Functional Medicine

I'm sorry that you had such a bad experience . Have you tried fish oil supplements? they can be beneficial for mental health and may be an approach that the functional medicine doctor will discuss with you

Yes I have tried fish oil, actually have been taking it for about a year. Along with a vitamin b complex.

How many fish oil capsules do you take? I have to consistently take at least 3 triple strength to get a good benefit, sometimes up to 5. Though I wouldn't recommend you take that much until you get your doctor's go-ahead. Generally you want to get one with a high EPA level in particular.

I'm sorry that you're not getting relief, keep us updated

I'm sorry, some time ago, maybe two summers ago since it was around the time I was in that nutritional course, I read an article discussing the research online, but I never actually read the research itself. It seemed important to mention to my dietitian teacher, who wasn't interested in discussing any other point of view accept that presented in our textbook (which was backed by evidence based science). We were discussing various diets: Paleo, Vegan, Gluten-free, etc, and she stated that only someone with celiac disease should necessarily be on a gluten-free diet. (I was on a gluten-free diet at the time, and I don't have celiac's disease). I had lost a lot of weight, my moods were fairly stable, and I was following the advice of Dr. Mark Hyman and Dr. Daniel Amen because it made sense to me. She convinced me that it wasn't necessary, so by the end of the course, I had changed my eating to be inline with the recommendations. That was the beginning of a relapse into my eating disorder which is really about the food addiction addressed by both Dr. Hyman and Dr. Amen. My primary tells me that I am unconsciously trying to adjust my serotonin levels with food. The course required so much work and was so fast paced while I was trying to maintain my full-time job, that I was hypomanic by the end from lack of sleep. If I was healthier at the time, I would have been presenting her with all the research I could find, but sometimes you have to step back when you are symptomatic.

I am interested in other points of view because while I respect the training of all the clinicians who work with me (who I definitely believe want to get to the root cause of my health issues), I have learned to take responsibility for my recovery, not to think that there is any one human that could possibly have all the evidence backed information in the world. Losing sixteen years of your life to untreated bipolar disorder is a humbling experience. When someone recommends something to me, I like to see that research backs-up the claim, then I am totally open to the idea.

Where do we start discussing autism? I have been in the field over thirty years, and my nephew has autism. We need to look extensively at every factor that has changed over the previous decades. Personally, I think it is going to be the combination of more than just one factor.

I absolutely hate when insurance companies practice medicine. With such high costs it is a fact of life but not good for patient outcomes.

I am not familiar with how standard protocols are established in "traditional" medicine but I would imagine there has to be a ponderousness of evidence before something is adopted into the main stream and not a few studies.

In physics a hypothesis that is proven by experiment and published is not accepted right away. Many other experiments trying to disprove the hypothesis are done. The experiment has to be repeated separately many times. Physicists will argue in the literature for years sometimes. It takes a very long time to go from hypothesis to theory to law.

I also agree very much with a holistic approach based on evidence. Not enough studies are done. Meditation, while not at all a new practice, is being adopted as a solution by main stream western medicine more and more. I would even call it main stream.

Many years ago I read a book called "The molecules of emotion" by Candace Pert. She was a scientist and researcher. This is when mono amines (serotonin, nor epinephrine, dopamine, etc.) and their receptors were first discovered. She mapped these receptors throughout the body and discovered the highest concentrations of them matched the chakras.

Spiritual practice has always been a big part of my life. Much of it based on my own intuition and beliefs, much of it based on my interest in Eastern philsophy, much of it based on quantum physics, and much of it based on western medicine. Oh and a lot of new age stuff. This may or may not have had an impact on my depression. I have no way to really know. I do know I keep getting recurrent severe depressions.

There is increasing evidence that differences in the kinds of bacteria which normally live in the gut (the "gut microbiome") are causally linked to Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Currently this is at the "basic science" stage but, with more work from evidence-based health professionals it may (depending on how the results turn out) lead to new approaches for treating Autism Spectrum Disorder.

This (technical but free-access) paper is a fair summary of this: The Gut Microbiome: A New Frontier in Autism Research .

