episode 128: should you see a functional medicine doctor?
It’s finally here! Episode 128 of The Diet Diaries is all about my experience seeing a functional medicine practitioner. Why I went, what it was like, what I learned and what’s next.
I want to be very clear that this episode is NOT medical advice. Please consult your own physician about your specific needs.
Most doctors see us as a bunch of individual parts rather than the complex interconnected ecosystem that we are and it leaves a massive gap in our healthcare. I hope this episode inspires you to get curious about your own health and helps you feel more comfortable in asking questions and getting the information you need to make the best decisions for your body and your life.
This episode is packed with information. I get very personal, as always, and share some really interesting insights and choices I needed to make along the way.
Here’s what I dive into:
The three main concerns I had going in around PCOS, hypothyroidism and GI issues
The foundation of making changes to your wellbeing
How I advocated for myself around my relationship with food and negative body image
The approach taken my nurse practitioner to decide a course of treatment
Each specific test I had and why
Exactly how working with a functional medicine practitioner differs from a traditional doctor
How long the process takes and what results look like
Episode 125 of The Diet Diaries offers additional resources and support around self care and learning how to think about yourself as a complete being rather than a bunch of parts stuck together.
Click here for the functional medicine practice I’m working with.
Click here to join us for Nourishing Notes: Summer Edition.
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[00:00:00] Hey everyone. It is episode 128. I forgot to check before I started recording. Pretty sure it's 1 28. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. Not a huge deal of the Dye Diaries. And this is gonna come out on Monday, May 15th. Wanted to quickly announce a freebie that I am offering. Um, it might sound familiar. This is Nourishing Notes Summer edition.
[00:00:36] I came up with this idea and offered this, um, during the holidays. Last year was like late November to late December, sometime around there. And this is kind of the summer edition, right? We are. Already in the season of get summer ready, get your summer body ready, and it's really kind of, can be overwhelming and we see it at every turn everywhere we go in really insidious, unexpected places as well.
[00:01:00] Um, it's a topic of conversation among. Like ourselves with our friends and there's so much pressure and these thoughts and feelings around like what it means to have a summer body are so deeply ingrained And so Nourishing Notes Summer edition are is 30 days super short emails. It starts May 22nd.
[00:01:17] We'll run through June 22nd. Every morning super early, you'll get an email from me with a specific skill or tip or something to work on around body image geared towards summer. Um, there's gonna be kind of like an educational piece to it so you can understand more about what body m, what body image is and what to look for, and then really specific skills about how to respond to those negative thoughts and how to deal with all of this.
[00:01:43] Um, Kind of bombardment of all this pressure around you all the time. So I'll put the link in those show notes. It's totally free. Um, I loved doing it and the feedback I got over the winter was phenomenal. Um, I love doing these, creating these free offerings for you because these skills are so needed.
[00:02:01] They are so important. And this is not like. I sometimes I think we think, oh, it's free. Like how good can it be? This is really good. Like I put my heart and soul into these things. Um, and I, I give them away for free because I feel so passionately about making sure that you have the skills that you need to feel good about yourself.
[00:02:17] Um, because I have been there and I have done that, and I know how shitty they can be to not have it. So, um, that's up. All right, so heads up. This is going to be a long episode. Um, this is the quote, functional medicine episode. I'm going to talk through my experience seeing a functional medicine practitioner, why I went, what happened, where I'm at in the process.
[00:02:39] Cause it's not over, right? I don't have like an end result to give you, but I can tell you where I'm at and what's coming next. Um, so many of you seemed really into hearing more about this. I've gotten so many people asking me questions. Who are you seeing? What's happening? What are you doing? Um, So I need to say upfront, this is not medical advice.
[00:02:57] I am not giving you medical advice. I am not suggesting that you take the supplements that I am not taking. I'm not suggesting that you do what I am doing. The only suggestion that I'm making that you do what I'm doing is to advocate for yourself, is to ask questions and to keep pushing until you get the support that you need.
[00:03:15] Until you get the answers you need, not necessarily the answers, you want the answers and the information that you need so that you can make the choices. That you need to make for yourself rather than feeling like you are at the mercy of a doctor or a nurse or whoever. It's So I have a whole list here.
[00:03:34] It's long. Um, and I'm just gonna kind of dive in. And so I wanted to start with like why I did this. Um, and the reality is that I had actually. Just kind of looked into seeing someone before Covid and I ended up going back to the same, that same practice. And I realized that cuz when I went to log in, this was a, this was all telehealth, so I've not met and I worked with a nurse practitioner because the doctor's a doctor and a nurse practitioner at this practice.
[00:03:59] And I will link their info, info. Um, they're based in New Jersey, so I'm in New Jersey, so they are local, but it was all telehealth. Um, the doctor had like a four month wait list and I'm like, I don't wanna wait four months. So I saw the nurse practitioner and she's been great. Um, so I definitely. I am totally comfortable and fine working with a nurse practitioner.
[00:04:18] Um, for me it becomes much more about like their experience working with patients and how up to date they are in research and how willing they are to listen to you than it is about like, you know, where you went to medical school 10, 15, 20, 25 years ago, um, in this case, right. Obviously that doesn't apply to everything.
[00:04:38] So, um, I also wanna say, I'm gonna go back to like, So I was talking about, I had started this process about three years ago, and I had gone back in to log in to schedule my appointment. I'm like, and there was an account from three years ago and I had kind of forgotten about it. So this is something that's been with me for a while.
[00:04:55] And, um, the, what kind of got me finally lit the fire under my ass, so to speak, was I went for a physical in December and it was such a, um, Not great experience and just got me so frustrated and fed up with the type of care that's available. Um, And I wanted to find out more. So I have, there are kind of three main, um, say medical issues for lack of a better term that I struggle with or have dealt with that I wanted support with.
