My Visit to the Functional Medicine Practitioner

My saga continues......

So, I followed Dr. Hyman's book, "The Ultramind Solution" like the bible.  I even did his "Ultra Simple Diet" (which is anything but simple!)  Taking the supplements he recommends and following his advice did help me to get off of sugar which is something I've never been able to do before.  However, I still felt rotten!  I kept reading more and more of his books, trying to find answers.  Every week, I thought I had a new issue and would buy corresponding supplements.  (By the way -  do NOT take any of the amino acids he recommends unless a doctor tells you that you need them!  I had self-diagnosed and was taking several different amino acids which threw my levels way off.)  Finally, I decided I needed help from someone who knew what they were doing!

I went to see a Functional Medicine Practitioner.  (I sometimes call her a "holistic doctor" although she's not, because people don't know what a Functional Medicine Practitioner is.)  A Functional Medicine Practitioner is a doctor who looks at how your body is functioning before they prescribe things in order to help the body do its job.  Anyway, I found one in my area by going to the Functional Medicine site.   I'll call her Dr. Cooper.  Dr. Cooper is also a conventionally-trained doctor.  She uses both conventional and alternative medicine  (whichever one she thinks will be more effective for your specific problems, or a combination of both).

The thing I liked most about Dr. Cooper is that she listened!  How many times have we gone to see a doctor and he/she is writing a prescription before you even finish telling them what's wrong?  When you go for a first-time visit with Dr. Cooper however, she schedules 4 hours of time for you.  I had no idea what would take so long, but she was very thorough in her questioning, plus she had her staff do lots of tests.  What a Functional Medical Practitioner does is look at your body, test your blood, etc. to see where there are imbalances BEFORE they prescribe things.

Here's what I found out on my initial visit:
 1.  There is Candida Yeast in my blood.  I saw it!  They put a drop of your blood under the microscope and let you see it too as they explain what you're seeing.  My blood cells were beautiful!  It's really cool to see your own blood cells on a screen.  I even saw a white blood cell doing its thing.  The Dr. said, "Isn't it cute?  It thinks it's still in your body and it's protecting you!"  There were some dark chunks which the cells kept running into and were slowed down by.  I asked "what is this?"  and they told me "that's yeast".  This made me really want to give my cells what they need and to get rid of the yeast which was slowing them down.  Dr. Cooper prescribed "Diflucan" to kill the yeast.
(Note:  The only way yeast can get into your bloodstream is if there's an overgrowth in your digestive tract (we all have some Candida in our gut, but sometimes it can get out of hand).  Runners from the yeast organism can puncture your gut and that's how it gets into your blood.   Most conventional doctors in this country don't even believe in it.  More on this later.)

2.  My body was craving B vitamins.  My levels of both B and D were very low.

3.  My hormones were out of whack.  (Not surprising considering how much estrogen I had to inject into my body when I was doing fertility treatments.)  Dr. Cooper recommended that I use a natural, plant-based Progesterone Cream called "Femarone".  You can get it without a prescription and you just rub it on your belly every day on certain days during your cycle.  (Note:  Do NOT take this or any medication I mention without the advise and supervision of your doctor.  I'm only documenting my own progress here, not telling you what you should take.)

4.  I had high amounts of "bad" bacteria in my gut.  Dr.  Cooper recommended the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, and recommended the book, "Breaking the Vicious Cycle" by Elaine Gottschall.  (From what I understand, Celiacs, Crohn's Disease, and IBS patients benefit from this diet as well.)

5.  I have problems metabolizing sugar.  This is not surprising since Diabetes runs in my family.  I don't have it (and am not even pre-diabetic), but there's an issue there.  Dr. Cooper told me to take "MetaglycemX" twice a day to help my body deal with sugars.

The above things were just what I found out on my first visit.  To find out more in depth what was going on with my body, they took a lot of blood and scheduled me for a stool test and urinalysis.  (Don't worry, I won't go into detail about that!) 


If you have health issues like I did (and do), a Functional Medicine Practitioner may be just what the doctor ordered!

My Blood

This is what my blood looked like about 5 months ago.  I visited a "Functional Medicine Practitioner".   (More on this visit coming soon!)  They put a drop of my blood under a microscope, then showed it to me on a computer screen.  This is a photo of the print-out they sent me home with: 

As you can see, my blood is relatively healthy.  The only problem is that some of the cells are not quite perfectly round.  Can you see the slightly misshapen ones?  Dr. Cooper says that blood cells function more efficiently when they are perfectly round and that taking fish oil is one thing that can help with this.

The globby-looking things are white-blood cells (except for in the bottom right picture).  I could actually see them moving!  The really bright thing is something that a white blood cell sends out to help fight disease.  (I forget what she said this was called.  Cyto-something or other?  Can a medical friend help me out here?)  This is all what it's supposed to do. 

In the picture on the bottom left, there are two cells that are misshapen  because they are running into something dark.  Do you see this?  I was told that this is yeast!  (You can see a smaller piece on the right of the pic as well.)  The poor cells were trying to do their job even though the yeast was getting in their way.  I kinda felt sorry for them.  I have to say, if you need motivation to eat right, have someone show you your blood cells.  Just seeing them makes you want to give them what they need!

Below is a slightly clearer picture: 

 

The bottom two rows are additional pictures which were taken in negative. They did this because you can see the yeast more easily. The yeast looks similar to the white blood cells in these pictures, but if you saw them live on the screen you can totally tell the difference. The white blood cells move and change shape. The yeast is darker and it floats around without changing shape.  What  you see in these negative images is yeast.  

What Do I Eat in a Restaurant?

