Experiences of using functional medicine doctors?

[MeganChar1]

Hi all,

I’ve heard a lot recently about the use of functional medicine to help manage Hashimotos, has anyone got any experience of this? I’ve also been referred to an endocrinologist on the nhs, if I see a functional medicine doctor am I likely to get conflicting advice if seeing endo as well?

Also does anyone know if the endo or functional doctor would do full thyroid panel tests including T3? Currently my GP has only recently tested T4 and TSH. Antibodies were tested only once coming up to a year ago when I was diagnosed.

Thanks

[SlowDragon Administrator]

If endocrinologist or functional medic are private consultations then Cheapest option for testing is usually via private testing BEFORE consultation

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) diagnosed by raised Thyroid antibodies

Ask GP to test vitamin levels

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .

Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood test. (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).

This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)

If/when also on T3, make sure to take last third or quarter of daily dose 8-12 hours prior to test, even if this means adjusting time or splitting of dose day before test

Is this how you do your tests?

Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins

List of private testing options

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Medichecks Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins

medichecks.com/products/adv...

Thriva Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins By DIY fingerpick test

thriva.co/tests/thyroid-test

Thriva also offer just vitamin testing

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes antibodies, cortisol and vitamins by DIY fingerprick test

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

If you can get GP to test vitamins and antibodies then cheapest option for just TSH, FT4 and FT3

£29 (via NHS private service ) and 10% off down to £26.10 if go on thyroid uk for code

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

monitormyhealth.org.uk/

Also vitamin D available as separate test via MMH

Or alternative Vitamin D NHS postal kit

vitamindtest.org.uk

[jrbarnes]

I see a functional nurse practitioner and receive better care than at a traditional doctor. Do you have doctors in the UK that specialize as reproductive endocrinologists, if so I'd recommend that over a regular endo as their goal is to help women get pregnant. A regular endo deals mainly with diabetes patients. A regular endos approach would be to start you off on Levo and increase until your TSH is suppressed. Functional medicine would do the same but will recognize that all Free thyroid hormones are important. They would test your female hormones as well. I like to get my labs done before I go to my first appointment to save money and get the ball rolling. So sorry for the loss of your baby and hoping for your success this time round. 🌸

[userotc in reply to jrbarnes]

Great that functional medicine practitioners get a good review here. Root cause which they (including naturopathic nutritionists) practice makes far more sense than symptom suppression. For info, when you say "they test" do you mean they actually arrange private tests themselves or do they refer on to medical doctors or ask the patient to arrange either privately or with GP?

[Bellazzurra]

Hello MeganChar1,I have Graves’ and in addition to seeing an endocrinologist, I’ve been seeing a functional medicine doctor for about three months. Mine is a trained medical doctor who has personal experience with both Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s. So far, seeing the functional medicine doctor has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for my health.

I’ve definitely received better care with her than I’ve received from endocrinologists and she really does take time to listen to me and leaves no stone unturned when it comes to conducting thyroid panels, identifying nutrient deficiencies, testing for antibodies, dietary and lifestyle changes etc. I look and feel much better for it.

As far as dealing with conflicting advice, you shouldn’t have too much of that if you’re dealing with good medical professionals who have experience dealing with Hashimoto’s. My first endocrinologist clearly lacked experience dealing with thyroid diseases as she was behind on basic developments in the field. On the other hand, my current endocrinologist is very experienced in the area. The same goes for finding a functional medicine practitioner.

As a general rule, I leave prescribing and reducing medication to my endocrinologist and I run any supplements by her to make sure there are no contraindications with my anti-thyroid medication - not to get her opinion per se. For this reason, I turned down a multivitamin from my functional medicine doctor which contained biotin and iodine. Where possible, you need an endocrinologist who understands the impact that diet and lifestyle can have on autoimmune diseases.

Explain to your endocrinologist that what you’re doing with functional medicine wouldn’t get in their way but will complement the treatment they’re giving you. I think it’s also important to educate yourself so that regardless of which direction the advice is coming from, you’re able to make the decision that’s best for you.

You can search on ifm.org to find a certified functional medicine practitioner near you. The IFM is the leading functional medicine institute in the world and hence, it gave me comfort knowing that I was working with someone who had been trained by them.

Hope this helps ✨

[delboy25]

I traced a Functional Medicine Doctor who is specialising in Energy Medicine-She was employed as hospital doctor for 20 years but found too many time constraints so turning her back on NHS work and concentrating on FM. -been seeing her face to face for several months -up to know very positve experience very thorough -she starts with full blood and urine testing with private labs which include all vitamins, minerals amino acids, histamine , homocystein, Copper and Magnesium. A full 19 page report explaining everything. The report includes results of tests from endocrinology which includes TSH fT3 fT4 T3 T4 and T-Uptake.

[Lizzieuk]

I am also interested in seeing a functional doctor as I have multiple conditions Adi with very similar symptoms, so I’m interested in a more holistic approach. For those that have seen a functional doctor, may I ask about cost please?