[00:05:32] So I went in very specifically wanting support with these three areas. You don't have to do that. You could definitely go in just saying, I just like, Want to get more kind of comprehensive, more thoughtful, insightful support around what's going on with my body. So for me it was around my P C O S, which if you're not familiar, is polycystic ovarian syndrome.
[00:05:49] I was diagnosed when I was 19. Um, it was actually my dermatologist. He's amazing. I actually still go to him that after I had really bad skin, um, I'm gonna say acne, right? I. That's not really a great choice of language. I had really, really tough acne for many, many years. I went on two rounds of Accutane, and if you're not familiar with what Accutane is, it is basically the strongest drug on the market to treat acne.
[00:06:12] It's very, very high doses, orally a vitamin A and it. It's a lot physically. I went through two rounds of that and still was dealing with acne. And I also, I didn't get my period until I was almost 14 and then I never had a regular period. I would get like two periods a year. So the combination of those two symptoms, I.
[00:06:31] And it in, in 19 98, 19 99, P C O S was not widely talked about. Like you can go on Instagram now and you could scroll through your, your Explorer feed and see posts about P C O S. It was not like that. What is that 25? I don't have, or however many years ago. So he was like, I think you might have this. And he sent me to a reproductive endocrinologist who I saw for many, many years.
[00:06:55] And then I ended up, I did have to have fertility treatments to get pregnant with Ben. I have never gotten a regular period in my life. Um, and there are a lot of, uh, P C O S is a kind of a, um, it's a metabolic disorder and it is directly correlated with, um, insulin resistance. And so that is why people with P S C O S often tend to be overweight, carry fat in their bellies.
[00:07:24] Right? That was another symptom that I have. There are many other symptoms, acne hert, which is, uh, body hair in places that women don't typically have. Body hair, um, uh, propensity to gain weight, ver difficulty losing weight. Um, And some of that, a lot of that is caused by insulin resistance. And insulin resistance is basically when your body is just like it says, resistant to insulin, meaning you have to pump out way more insulin than normal to get the sugar in your blood absorbed into your cells.
[00:07:57] That's what insulin does. It shuttles. Blood, uh, sugar from your blood into your cells to go and like do the job that it needs to do. When you are resistant to insulin, your body's not responding to it. So it just keeps, oh, if you're not responding, let's push out more. Let's push out more, let's push out more.
[00:08:13] And that actually causes the body to store more body fat. Um, and also because then you've got sugar kind of sitting around in your bloodstream with nothing to do, and then that will go against stored as fat. So anyway, um, that's a little bit of a sidebar. So P C O S. Um, hypothyroidism, which I was diagnosed with before I got pregnant, and I started medication before I got pregnant.
[00:08:37] It's super important if your thyroid is not functioning properly and you try to get pregnant. It will not go well and this, and while you're pregnant. So I was treated before my pregnancy to get into a good place throughout my pregnancy. And then, so Ben is ele almost 11, so it's been a long time, probably 12 years.
[00:08:53] And then my GI issues, which I, you might have heard me talk about. Um, and I will be very frank and honest about them here. And I'm, again, I'm just warning you, this is gonna be a long episode. Um, um, I ha I struggle with, um, gas and bloating. And when I say gas, I mean like, Farting and I mean like very embarrassing, like smelly farts.
[00:09:14] I'm just being honest with you guys because I always am, and this is life and we are humans and I'm not the only person out there that has struggled with this. Um, I can be myself at home. I'm very lucky in that like. The three of us, me, Ben and Danny, were very open about that stuff, about pooping and farting and whatever.
[00:09:32] It's a whole different story when you go out into public, you go out to dinner with friends and you eat something and you're like, oh my God. It's really embarrassing. Um, not to mention the physical discomfort of it and not, I haven't really been able to find a trigger. Right. It's not like I thought that I had, but then it wasn't consistent.
[00:09:48] I thought maybe it was certain foods, but then it wasn't consistent. And I've tried digestive enzymes and so I really wanted some support to like figure out what was going on. I have to take a sip of a drink, so, and the issue is that, Regular, you know, traditional medicine, you're not looked at as a whole person.
[00:10:12] You're looked at as, as a bunch of parts and you are looked at very basically. So I, I kind of mentioned this and went off on a tangent. I went for a physical in December and she did like a regular panel of blood work in advance. So I go to the physical, I've seen her a couple of times. Uh, when I get sick, I go to urgent care.
[00:10:30] You can't get into a doctor basically anymore, at least around where we are. Um, when you're sick, it's like three days. So if you were really sick and you need to be treated, you have to go to urgent care. It's like that. Even for Ben, it's very different. I grew up, I only ever saw my own pediatrician from like the time I was four to the time I was 18, and we had this wonderful relationship.
[00:10:48] I don't know, it's not like that anymore for me, and I know a lot of other people have shared that as well. Anyway, so I'd seen her like I think once before for a physical, it was a year later, and she's very nice and I'm sure she's a very competent doctor. I really actually blame a lot of this on kind of the structure of our healthcare system and insurance and how many patients that these doctors are expected to see every day.
[00:11:09] Um, I'm not even gonna share her name because it's not really like a personal, not making this personal about hers, me. This is about me. Um, But all of my blood work was in quote, normal levels except for my thyroid. My ts h had gone super high again, so I reached out to my endocrinologist, she adjusted my Synthroid level.
[00:11:28] I went up, but this, this physical, um, my blood work again, quote, normal ranges. And I'm gonna come back to that and address that in a little bit. And she did like the usual check, like my blood pressure and listened to my, my heart and reflexes and whatever. If I was in that room with her for 15 minutes, it was a lot.
