Functional Medical Practitioner - FMP?

[joey82]

Hi,

Can someone please tell me in lay-mans terms what an FMP is and how they can help and what they can offer over a nutritionist & Dr?

this would be for a hashi/hypo patient.

Many thanks in advance.

[TiggerMe Ambassador]

I believe they have a more holistic view and treat you as a whole rather than individual ailments and are able to prescribe

[Smartypants1]

what TiggerMe says. I’d also add that they look to get to the root cause of your symptoms. I’m under a functional doctor and find it really helpful x

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to Smartypants1]

Ah yes, that too! We forget there are people that actually look for that 🙃

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to TiggerMe]

This would be a good listen... lizearlewellbeing.com/podca...

[joey82 in reply to TiggerMe]

Thank-you, love a good podcast

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to joey82]

He's a very down to earth chap and perhaps useful to gauge any possible practitioner's you might interview

[Batty1]

I have a functional medical doctor and honestly don’t feel like they are much different then my old regular doctor.. other then I get referred out much quicker … this is my experience.

[Stills]

may I ask if you went down this route and if was successful?

[joey82 in reply to Stills]

Hi, it's funny you should ask because I have thought about this a lot recently. I signed up to a 12 week program and 3hrs of consultations. The cost of this, the recommended supplements, a genetic profile and stool test it cost me well over a £1000.

Am I better off than we I started the program,? Yes, I am.

I still have slightly elevated TPO Ab's so the root cause has not been dealt with. There has been some really good lifestyle and nutritional advice that I will continue with, but for what I've spent I'm very disappointed. A 12 week program to play with thyroid hormone replacement is too quick and I had to push back on this as I felt I was getting rushed through. The unlimited email support as part of the program didn't really materialise and I had to chase for a replies. And I don't think they understood thyroid replacement (T3 & T4) very well.

I had 3 changes made to my dosage during the programme and twice it made me really unwell, fortunately reversing it made things a bit better.

But my body temp averages around 36.5 degrees C (at best) so my metabolism is still running slow. They think this is normal but I strongly disagree so I think that's been a failure on their part. Getting T3 was a pain and really expensive as well.

I've had some more energy for the gym and lost some weight and built a little muscle mass that's been nice.

But predominantly I remain hypothyroid after the program so my search for a good Dr/Practitioner continues.

But we are all in different stages with our thyroid troubles so it may work well for you.

If you wish to know more then I'm happy to help.

Best wishes

Joe

[Stills in reply to joey82]

That’s very interesting thank you and I appreciate your detailed reply.

I’m undiagnosed, subclinical, which appears to mean not bad enough to be treated yet. I have a long term rheumatoid condition and other mild autoimmune associated conditions.

Complicating matters was period of sudden malaise February 23 and a cancer scare so GP ordered lots of horrid scopes but nothing found.

I’m operating under par, great advice here from everyone big I can’t seem to take the next step and get private tests and demand treatment from GP hence my interest in…. Helping myself.

Glad to hear you are felling better and making physical progress.

[RedApple Administrator in reply to joey82]

joey82 'I still have slightly elevated TPO Ab's so the root cause has not been dealt with.'

Despite all the hype and claims by nutritionists, FMPs etc., I don't think there's ever been any bona-fide evidence/proof that the 'root cause' of autoimmune thyroid disease can ever be 'dealt with', reversed etc. 😞 Of course there may be a handful of individuals who claim that they've been successful in doing this.

[joey82 in reply to RedApple]

I've managed to get my TGab's down below range, but my TPOab's remain slightly elevated. This has been the case for well over a year now. My diet is better, but I did read in PR's book that a heavily supposed TSH will cause the anti bodies to come down.

Either way I'm just glad they are not really high.

[RedApple Administrator in reply to joey82]

But I wonder how you can tell whether the reduction in antibodies is due to your interventions, rather than natural causes? Levels can fluctuate naturally for many years.

I had extremely high antibodies at diagnosis, but for the last four years they have both been below range. TPOab dropped below first, followed by TGab. I did nothing specific (other than take replacement thyroid hormones) to cause that reduction.

[joey82 in reply to RedApple]

Well I can't be sure of anything really. But I did notice a reduction in both after I cleaned my diet up.

I dont think anyone know the exact science behind auto immune anti bodies.

Just hope the levels stay low as it would nice not to add another level of complications to my current situation.