Chronic Advocate

It may be a bit alternative – but was the best thing I ever did when the conventional system couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me or offer me any effective treatments.

Functional medicine testing can look for chronic bacterial and viral infections, mitochondrial dysfunction, autoimmunity, genetic variants impacting methylation and metabolism, and food sensitivities that can play a role in complex presentations such as those involving post-exertional malaise, fatigue, unexplained weakness, POTS symptoms, flu-like symptoms, tics, psychiatric symptoms that do not respond to conventional interventions, chronic inflammation and more. This approach should be used in conjunction with the conventional medical system to rule out more well-known and easily treatable issues. Many functional doctors were once conventional doctors. Functional medicine didn’t cure me but it did save my life, give me a diagnosis, and give me a better quality of life. Not all functional practitioners are created equal – check their qualifications and what tests and treatments are offered.

The functional approach can be good for issues that do not have straightforward treatment under the conventional system and which can be associated with numerous different factors. The functional approach allows for personalised interventions and can be a life‑saver for people who do not respond to conventional interventions that don’t address the individual’s root causes.

Functional medicine testing discovered:

• My Lyme Disease, which allowed me to get treatment that saved my life (The Buhner protocol and LDN) by reducing breathing issues, muscle weakness, swallowing issues, vomiting, the need to eat frequently, loss of sensation, irregular heartbeats, liver stress, and more.
• Slow methylation due to 12 genetic SNPs – this allows me to now take methylated forms of B vitamins in supplement form so that my body has the building blocks needed for things like DNA repair and neurotransmitter synthesis.
• Slightly raised lactic acid levels which proved that my severe muscle weakness wasn’t simply a “difference in perception caused by Autism” like a conventional doctor decided within 5 minutes of seeing me.
• Food sensitivities triggering neuroinflammation. Eliminating these got me off antipsychotics and allowed me to stay in mainstream school by reducing my tics.

Places I have gotten functional medicine testing over the years:

• The Smart Nutrition Website
• The Academy of Nutritional Medicine – online ordering
• Through a doctor in America that sends test kits to people in the UK and analyses them.
• Lifestyle Genomics Research Centre – online ordering of a genetic test kit, SNP testing.
• I have seen two UK-based integrative doctors (qualified as both conventional doctors and functional doctors) and one GP in training to become a functional medicine doctor.

Why I decided to go down the functional medicine route:

• Ever since the age of three my parents noticed severe psychiatric reactions to certain foods. The conventional medical system doesn’t really recognise this, they just put you on psychotropic drugs instead. Functional practitioners look at the countless scientific studies that link food sensitivities to neuroinflammation – triggering psychiatric presentations. Functional medicine testing found that I have a HNMT gene variant – impacting histamine metabolism in the nervous system. Foods can impact this.
• At the age of 14-15 I was taking antipsychotics three times a day to try and control my severe tics. They didn’t do much at all. My school wanted to move me out of mainstream and into a medical pupil referral unit. I didn’t want this to happen. Thankfully, the functional medicine approach allowed me to detect food sensitivities triggering brain inflammation and a visual processing issue. Addressing these got me off antipsychotics permanently and allowed me to stay in mainstream school.
• At age 20 I was severely ill but the NHS couldn’t find any answers. Every test they did came back normal despite me deteriorating with complex neurological, gastrointestinal and autonomic symptoms. Functional medicine testing finally gave me a diagnosis. Lyme Disease. Treatment for this reduced my overall symptoms by around 50% and saved my life. My quality of life went from 1/10 to 7/10. 
• I needed immunomodulatory medication prescribed but the NHS do not take PANDAS/PANS seriously – especially not in adults, so they weren’t going to help. The NHS ignore the inflammatory and autoimmune root and only treat the symptoms (not very effective.) A functional medicine doctor prescribed Low-dose Naltrexone to address underlying autoimmunity which has dramatically improved my life.
• The NHS has NEVER tested me for autoimmunity despite having issues that should indicate autoimmune testing. I got neurological autoantibody testing through a USA-based functional medicine doctor. The UK system may fail me but functional doctors (especially in the USA) are much more open-minded. 
• I knew that after years seeking healthcare from the conventional system and getting nowhere – I needed to find the root causes of my conditions. Functional medicine testing did this. It found very slow methylation, chronic infections, low phosphatidylcholine, food sensitivities, candida in the gut, and gene variants linked to my Autism which felt validating.