[00:11:49] Um, she asked me if I had any questions and I was like, I didn't honestly even feel like at that point that I did. I knew my, I knew my thyroid was off. I knew I was addressing that with my endocrinologist. She knew I was addressing that with the endocrinologist, so that was kind of like a non-issue for her.
[00:12:05] And everything else was quote, normal. She didn't ask me a single question about my nutrition, about my exercise, about my sleep, about my stress, about my quality of life, nothing. And so if you are someone. Who doesn't even know to bring that stuff up, because a lot of people don't. It's like an entire, the arguably the most important part of your care is being overlooked.
[00:12:32] This is why people are on so many medications, because we're not, no one's looking at like the fundamentals about how are you eating? How are you sleeping? How are you managing stress? Are you exercising? Or we're given these blanket guidelines. Oh, make sure you're exercising for 150 minutes a week. That's the doctor tells you.
[00:12:46] That's not helpful. Right. Or they say they come in and you know, your BMI is high, which mine is, my BMI is in the overweight range. She did not mention anything about it. Um, and they're like, oh, you need to lose 10 pounds. You need to lose weight. Okay, thanks. That's not helpful. They don't take into consideration like if you have a history of an eating disorder or disordered eating, right?
[00:13:08] There's just, you are looked at as like the data on your blood work and the output of like these clinical evaluations, these clinical measurements that they take of you, and that's it. And I'm like, no, this is not okay. This is not good enough. I want to know more about what's going on with my body. I have these things going on.
[00:13:26] I didn't really trust or believe that she was going to. Know enough about kind of P C O S and the GI issues. I just, I, I just did not feel comfortable talking to her about this stuff because I didn't feel that she was going to look at me and think about this the way that I wanted to be looked at and the way I wanted to be thought about.
[00:13:46] Um, so that was a really big reason that finally like got the kick in the pants to set up this appointment. Um, so. When I made the appointment, you do. We did a, I think it was around the 90 minutes. It was pretty length. There was 75 minutes. It's a full intake, and they have a form that they're using to make sure they're capturing everything, but it's very detailed.
[00:14:09] It includes everything I mentioned, right? She was like, what do you eat in a day? What's your stress level? How do you sleep? How do you exercise? And more, I can't even remember all the questions, but very comprehensive. Obviously a full history of their family. Um, you know, my medical history going way back.
[00:14:26] What are my goals? What are my main issues? What am I looking for? Support with, um, everything. And then based on that, they send you for a very extensive panel of blood work, right? So when you go for a resco regular physical, With a doctor, it's pretty basic. It's like a cbc, which stands for a complete blood count, and then they'll do like a metabolic panel.
[00:14:47] Um, and then maybe some of them will check your thyroid. I get that because I'm being treated for that, but they're not looking at anything beyond that. So this was way more in depth. She did food allergy testing. She did a celiac test because of my GI stuff. Um, she looked at heavy metals. Um, she looked at, uh, a bunch of cardiac, um, measurements because.
[00:15:13] From some research I have done, I've learned that P C O S actually can put you at higher risk for, um, cardiovascular disease, which is not something I ever knew or some as you get older, right? I'm 43 now. I was 19 when I was diagnosed. Like it's like forever goes another lifetime. I wasn't thinking about that.
[00:15:31] But I've been hearing that you can be at higher risk. I'm like, okay, well I, no one ever told me that. I didn't know that I'm gonna have to advocate for myself and get some information. And as it turns out, one of those markers did indicate that I was in the more moderate risk level and all of my omega three s were super low.
[00:15:46] So that's one of the things that we're treating. Um, so, and I'm trying to remember what was some of the other blood work we did? Um, much more in depth on the thyroid. Um, And all like vitamins, micronutrients, vitamin, vitamins and minerals, of which I was deficient in quite a lot despite eating a really nutritious diet.
[00:16:05] Deficient in a bunch of bees in chromium. Um, coq 10, which is an antioxidant, um, vitamin E I'm trying to think of the other ones. I have my notes here, but off the top of my head, and with that, Those micronutrients matter, right? They're not just like, oh, take your vitamins and make sure you eat all the colors of the rainbow to get like your vitamins and minerals.
[00:16:28] They are essential to your body functioning and doing what it needs to do. And if they are missing, you are really f you'll . You'll be okay, so to speak, like you will live, but things are not gonna be optimal and they can start to have impacts that they can be underlying causes for issues. Um, one of the things we talked about is that the deficiency in the B vitamins could be affecting some of the GI stuff and the way I'm absorbing certain foods and metabolizing certain foods.
[00:16:56] Um, I was really low in chromium, like not even on the, on the, um, Like on the spectrum, it was like less than the lowest number that they have. And chromium is actually linked to, um, how glucose is metabolized in your body. So it connects kind of into the insulin resistance piece, which I'm already at higher risk for because the P C O S, right.
[00:17:18] So I'm taking a chromium supplement, so I'm starting to kind of get into like. The way she put, basically, she connected a lot of dots. So we got the, the results of the blood work and then we get back on a call together. I shared on Instagram, I mean, it was a lot of blood. I've never had this many of those little vials taken before ever.
[00:17:35] Um, it was fine. I don't have a problem with that. But if you go to do this, just be prepared. Like the needle was in my arm for probably 15 or 20 minutes. Like it just takes a while. Um, I also did a stool test, which I will talk about, and I pulled my data. I had done 23 and me a really long time ago, and you can actually get your raw data.
[00:17:55] And then, um, Jenna, who is, who is my nurse practitioner, they pay for another service, I blanking on the name of it, where they then input the raw genetic data and they can get more information about things that you might be at higher risk for. So she did that and the information that came out of that, Matched up with my blood work was like, oh, there's some interesting potential connections here that we want to look at, right?