Sometimes, you just gotta go to a restaurant.  Here are some safe options that work for me:

1.  Chinese Food - The big ironic thing is that Chinese food got slammed for having MSG in it several years ago.  Since then, most Chinese restaurants have cleaned up their act and proudly boast "No MSG" on their signs.  Steamed rice with stir-fried veggies with shrimp or chicken is the way to go.  (Avoid the fried foods and sweet sauces.)

2.  Greek/Lebanese Food - Lots of choice here!  I like to get the chicken shwarma meat with several vegetable side dishes.  (Sauteed eggplant, pan-fried cauliflower, and mustard greens are my favs.)  Other good options:
-stuffed grape leaves (get them to hold the yogurt sauce though)
-mujadrah (but only if it's with lentils and rice.  Not the cracked wheat!)
-stuffed bell peppers or squash
-any kind of meat with rice pilaf
-hummous and veggies (avoid the pita bread)
-lentil soup

3.  Japanese (*Note:  I am reconsidering this option for me b/c of the MSG content from seaweed.  Avoid the seaweed-containing items if you think you have trouble with it.) - miso soup, edamame, seaweed salad, sushi rolls (yes, I know they put a bit of sugar in the rice, but I figure it's not terrible to have it as a treat every now and then), sashimi, salmon, scallops, cucumber salad, etc.
Avoid the tempura.

4.  Thai - I love Tom Yum soup!  (lemongrass soup with shrimp and mushrooms)  Also, I usually get the Pad Thai because it's made with rice noodles.  Again, lots of options here.

5.  Indian Food - Love it!  You can get poppadoms (like crackers but made with chickpea flour), breads made with lentil flour, and many variations of meat, veggies, and rice.  Avoid the naan breads, fried foods, and cream sauces, but you'll still be spoiled for choice.   

6.  Any restaurant will have some kind of fish with vegetables.  That's my default option.  Also, steak-houses are good (if you're non-vegetarian).

Again, if you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear them!

Non-Perfect Health Day

You know how I said I'm feeling tons better but not perfect these days?  Well, today was a non-perfect day for sure.  I woke up with a headache in the middle of my forehead and nausea.  It wasn't a full-blown migraine, but it was still miserable.  Sometimes, taking a Maxalt works, and sometimes it doesn't.  Today it didn't.  I still was able to go to work and function, but it wasn't fun.  (Especially when teaching kids with drums!)

Do you know how frustrating it is to make such an effort to make all these changes and still have these symptoms?  Also, I'm not really sure what caused it so I don't know how to prevent it the next time.  The only two things I can come up with are the change in weather and the Tamari (a type of soy sauce) I had in my food last night.

We had a drastic weather change last night.  It suddenly got really wet and cold.  I find my symptoms worsen whenever it rains and when there is high barometric pressure.  I hate this because there's really not a lot I can do about it!

It could be the Tamari.  (Which is sad because I love it!)  There is some MSG in Tamari, but I tell myself it's okay because it's a natural form and it's not too concentrated.  However, maybe it isn't okay!  For dinner last night, I made steak with broccoli and sauteed mushrooms.  I love putting Tamari in the mushrooms to give them some flavor.  I suspect it may have been this because I had leftovers for lunch today and immediately felt worse.  Next time, I guess I'll just use garlic and olive oil.  

This just goes to show that I have not figured out all the answers yet and am still on the journey.  My goal is to stop these symptoms and never have a headache with nausea again!

Pictures of Progress

Here are some pictures of me which help to show my progress so far.

June 2009 - At my heaviest (195 lbs.):

November 14, 2009 - 175 lbs:        Today, (March 2, 2010) - 168 lbs:

As you can see, I've still got a long way to go but it's a start.  For my height (5'3"), I should be around 130 or so.  I did fall off the wagon around Christmas and ate wheat, dairy, and sugar so that did slow down my progress.  However, I'm back on now with a vengeance!

MSG Update

A friend of mine found this article about MSG.  I'm glad she did because it has some good information and also points out that not everyone has a problem with it.  I know that I do because I get distinctive symptoms every time I eat it.  I would suggest giving it up for two weeks for so, then try adding it back and see what happens.  I think the natural form that comes from seaweed is probably not too harmful.  However, highly processed and concentrated forms of it should be avoided in my opinion.

Ideas for Lunch on the Go

Since my quest for health led me to do away with fast and pre-packaged food, I had to come up with some easy and quick ideas for lunch.  I work full-time, so they had to be portable as well.  An insulated lunch box with an ice-pack makes life easier.  Also, when I can, I go ahead and put leftovers from supper into a tupperware to have for lunch the next day.

Here are some ideas:

1.  Salmon and broccoli:
-a can of salmon (they have "pop-top" ones these days)
-a half of a lemon
-frozen broccoli with sea salt and oregano

(Note:  Frozen veggies are life savers!  No need to prep.  I put them in a container and put them in my lunch box.  They keep the food cold as they slowly melt.  By lunch time, they've thawed out and you only need a minute to heat them up.  Genius!)

2.  Hummous and avocado sandwich with tomato and cucumber on rice bread.  I like to have grapes and carrot sticks with it.

3.  Soup  (You can either make it and freeze it into 1 serving portions, or get healthy canned soup.  Make sure there are no preservative or MSG though.  I like Amy's soups.) 

4.  Salad:
-whatever greens and veggies you want
-whatever protein you want (beans, sardines, turkey, nuts, hard-boiled egg, etc.)
-dress with olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, and oregano
 

After lunch, I like have hot tea with either soy or almond milk.  I bring it to work with me in a thermos.  Sometimes I have it with some nuts.  I'm not going to say it's as good as a dessert, but it eliminates my craving for one!

(Note:  Actually, nuts are another life-saver!  I always have a small container of them on hand in case I get hungry.  It saves me from caving in and eating something I shouldn't.  Brazil nuts have really grown on me lately.)

Any other ideas out there?  I'm all ears!