r/FunctionalMedicine

This is who I see. She seems knowledgeable enough and has apparently been around for quite some time, but atp, I’m trusting my life in her hands because I need treatment for my illnesses. Yet again, I tried to go to the store and started experiencing sudden insane dizziness, passing out, and hot flashes (I’m 32) from the panic of trying not to go crashing into things and slam to the floor in a little department store. Existing is hell, between all my systems taking turns stabbing me and suffocating me and freezing me, burning me, slamming my head so the room absolutely spins, draining every ounce of energy and weakening every muscle, and putting me to sleep like I’m fighting anesthesia.

This is just pure agony and never will I be able to articulate half of it or to put into words the sheer terror of experiencing each thing.

That being said, this is who I’m seeing and whose hands I’m in. My mother has me all freaked out because she was happy I was seeing someone who specializes in these illnesses, but suddenly just pulled the, “are you *sure* the place you had your testing is legit? There are some predatory ones where they charge thousands of dollars and the tests light up with all these diseases,” to which I said, “well, some of the things that lit up on mine are super legitimate, like the EBV when we know I had Mono, the Strep A which we know I definitely got, it says Babesiosis and one of my main issues is air hunger, I was bitten by a tick and got classic Lyme symptoms, symptoms get triggered and worse by the mold I can see in your windows so that one seems accurate, the encephalitis is likely what caused the insane neuro inflammation at the start of symptoms, and as far as the Toxo, we had cats blah, blah, blah … “

But now she’s got me frazzled because as someone new to all of this, I was already questioning functional medicine, especially when being charged outrageous fees.

Please let me know if you’ve used Forum Health, Kristen Reynolds, Vibrant Health, and/or Mosaic Diagnostics and if ANY of them helped you. My body, mind, and soul are a level of exhausted I didn’t know someone could survive and question if they should.

Sorry for the darkness, and don’t get all freaked out about my little comments on existence; I don’t have solidified plans to leave.

Thanks.

Long time lurker, new member here. I’ve been trying to improve my health for several years now, bouncing around different health coaches and different methods. Not much to show for it. I am now working with an HTMA practitioner…who seems very solid. And her supplement recommendations are pretty reasonable. I still struggle with wondering if the test itself is accurate? Is it really a good indicator of health and therefore valid to pursue? Any thoughts or past experience would be welcome.

Ive done a gi map test that showed a bit of hpylori..but all my Endoscopy and stool/breath test have shown negative, originally i was chasing sibo. The strange thing is out of all the 50 supplements I have tried, antibiotics, herbals, minerals, nac, etc list goes on the thing that helped my bloating the most was mastic gum. I did have to stop because my stomach got irritated, but because mastic gum did help the most it leads me to believe it really might be hpylori???

Has anybody ever been or a current client of functional medicine practitioners? I would like to gain some perspective, insights, hindsights.

Advice on what to do first regarding a fertility doctor, functional medicine, etc.?

Background: We have been TTC for a while and have been unsuccessful. I have PMOS as well.

We made several changes starting a year ago, including:
me: taking prenatals, DHA/BHA, & coq10 daily; Therologix ovasitol powder; anti-inflammatory diet; tracking BBT daily with NC app; I also track with LH strips (I use fertility friend and natural cycles’ paid subscriptions)
him: taking coq10 & zinc daily; strength training; anti-inflammatory diet
In luteal phase: pomegranate juice, coconut milk

Things we can work on that maybe aren’t the best:
stress management
Hydration/elexrrolyres

Things we will try this cycle (just started CD1 again today):
Pressed lube
Mucinex
Vitamin C supplements

We both are on poor health insurances. I am on Medicare currently, as I’m unemployed (full time graduate student).

I would like to go to the doctor (OBGYN or functional medicine) to get labs and a work up done (& preferably on him as well), but don’t know where to start. Where should I start that we could afford? And what should I test for?

Ideas of things to test for:
Low progesterone
Mthr
ureaplasma
Prolactin levels
Endometriosis
Ambulatory infertility
Sperm morphology/motility
Any other ideas?

We are located in Houston, TX. I would like to optimize our chances because I feel like we are running out of time, unfortunately. What do y’all recommend?

I (34f) was diagnosed with seronegative Myasthenia Gravis (a rare autoimmune disease) about 8 months ago now, I am on Mestinon every 6 hours with my dose fluctuating based on symptoms. I am set to start prednisone (10mg daily), but it will likely be difficult to get insurance to approve any sort of IVIG or other treatment given my seronegative status. I really like my neurologist, and I am lucky that he specializes in neuromuscular disease. I feel like I am back to 75% "normal" I am back at the gym although not able to perform anywhere near I used to be, I am able to travel but it takes an immense amount of preparation before and after to make sure I don't flare up. And my body is still in pretty constant pain, I feel like I am navigating aches and pains daily - it feels like my new norm.

My question is: has anyone added in a functional approach to their autoimmune treatment and found it worked for them? I've read a lot about things like redlight therapy cold plunging, dieting and supplements but I am curious what has worked for folks.

*I am NOT looking to stop my current medication; I am looking for holistic components I can add in to my treatment plan to help get me closer to 100%*

I just saw this research article. Stimulation of the Olfactory Nerve?

What does everyone think of this simple, yet possibly effective intervention to improve health in the aging brain that shows imaging improvements in grey matter?

I'm curious how different clinics handle missed appointments.

Is it usually because:

Patients forget?

Long waiting times?