[00:18:19] It was not like, oh, like we ran like your genetic data and you have this, this, and this. It's just information so that we can make more informed decisions and be looking at me as a whole person instead of just like a whole bunch of parts that happen to be connected. Um, so we did all that and then we met again after I had the results.
[00:18:40] So, um, we did the, had the initial meeting. I probably went for the blood work like a week later and then it takes like a couple of weeks cuz it's so in depth. So we met. And then we didn't have the stool test results yet, so we met, we just went over the blood work and there was a lot to talk about. And then we got the stool test result back, which gave a little bit of kind of extra information.
[00:18:59] So I know everyone, you may or May, I'm gonna say, everyone wants to know, maybe you don't wanna know. The stool test is exactly what you think it is. You poop in the toilet, you put on a glove, you scoop it out, you put it, and they give you this whole kit, and then you follow the instructions. You have to scoop out.
[00:19:15] Parts of your poop into these little containers and you have to mix it. And you're wearing gloves. Does it smell? Yep. It smells, it wasn't as terrible as I thought, but it's what you think it is. Um, I love information. I'm like, I was like all in. I'm like, great, let's do it. Um, so I'm just letting you know also, I have not mentioned this.
[00:19:37] Functional medicine practitioners do not take insurance. This is all out of pocket. I am very lucky and very privileged that I can afford to do this. Um, I'm happy to share costs with you because that's just part of this. Um, the initial consultation was $450. The follow-up calls were one 50. The blood work is covered by insurance, so I had to pay very little for that.
[00:19:57] I go to Quest lab, so that is covered. That was not covered. That would be a non-starter. It's thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars. This type of blood work, um, you're probably, I shouldn't say that, I don't know, but look into it before you go into it. The stool test was a few hundred dollars, I can't remember.
[00:20:14] And then I also ended up doing a SIBO test, which I'll talk about. So I've definitely spent close to a thousand dollars out of pocket on this. Um, and then the cost, I'm taking some supplements right now. There's a cost to that. So, um, there isn't a financial investment and, um, that is the way that things work.
[00:20:32] And I just wanna be really clear and upfront about that and share that with you. Um, So we got all the results of the blood work and I'll kind of just, I figured I would just talk about it. Um, I already sort of talked about some of the micronutrients and how that popped up and how a couple of things were being treated.
[00:20:51] Um, But I'll talk about, I think first the thyroid, cuz that's the biggest thing and that's something I'm still currently as I'm recording this today, on Monday, May 8th, I'm still, we're still working through. So, um, if you're not, I'm gonna give a little bit of, just a little bit of background. If you're not familiar, TSSH stands for Thyroid Stimulating Hormone.
[00:21:09] It's actually released from your pituitary gland in your brain, and it gets your thyroid to do its job. So, When your tssh is really high, it's kind of like the insulin resistance thing. It means that you're pituitary is having to output a lot of that hormone to get the thyroid to DH job. It means the thyroids not being that responsive, so you actually want your tssh to be low.
[00:21:33] Um, and there are different levels. See, I have um, I have what's called Hashimoto's thyroiditis, which is an autoimmune condition, and it just means that the body basically like. Doesn't recognize certain parts of the thyroid as its own, and it kind of attacks it. It's very common. It's kind of one of those things that like, sounds maybe worse than it is.
[00:21:54] And the way you know that you have Hashimotos is because they test your antibodies. And so my antibodies are super high. They always have been. And even with treatment, often the antibodies don't always go down. That doesn't necessarily have to be the goal. Um, so in my ts h I have over the years, my dose of Synthroid.
[00:22:12] Which is the brand name. The generic is called Levothyroxine, which is what I've taken and I'll talk about that, um, has gone up over time. I don't remember what I started at, but right now I'm kind of experimenting with different doses, but it's gone up. So when I had my blood work done for that physical in December, my TS had gone way up.
[00:22:29] It was almost at six, which was the highest it had ever been. Um, and there's different ranges here, right? So this is where we get into what's considered normal. There are some endocrinologists that will look at you and tell you that if your tssh is below six, that you're normal. Um, but a lot of the newer information says that if you're anything above four, that's considered what's called subclinical hypothyroidism, which is not as overt, but can still be problematic.
[00:22:56] What I have learned is that even when I, when my ts h is measuring in the twos or threes, I am not feeling that great and that I feel much better when it's super low, except right now it's super low and there's some other stuff going on, which I'm still trying to figure out and I'll talk a little bit more about that.
[00:23:12] Um, so my endocrinologist had upped my meds in December and then so when my thyroid got checked in February, the TSH had gone way down and went super low to 0.28. Um, and. What Jenna thought, the, my nurse practitioner, she's like, that's too low. So what she did is she actually switched me from the generic levothyroxine to brand name Synthroid.
[00:23:39] Um, because she felt that sometimes with this particular medication there could actually be a difference. So she dropped the dosage back down, switched to brand name, and then we supplemented not a supplement. So we added, cuz this is a medication, uh, you know, a pharmacological medication, um, with t3.
[00:23:54] That's actually the hormone that your thyroid out. Puts. Um, to kind of experiment and see. And so some of the symptoms that I was having that I actually felt, um, and I'm again being totally honest with you guys, coming into the end of last year, um, I was gaining belly fat, not gaining fat in other areas of my body, but my belly was getting fuller.
[00:24:16] Um, not to the point that like I had to change a clothing size, but I could feel that my clothes were getting tighter and I had not changed anything about my eating or my exercising. I really didn't understand. This is kind of what I imagine that postmenopause feels like for women. And then when I got the tssh back, I'm like, oh my God, this makes perfect sense because sometimes, um, if your t your thyroid is off, it can show up as excess belly fat.