I personally don't think there is a link between autism and vaccines. I believe this is the view of the CDC and NIH. I am not up on all the studies though. I think the higher incidence is mainly due to diagnosis. The incidence may have been just as high in previous decades but not diagnosed. I don't know though.

I do know that it started getting a lot of press when Congressman Dan Burton, a fairly powerful congressman was convinced of it without any real evidence and started holding hearings on it quite a number of years ago.

Just 1 triple strength a day

I spoke to my PCP today and to my surprise she agrees with alternative medicine and suggested a few alternative remedies. Really food based that I already knew but it makes me more hopeful when my PCP agrees. She's a great doctor, out of all my doctors I trust her the most. Maybe integrative or functional medicine can give me some relief. I am going to setup an appointment with one locally and hopefully it will be money well spent.

I think it is more an approach rather than a different type of medicine so I'd think it would be covered by insurance? Have you called and talked to your insurance about it or looked up whatever doctor(s) you are considering, to see if your insurance covers them, etc.?

https://www.functionalmedicine.org/about/whatisfm/

The alleged link between Autism Spectrum Disorder and vaccines derives from a fraudulent paper published by Dr Wakefield in 1998. He cheated (made up stuff), the paper has been retracted and he has been banned from working as a medical doctor.

The most conclusive evidence which shows that there is no link between Autism Spectrum Disorder and vaccines is a Danish study.

It looked at 573303 children - 404655 were vaccinated and 96639 were not - big numbers!

There was no difference in risk of ASD between those groups. Source: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa021134

I think that any evidence-based health professional would find that convincing.

Those are big numbers. I think the deal with Dan Burton was that his grandson was vaccinated as per usual and then developed very bad austism. Maybe he relied on that paper. He was convinced. I remember watching the hearings and him red faced yelling at medical experts. He was chairman of the committee and had influence. This was quite a few years ago. The main issue was that a small amount of mercury was still being used as a preservative in thermaradol. Of course mercury is cause for concern. I don't think any have mercury today.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My functional medicine doctor is covered by my insurance (Medicare/Medicaid), but some of the testing he wants to do and supplements he wants me to take aren't covered. Sometimes I have to remind him about insurance stuff, but he's generally really mindful of it and good at finding workarounds to help me afford things.

Oh it will not be covered I'll have to pay out of pocket that is the hesitation but I think it will be worth.

Hi zinco, Changing,

It might be slightly out of date, but there is a whole list of quizzes and specific tests to talk to your MD about here

http://drhyman.com/downloads/UltraMi...anionGuide.pdf

- v

I found an online site and emailed in desperation...a guy wrote back from there with his experience and a free workbook to help me to come off my meds. they also tell of what they use for people who come to them for help...found them excellent and helpful.
roxyanne1
Alternitave to meds centre...sorry dont know proper web add. just goole it.I found them by looking up...stopping Seroquel.All the best,plenty of help over there in the states...we are way behind here (Aust.)

You might find it helpful to visit Healthshare (https://www.healthshare.com.au/).

Healthshare is designed for Australian residents - they can ask for free advice from clinical and non-clinical health professionals about both physical and mental health issues.

Disclosure: I am an unpaid non-clinical "Health Professional" member of Healthshare.

"Most of us do not recognize or know (including most of your doctors) that digestive problems wreak havoc over your entire body leading to allergies, arthritis, autoimmune disease, rashes, acne, chronic fatigue, mood disorders, autism, dementia, cancer and more."

"And then there is your second brain, your gut nervous system. Your gut, in fact, contains more neurotransmitters than your brain. It is highly wired back to your brain and messages travel back and forth. When those messages altered for any reason in any direction – from the brain to the gut or the gut to the brain – your health will suffer."
Dr. Mark Hyman

Dr. Mark Hyman backs his statements with research. I think it less in the basic science realm than research that is being ignored. There will be A LOT of money lost on the sale of anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, acid blocking drugs, steroids, and psychiatric medications when/if we start listening to the research. I was shocked when the new prescription on which I was just placed cost over $700 dollars, and I was told it will be over $1000 by January. That's one script. There is a lot in stake should we listen to the research. How many times has research been ignored until it catches on with the mainstream?