that I'd failed the Rhomberg. I just got razzed for doing this by people in the medical profession who should've known better. My doctor's nurse used to humiliate me when I did this. So, I was embarrassed and just thought it was my CFS / leg and brain fatigue. NO .. That was probably gluten ataxia and it's gone now.

No one ran a GTT + insulin to find my hyperinsulinemia. My blood glucose stays in the normal range and this tests showed that my body over produces insulin. BIG difference here ... I feel horrible when my glucose drops into the low 80's but didn't realize it was probably the extra insulin making me feel bad.

I had a GP decide that I didn't need pain meds or immediate treatment for a stuck kidney stone.

My urine was the color of cranberry juice, I was in extreme pain and I'd been vomitting and had diarhea for hours that morning. When I went for the xray she ordered, I purposely went to the local hospital and the Xray techs there strongly suggested I go to the ER. What a difference that made.

I saw a gynocologist that decided my female bleeding wasn't a big deal even after the ER doc showed that if I lost any more blood I'd need a transfusion. My next gyno gave me a shot that stopped it immediately. Really ? ? All I needed was one shot to stop what I'd been going through for months. UGH !!

Most of my improvements are from watching my diet. But I have a lot of food intolerances and allergies.

I have digestive and neuro problems from gluten including celiac disease, ataxia, myoclonus, brain zaps, white lesions on my brain, facial twitches, insomnia and seizures. Soy causes phlegm in my throat immediately. Dairy causes Paget's of the skull flare (extreme pain associated with bone growth) and shiners.

I just don't feel well if I eat grains or legumes. It feels like a blood glucose problem. I get the same feeling from eating too much fruit or sugar. My doc found that I have hyperinsulinemia tho.

I was already on the paleo diet when I met this doctor. Otherwise I'd attribute my benefit from this

diet to her recommending it. Diet was the first thing we discussed and we continue to discuss.

My stool testing showed my antibodies to gluten, egg whites, etc. Having extra antibodies in our bodies is never good and had no idea I was reacting to egg whites. My stool tests also showed me how my body over produces antibodies to gluten. I was getting a high reading just from eating a couple of GF snacks prior to my stool test. I didn't do that the last time but still had low gluten antibodies.

Treating my candida problem helped my thrush and some of my female problems. The low oxalate diet

which I did because I got a kidney stone helped my pelvic pain. Fyi tho, pelvic pain can be from mast cells

or nerve problems in that area from damage. I have a bad lower back disk.

I've also treated nutritional deficiencies

this doctor found. She ordered spectracell testing so we found more than other tests might.

And she oredered the Metametrix stool tests that discovered my h pylori and parasites. I've treated these but we need to retest to see if I got them all.

And taken other supplements my labs showed I needed like pregnenolone and dhea.

Treating with the

mast cell protocal is helping my oi and energy level. But I have a history of responding to a treatment

and then getting my cfs fatigue back. I felt like a healthy teenager a year after eliminating gluten. At

the same time I started walking normally. At that point, I went in a one month road trip and crashed.

Tc .. D

[FarmerAmy]

Thanks for sharing your story. I can't believe what a long journey it's been for you!!

[Dizzysillyak]

You're welcome. In case I threw too much new terminology at you, Dr. Wahls explains this in her videos. Esp her TED 51 minute video. Or any of the books or websites on autism that discuss leaky gut and bio chemical treatments should explain this too.

FWIW, I don't know why but I'm actually embarrassed discussing the incompetence I found in the medical community. And from being on the web for the last 7 years, I know I'm not the only patient being treated like this. And then there's all those people I meet in the health food stores who laugh about how useless their doctors were.

Hopefully, the more educated and empowered patients become the less we'll tolerate these behavoirs and they'll have to change. Or lose patients. Personally I hope more turn to integrative or function medicine. It would be a shame to spend their careers dolling out meds when they could actually help their patients.

Good luck with your functional doctor. tc ... d