[00:24:40] So I went on the higher dose of the medicine in December and that belly fat started to. Not go away. I still have my belly, but that extra, that kind of increase got better. And then we switched these meds in March, right? I went cuz the, then the Tssh Genal got too low, so I dropped the dose, I added the t3, and now the belly fat is back again.
[00:25:04] I think no changes to my eating and no changes to my exercise. It's all been consistent and I have worked on my skills around food for so long now that. In the past, you know, years and years ago, I'd be like, why am I not losing weight? Well, because you're not being honest with yourself about how you're eating.
[00:25:19] Like I know, and I know that something like isn't right. I'm having a couple of other symptoms. I'm having dry mouth. My skin is really dry. So I got my thyroid tested again and the TSH is still low. So I was, honestly, I just got those results on Friday. I was frustrated and upset because I'm like, Something isn't right.
[00:25:35] Like I don't understand. This doesn't make sense. I thought the TSH was gonna be back up, but it wasn't. Some other markers, free T3 and free T4 were low and had gone down still. Then what's considered the normal range, but they were before. So I mentioned that she added t3. My T3 was in that quote, normal range, but it was low and she added treatment anyway.
[00:25:56] And that's something I wanted to talk about because the la, the ranges that are established by like the labs. Are averages and are based on huge like swaths of data and don't necessarily reflect you as like a human being. Like, yes, we need those as benchmarks, but then we need to connect the dots. And that's what she was doing.
[00:26:18] Looking at different pieces of information that came outta this blood work and putting them together because just because. Three things separately are, quote normal when you put them together, maybe they're not. Maybe that's indicative of something going on. There's a story being told is kind of a way to capture it.
[00:26:36] And most doctors are not looking for that story. They are checking the box on each individual number and they are not looking at the sum of the parts as a whole. And to me, that is what a good functional medicine practitioner will do. Um, There are are, it's just a little bit of a sidebar, but something I did wanna talk about.
[00:26:57] There are a lot of functional medicine practitioners out there who. Um, are not practicing great medicine and we'll send you for tests that are useless, like food sensitivity tests a waste of time. Those are not giving you information. I was food allergy tested. That's very different. Food sensitivity tests, you're gonna come up as showing sensitive because if that food is in your body, you have a natural immune response to it.
[00:27:21] And there's different, I'm not, I'm not even any type of an expert on this, but there's, um, IgE mediated. Immune responses. And then there's IgG and there's other ones. There's different ways that your immune system responds to foods and some are normal and healthy and some is like an allergic reaction.
[00:27:40] Food sensitivity tests don't test the allergic kind. They test the sensitivity, and that doesn't really tell you anything. Um, there's also another test called the DUTCH test, which is a dried urine test, which all the signs shows that that is not an accurate way to get information, so you have to. Be aware, there are some people who will say that certain outcome, um, certain data to come outta the stool test is not useful, but there's other data that is.
[00:28:03] So I also did a little bit of my own research on this to make sure like that this makes sense and I was like, okay, this is worth it to get even a little bit of information. And it sent me to go get a CBO test, which I ended up being negative for. So it was helpful in that way. Um, cuz she checked for parasites, she checked for all kinds of things.
[00:28:18] That was really helpful. And then some of the information is maybe not as relevant. So you wanna do your own research and not just take everything that any doctor tells you at face value, you have to advocate for yourself. So I just kind of wanted to mention that, um, as a little bit of a sidebar. Um, so I was kind of talking about, you know, looking at this as a whole and, and.
[00:28:42] You want someone who's going to see what the story is and to connect the dots, and that's what she did. And that was really in interesting to me. So like for instance, um, I had my fasting insulin tested and it was again, within the normal range. However, for someone with a history of P C O S, there is new research showing that the range that I was in could actually be considered moving into borderline insulin resistance.
[00:29:10] That's really help. That's it's new research, right? So this isn't something you make sweeping decisions on, but it's something that you kind of put in your back pocket and you take into consideration. So then we see that with the super low chromium, and I'm looking at some of the other notes that I had around this cuz there was one other thing.
[00:29:26] Um, there was something else around glucose. Um, I can't find it, but it doesn't matter that that needs to be addressed and that we really need to keep an eye. On that insulin level and see what happens like with the addition of the chromium, does that drop a little bit? Right? Does that fasting insulin go down?
[00:29:46] Cause we want it to go down right? Higher. Higher fasting insulin is than, as the number goes up, it means there's more insulin. It indicates insulin resistance. You want to be insulin sensitive. It's like a little counterintuitive. It sounds bad, but you want to increase your insulin sensitivity and. One of a really, a proven way to do that is through exercise, especially strength training, which I do.
[00:30:08] That is one of the reasons I have been really on top of my strength training. Not doing like three, one hour sessions a week, but being consistent with what I can do, um, because I know that it's really important for my, it's really important for everyone's health. But this is one specific thing that I have in my mind because, Um, I have more of a predisposition to type two diabetes now.
[00:30:31] My blood work right now is okay, like my A1C levels are okay. That's what checks your blood sugar levels over a three month period. Um, I eat a really nutritious diet. I pay attention to my carbohydrate intake and that I am aware of the portions of carbs. I'm having it every meal. Not in a restrictive way, not in a dieting way, in a, this is what I know my body needs kind of way.
[00:30:53] Right? Um, you know, Eating a super, super high carbohydrate diet on a regular basis can have physical and health-based implications. It just does. Um, and it's also hard to move away from that because we live in a world where the most, the easiest foods to get and to buy into shop for to eat are carbs.
[00:31:14] Right? And so there's a, there's so much environmental stuff that's happening as a part of this, and that's why the skills around food are so, so important. Um, so again, like I'm just, I just wanna kind of. Share with you how some of these dots were connected. Um, so I also wanted to talk about, I'm just looking at some of my notes.