Difficult booking process?

No reminders?

Something else?

If you work in a clinic, what's been your experience?

Micronutrient? Oat test? Serum tests covered by insurance?

I’ve been seeing a functional practitioner that only tests with muscles testing and also does chiropractic, acupuncture etc.

Next week will be my 3 months mark with them. I have two main issues (and most of small symptoms) nothing has seen any progress. I’m only noticing somewhat more energy and the doctor says I’m testing better (not more viral things etc).

One of my main concerns is acne. It’s gotten worse if anything. I suspect it’s from whack hormones after two babies 12 months apart but doc says it’s likely bacterial.

Does any of this sound standard? Am I on the right path? I didn’t expect to be 100% better at 3 months but wow I at least expected some improvement. Should I try a different provider? If so, is there a specific kind to look for? I feel like functional is a broad term.

i have certain infections and disbiosis in my gi mapping test for which i was recommended some herbs but i live in germany and no matter how many alternatives i look for none of them are available on iherb or any other website .
can anyone help me understand why are they not available in germany and what can i do about it is any German website or store to buy such things.

NOTE: please discuss the recommendations below with your doctor

 

I would like to add a note on the skepticism in the mainstream media and among mainstream doctors for IVM (the "horse dewormer" drug - Ivermectin)

While it is true that IVM is not a one drug immediate solution for long haulers or post-vax issues

It should be noted that the signal is there for why it should be part of every protocol

 

There are many signals for it's efficacy that early treatment doctors have observed - I have observed it's post-exposure prophylaxis efficacy in households with index cases during the Delta variant - without the prophylaxis the whole household would fall sick - with it, the cases would be restricted to the index cases

 

However there is one place where it single-handedly shows efficacy is post-COVID19 anosmia/Parosmia (ie taste/smell dysfunction - which affects 1/5 to 1/10 COVID19 cases)

This is why I have been suggesting to early treatment doctors (like the FLCCC/IMA) that anosmia is a good way to present IVM - but most of the effort to normalize IVM use has been in arguing for mortality benefit etc

While anosmia remains an easily verifiable metric - within a few days and a few successive cases, a doctor will build up the confidence that this drug does have activity

 

So far I have seen 100% efficacy in all the recent anosmia cases I have seen - which have been 13-14 anosmia cases (this has been from a pool of 100+ COVID-19 cases)

The most recent anosmia (rarer now) reversal was a couple of months ago - 2 weeks of fatigue and anosmia after a minor case of "flu"/covid19

I told her it should reverse within 2 days and should see some relief in the fatigue (having seen this pattern repeat predictably in all previous cases)

And after 1-2 days she was at 100% smell

And cooked for the first time in 2 weeks - ie fatigue was gone

 

And in the months old cases - also I have seen 100% efficacy - with a longer treatment protocol - in the 3-4 cases I have seen

(though I concede this is not enough data and doesn't cover years old cases)

The pattern generally is that for old cases - more than 1 cycle may be needed - so for example 5 days of IVM 0.4mg/kg - split into morning/evening dose - taken with fatty meal or meal

Then can take a 3 day break - if want to avoid any visual disturbance side effects

Then take another 5 day course

Usually I would ask them to increase their Vitamin D levels as well

 

So just from this information, I feel that IVM should be first drug of choice as part of any protocol

Because of it's efficacy against post-COVID19 anosmia (which is a hard problem)

 

In my experience IVM also has been effective in removing fatigue as well for recent post-COVID19 cases - and in some old cases - both long haulers and post-vax

So it should be part of the protocols

 

Also because of the media paranoia created around IVM as some sort of litmus test for sanity or irrationality - I am unsure if the people who "try" IVM actually have used it for more than a few days

Since it is a relatively safe drug - it can be taken for 5 days - take a 3 day break (if you want to avoid the visual disturbances side effect) - and repeated

So my question is how many long haulers are actually trying longer term IVM use as part of their wider protocol

Instead of trying it for 5 days then writing it off

 

Summary: IVM shows single-drug response for some post-COVID19 persistent side effects like anosmia/Parosmia - which have no other comparable treatments (Stellate Ganglion Block SGB comes in a distant second - smell restraining which is the standard of care is not even partly effective) - which alone makes it an essential component to consider for protocols for long haulers - IVM hesitancy may also contribute to shorter duration use (when the drug can be easily tolerated with repeated dosing with breaks)

 

For more information on post-COVID19 anosmia, you can visit:

r/covid19anosmia

r/ivermectin

 

You would think this information would be welcomed on sub-reddits like:

r/covidlonghaulers

r/anosmia

r/Parosmia

But you would be mistaken - as these - and many of the mainstream sub-reddits - as policy - will perma-ban you if you suggest Ivermectin does anything for COVID-19

Recall that during the pandemic, YouTube actually had Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine mentioned by name in the YouTube terms of service - as unbelievable an overreach as that may seem, that was the state of affairs during the pandemic

I'm seeking a functional medicine practitioner that is an expert on fertility.

I've been TTC for over a year and have gotten all the panels done pretty much but want to make sure I'm doing the right stuff so I don't waste months hoping something is gonna work

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Any practitioner recommendations?

Conventional medicine doctors are just pushing the shots like Prolia but the side effects are scary. She’s essentially just living with the pain and taking pain pills as needed but they hardly make a difference. She is in Mobile, AL. so I’m looking for a functional medicine provider in that area but thought I’d post her situation on here as well. Thank you!!