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Functional vs Integerative Medicine

Digestive Health | Last Active: Mar 29, 2019 | Replies (9)

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@suemer

I have been hearing for something called "Functional Medicine" that is related to more than just drugs for your health issues. Does anyone have any information or does Mayo Clinic have any department that addresses this?

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Replies to "I have been hearing for something called "Functional Medicine" that is related to more than just..."

I'm new to Mayo (first appt today), so not sure if they have anything. From my initial perusals of these forums and online content, they seem to 'debunk' much of what Functional Medicine has to say. But I've found Functional Medicine to be a more fruitful path than traditional medicine, esp for a cluster of symptoms that traditional docs don't seem to understand as parts of a whole. Functional Medicine practitioners do, like all providers, really range from the great to the terrible, so do your research and find one of the great ones, even if they're not geographically close to you. Many do video consults. Don't bother with their lower-cost 'coaches' or 'practitioners,' they're still in training; make an appt with the MD directly. And if you don't see improvement in 1-2 months, move on to the next one. https://www.ifm.org/

Hi @suemer . I am currently working with a functional medicine doctor. He works on getting to the root cause of my illness. For example, I was having obvious low cortisol symptoms -- debilitating fatigue, salt cravings, increased thirst, hypoglycemia and more. The endocrinologist however simply looked at my blood work and since my cortisol was in the "normal" lab reference range, he dismissed me. A functional medicine doctor will look at the entire picture and take in to consideration optimal levels. My cortisol and other labs were NOT at optimal levels. Anyway, those issues are now being addressed and I am seeing improvements. I think there is a Functional Medicine Clinic that is part of the Cleveland Clinic. I am not sure about the Mayo Clinic though. I have been dealing with recurrent Epstein-Barr and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. From what I understand, Mayo does not deal with those things. In fact, their website info is not even up to date with the CDC when it comes to CFS. I'm not sure if this is helpful. Hopefully others will chime in. I wish you the best in your healing journey.