[00:31:35] I'm going through stuff, capturing all of this. Um, okay. So my GI stuff. So we kind of talked about P C O S, we've talked about the thyroid stuff, which is still in process. So let me actually close the loop on that. Um, I just mentioned I went for blood work. I just got it back on Friday. By the time you hear this, it'll be a week later and I'll have connected with Jenna by then.
[00:31:55] I don't know, we're gonna see what happens. Um, maybe we'll play around with medication adjusting doses. Maybe we need more time. Um, maybe there's something else going on. But I can feel a shift in my body and I don't know. Exactly what's causing it. Um, but I think this also speaks to being connected and paying attention to what's happening in your body and advocating for yourself, right?
[00:32:19] That blood work is giving us a piece of information, a piece of data, but what I feel in my own body is also a piece of information. And that also matters, and that also counts. And I think that's where things break down, is doctors see data on a page and it's either quote good or quote bad. But it's like, what's happening in that person's life?
[00:32:38] What's their lived experience of that data? Does it fit, does it not fit? And what does that mean? Um, these are the gaps to me in traditional medical care. So, great. I'm, I'm happy that, like this says that my tssh is a normal level, but I can feel in my body that something isn't right. Like I have had a dry mouth for a month now.
[00:32:58] I've never experienced that before. And that's a symptom of. Of, of low thyroid and, and sometimes the data is not like that. Blood work doesn't necessarily capture the full picture of what's going on. And you need to look at multiple pieces of blood work. And there are, I'm not skilled in interpreting this.
[00:33:15] I don't know how to do that. But she's also tested several other, um, kind of measurements of the thyroid that I'm hoping when we connect, you're gonna tell a more exact complete story. Right. Same thing. I have to take a drink.
[00:33:33] So the stool test showed that I had a lot of fat in my fecal matter, which can cause gas, and that I wasn't absorbing certain nutrients. So, um, we did do a SIBO test. Which Taibo is a, that's an acronym. It's S I B O, and it stands for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. It was negative. If you follow me on Instagram, I talked about it.
[00:34:00] You gotta breathe into this thing and you can only eat like super bland diet for 24 hours. That was negative. Um, so it's not that and. It. So, and what's great is that my DIA issues have been better. I've not changed anything about my food, but I am on a bunch of supplements which clear, clearly are impacting how my body is digesting and metabolizing some of these foods and absorbing them kind of throughout, like into the small intestine.
[00:34:28] Um, um, and that makes sense cause that was why she put me on some of these, kind of, specifically for that reason, things that I wasn't absorbing well. Are being supplemented and it's clearly having impact. Is it a hundred percent better? No, I would never expect it to be a hundred percent better. That's not my goal.
[00:34:45] My goal is progress and I can now eat foods that I thought may have been triggers and even foods that I really, what, because sometimes it would happen. I'd be like, I don't even, this isn't even doesn't, this is normally a food that this happens with. I don't know why this is happening. Or I'm also very sensitive to like, um, Like I can't, I can't sit on a floor and eat because I'm bending over and it puts a lot of pressure like on my abdomen, and it causes gas and it causes pain.
[00:35:12] Like I have a L just, I'm very sensitive in that area. I always have been. I, sidebar story, never forget my eighth grade trip to Washington DC We stopped and had lunch along the way, and we had pizza and ice cream. Something about it upset my stomach and I was in such agony with stomach cramps and having to have diarrhea.
[00:35:31] I will never forget. I had to tell a teacher and she had to rush me to the front of a line at a museum bathroom so I could like go have diarrhea, um, when you're in eighth grade, like that's mortifying and that was not like a one time thing. Um, I've had a sensitive stomach for as long as I can remember.
[00:35:50] Um, And you know, sometimes that's just like part of our bodies and we accept those things and we know how to manage them, but sometimes it becomes disruptive to our quality of life, which is what this has become for me over the last like handful of years. And so over the past six weeks, it's definitely better.
[00:36:06] Does it still happen? Yes, but it's less frequent and less, um, less bad, less intense. So that's great. I'm feeling really good about that and I'm really happy about that. Um, I wanted to talk about, oh, I wanted to talk about one other thing. I'm just looking at this. Um, I talked about P C O S. I have been on birth control for a very long time.
[00:36:39] And I have used it as a way to, um, control the acne. Um, like when I was pregnant with Ben, my acne got bad again. Um, when I was off of birth control to try and get pregnant, my acne was bad again. So I have used it for that. Um, there's a lot of people out there who will not agree with that and say, that's a problem.
[00:36:57] Why not? I've been on birth control for a very long time. There are some upsides to birth control and that it lowers your risk of certain cancers. But I'm actually also coming to an age at almost 43, where in the next few years I am gonna have to come off of it because certain risks increase as you get closer to menopause.
[00:37:12] And so we have to, I have to address that. Um, but it's also putting, you know, uh, synthetic estrogen into your body. Low dose. I'm on a super low dose pill. But I don't get a period from it. So I have not gotten a period in a very, very long time, which, um, makes my life easy. Like it's an upside. It's great.
[00:37:32] And so one of the things we were looking at, um, is Jenna kind of wanted to see what's, what's sort of happening with that. And so there was some information in the stool test that showed that an enzyme. That limits the clearing of certain toxins, including estrogen. I'm not saying estrogen is a toxin, but there's an enzyme that helps to clear certain things out of your bloodstream was, um, super high, which means if it limits that clearing and it's super high, then it means that.
[00:38:00] It's not letting those things get cleared. Hopefully that makes sense. So, um, I'm taking a supplement right now to kind of, to kind of check that cuz that can also, I didn't even know this, that can have an impact on GI stuff. Um, I didn't know that birth control and sometimes that, um, synthetic estrogen can cause GI distress and issues.
[00:38:21] I didn't know that. So we're experimenting with the supplement to see what happens and then we'll recheck. So the supplements I've only been taking. Um, by the time you, it'll be, it's coming up on two months and so we don't check those for three months. Right. So that's what I mean. This is still in process.
[00:38:36] I don't have like final results. I don't think there really are like final results. Right. We kind of experimented with something with the thyroid meds. I don't really love where things are at with that right now. We did blood work. We're gonna talk and have a conversation and see, and I'm happy to update you guys, you know, in another month or six weeks or maybe, maybe it's after I get the blood work with the supplements, um, to kind of share with you how this process is going.
[00:38:57] Cuz it is a process. Um, and it has, you have to give it time cuz you have to give your ti your body time to adapt to these new inputs that you're doing. Um, I wanted to talk about. Like nutrition and exercise and sleep and all that because that is really like the first line of action for me. Those things are already in a really good place.
[00:39:21] I exercise regularly. I do a mix of walking and strength training and some more intense cardiovascular work. I sleep really well. My quality of sleep is great. Um, Right now I'm in. I don't have a lot of stress in my life. Obviously I have some stress, but I manage it pretty well and I eat a really nutritious diet, so there weren't a lot of levers to pull there.
[00:39:41] Um, many functional medicine practitioners will write off the bat, go to cut out dairy and cut out gluten, especially around thyroid stuff. There is some not helpful research that says that gluten can. Cause thyroid issues. But what the research actually shows is that maybe it could, cutting out gluten could decrease the amount of, uh, treatment that you need a little bit, but you're, it's not gonna like get rid of it.
[00:40:13] You're not gonna suddenly go from someone who has hypothyroidism to someone who doesn't because you cut out gluten. The research does not show that. And so then if everything is a cost benefit analysis, right, then it becomes. The, the cost of cutting out gluten for someone like me who has a history of pretty severe disordered eating, well, what's the benefit?
[00:40:34] I'm still on Synthroid and now I've caused all these, all these, um, mental health issues because I'm no longer allowed to eat gluten. Um, My inflammation markers were all really low, so I'm not having an issue with those foods from an inflammation standpoint. So again, this is like a story. You are looking at all these different pieces and evaluating and making decisions based on all this information combined.
[00:40:58] The, the blood work, that data, but then also what's happening in your body? What's your history, what's your mental health like? What, this is a whole complete picture. This to me is what functional medicine, what a practitioner should be looking at, not sending you for like crazy, ridiculous, bogus tests.
[00:41:16] Getting more information and comprehensive information, but then using it in a really helpful way. So to blanket say cut out dairy, cut out gluten. If, if a, if someone says that to you, go, you're done. That's it. I, that's what I would say. Go find someone else. And I wanna share with you an experience I had.
[00:41:32] Um, I'm not gonna share any names, but I had posted something on Instagram completely unrelated to this. This is maybe a month or six weeks ago. I was kind of in process with this and a woman that I know who, um, has some type of like certification, she's not a functional medicine doctor, but has some type of like, certification.
[00:41:51] I don't know. Commented on this post basically telling me that I need to cut out dairy. That that is, that's like not step one price of entry. You have to cut out dairy and, and then she listed out all these other things I need to be doing. It was, it was, So inappropriate to be posting these comments on an Instagram post that literally had nothing to do with this.
[00:42:14] And essentially in a way, like soliciting her, her services. Um, and I responded to her, I sent her a private message because I was like, I'm gonna do this very respectfully. And I was like, someone who has a history of disordered eating, you cannot just cut out food groups like that. It's not that simple.
[00:42:32] It's not that simple for anyone, but for someone like me, and like many of you listening, cutting out dairy and cutting out gluten could have a huge mental health of locations. It would for me. You guys know how much dairy I eat in the form of yogurt and cottage cheese. I barely drink milk at all, and I actually don't eat a ton of ice cream, but I eat a ton of shit, ton of Greek yogurt.
[00:42:53] I eat a shit ton of cottage cheese and the very thought of giving up those foods. Brings up a lot of scary stuff for me, and I had that conversation with Jenna and she was like, I totally get it. We are not gonna go there unless there were some biological clinical reason and this was a major cause for your GI distress.
[00:43:14] That would be a different case, but there wasn't. So to do that, just because like it because people think that dairy is inflammatory. For some people dairy might be inflammatory, but for some people it's totally fine. So again, Nothing is that simple. There's nuance and there was a whole complete person you are dealing with and someone's mental health and their history with their body.
[00:43:38] And food is an essential part of this picture. And I wanna be very clear that Jenna was very respectful of that and she heard me and she understood that. And that is a part of some of the decisions that we made. Um, so I, that's just, I just wanna share that because. It's just not, things are just not that simple and anyone who blanket tells you this is just what you need to do.
[00:44:04] Like, no. You have to take into consideration like, yes, of course there's guidelines around nutrition, but cutting out entire food groups like that unless you're, unless you have celiac disease, which I was tested for, or you have lactose intolerance, right, right off the bat. Yes. Okay. Then you know your body is having a, a physical.
[00:44:24] Like illness in response, and that's something that has to be addressed. But you know, foods that are causing inflammation, potentially foods that are causing some type of other physical distress. Yes, it needs to be addressed, but it needs to be looked at in the context of like who you are as a person. Um, So I just wanted to share that and kind of go back to that, like around the nutrition, the sleep, the exercise, the stress management, like those are your foundations.
[00:44:50] And any good functional medicine practitioner is gonna start there before adding in supplements. Like if you're not eating like any protein or you're barely eating any fruits and vegetables, you can take all the supplements in the world. It's not gonna make up. For that basic stuff. And if you're not exercising, you know, again, like those foundational pieces have to be in place for me.
[00:45:10] They already were. And I'm not saying that in like a bragging kind of way. I'm saying it in a very matter of fact way. Like I have prioritized that stuff in my life. That stuff was in place. This is about going in and seeing, well some of this clearly like isn't doing everything it needs to and we need extra support and extra help.
[00:45:25] And that's great. And that's fine. Um, So I just kind of wanted to come back to that, and I'm just looking through my notes. I think I'm actually kind of through most of this. All right. 45 minutes. Not too bad. Not too bad. Um, I did wanna talk about, oh, I wanted to talk about. Briefly, I mentioned this. Two more things.
[00:45:49] I know I'm a little outta order. I mentioned before a little bit how I had learned that having P C O S can put you at higher risk for, um, some cardiovascular issues as you get to a certain age. And then we saw in my blood work that my omega three s were really low and omega three s are widely known as being a really important contributor to heart health.
[00:46:09] So I'm taking an omega-3 supplement. Yes, I do eat salmon, but I can't eat most people. Can't often eat as much of that and get as much of those through food as you might need to. Um, and one of the markers, do I have noted what it was? Um, I don't think I have it noted because I didn't, honestly, I didn't really wanna get into the specifics of like, All the supplements and all the tests and whatnot, because again, this isn't medical advice.
[00:46:36] This is much more about the, the, the bigger picture. Someone seeing you and putting together these things as a story and you advocating for yourself than it is about like the specific things that I'm doing, which are unique to me, and they're gonna be different than what you need. Um, I did talk a lot about the thyroid stuff though, because that is pretty common.
[00:46:53] Um, and I think just can be helpful. Um, so anyway, so this, she did this, um, a test around cardiovascular and I was in the moderate. Level, I'm exercising, um, I'm getting my heart rate up. I'm strength training. I'm eating high protein. I am, you know, aware of like I'm eating the amount of fat that is, fits my body's energy needs.
[00:47:15] And I'm now supplementing with the omega three s, um, I'm supplementing with the bees. I mentioned that a lot of the, I don't know if I did mention this, but a lot of my B vitamins were super, super low, so I'm supplementing with that as well. Um, and I guess I just wanted to mention one other piece. Not connected to what I just talked about, but back to the thyroid thing and back to how I'm feeling in my body as I have felt and seen these changes in my stomach, which you guys already know is, uh, my most kind of challenging body part.
[00:47:45] I have had to do a lot of work. A lot of work, and I've shared a little bit. I'm gonna get a little emotional. I think I've shared a little bit of that with you guys, um, on social media. If you follow me. Um, it's very hard to be. To have worked so hard on all of these skills around food and be in such a good place with that mentally.
[00:48:06] And then to have changes happening physically in my body that don't line up with that. Um, it brings up thoughts of going back to a place where I'd be like, I'm on a diet. I'm on a diet. Why am I not losing weight even though this is not that? Those old thoughts are there. And I've had to do a lot of work about staying connected to my values, staying consistent in my, um, actions around food and the choices I make around food and paying attention.
[00:48:35] Um, and the way that I talk to myself, um, when I get dressed and I, and I put on clothes. I feel awesome, and that is why I do that. I, I do that for me and I share those photos with you guys. Um, when I put on a pair of jeans that started to feel tight at the end of last year, and then I switched my meds and felt not like loose again, this is not like, this is not significant amounts of weight.
[00:48:59] This, this is subtle. This is things I feel internally feel tight or, or it felt, felt, felt tight, felt better, and now feel tight again. I'm like, why is, why is this happening? This is like, this is really frustrating, and I have looked at myself in the mirror naked and said to myself, you're doing everything you need to be doing right now to take care of yourself.
[00:49:21] You are eating in a way that feels good, that is nourishing your body. You are exercising in a way that is challenging, but also feels good. You will figure this out. This is okay. This is not because you have done anything wrong. You are doing all the things, all the skills, all the work. And we will figure this out.
[00:49:42] This is not a reflection on something you have done wrong. There is nothing wrong with your body. There's nothing wrong with what you're doing. These are literally the things that I have said to myself looking in the mirror, looking at my body. Um, it is the most kind of intense. Form of self-compassion, right?
[00:50:00] I have to accept what is happening right now. I don't know exactly why it's happening. It's very challenging for me mentally and emotionally. And also I know that the things that I can control, food, self-care, self-talk, exercise, I am controlling and that's all that I can do. That is self-compassion. And I'm sharing that with you guys to let you know that like.
[00:50:26] I think some people, sometimes people think that, oh, you're a coach. You've got this all figured out. That's not it. And if you ever find a coach that tells you that run, because we are all humans and we are all going through stuff, and sometimes I share a lot, almost everything, um, in this space because I want to let you know that you're not alone.
[00:50:48] Um, and that this work never ends. It never ends. And I will say that until the day that I die. It will ebb and flow. It will get easier. The skills will become more at your disposal. They will get easier to use. You will always have to use them. If you come from the background and the history that I do, which if you're listening to this, you do probably these thoughts, these challenges.
[00:51:17] The body type that you have is part of who you are, is very deeply ingrained. And it doesn't just like go away. Um, so I just wanted to share that like, you know, this is an ongoing process and, um, I'll continue to share if there's anything that I missed. If you have any specific questions, feel free to reach out.
[00:51:45] I'm happy to share pretty much anything. Um, And I think that's really everything. I'm just kind of scrolling through my notes. Um, I think I kind of captured everything that I wanted to include. Thank you for listening. All right. 52 minutes. I was thinking it was gonna be over an hour. Not bad. Um, I really appreciate you guys being here.
[00:52:11] Um, the podcast is growing, which is amazing if you're sharing it with someone. I so appreciate it. Share if you share it with one person, it's huge. Um, thanks for being here. Nourishing Note, summer edition coming up, and I will be back of course next week.