Anyone know of a good functional medicine doctor in Texas? I'm at my ends trying to figure out what's going on with my body and it's been going on for 3 years now. Any help would be great.

Where are you located? Some good ones in Austin. Be careful though some serious money grabbing quacks out there as well.

Lots of quakery out there, I would start with seeing who is certified in your area.

Find A Practitioner | The Institute for Functional Medicine (ifm.org)

What do you mean by functional medicine? What's wrong that you're trying to figure out?

I honestly don't know much about what functional medicine is, but my guess would after a quick google search is that you're looking at average doctors that took a course to claim functional medicine to get more business. Probably practicing medicine that is not evidence based, and maybe not even medicine. That doesn't mean what they do doesn't work, but there's just a reasonable chance that either the science hasn't caught up with what they're doing, there's a reasonable chance that what they're doing is doing nothing and the patient is getting better on their own, or the patient is getting better simply by placebo effect.

I'm in The Woodlands, and they are super popular among friends here.

Lots of straight up contempt for modern medicine, some of which I can relate to.

But everyone I know who has seen a FM doctor has come away having been "prescribed" all sorts of ridiculous tests and supplements.

My BF went to one (before he met me) and had some sort of heavy metals test done. Doctor told him his metals were too high and sold him some ridiculous supplements to "detox". Run very far away from any Dr who tells you that you need to "detox".

Other friends go to them to test for "inflammation", food sensitivity, "glucose monitoring", vitamin an mineral deficiencies, infusions, and all sorts of other stuff that is probably just money down the drain.

I have a friend to sells these tests and supplements and FM Drs are her main clients. She is making over $100k and the Drs get a cut, too. I love her to death, but I have to limit my engagement with her on this topic. She pretty much thinks her supplements can cure anything.

Lots of FMs also prescribing/pushing the "generic" compounded versions of Wegovy and the other semaglutide injections that I asked KidDoc about in another thread. That's some shady stuff, IMO.

I also have a couple of friends who see a FM because they are anti-vax. And not just the Covid vaccine, but childhood vaxs, too. There are several in the area who still perpetuate the vaccines cause autism myth. It's also an open secret that there are FMs in the area who you see to get a Covid vaccine card without actually getting the shot.

I don't know about 'functional medicine' but if you are in the Houston area, I would highly recommend Dr. Phillip Weinstein.

http://www.primehcp.com/home.html

His practice is 'membership' based but what that means is that he will spend loads of time with you trying to figure out what's wrong and what's needed for treatment.

Was willing to try all modalities (whether I believed in them or not) to avoid back surgery, when my wife recommended this guy:

http://drjoelindley.com/

Did it work? No... but neither did the later surgery.

My wife and a friend of hers have seen Dr. Krupka several times over the last year or so https://www.drkrupka.com/

They really like what he has to say, his explanations of how things work and his proposed gampleplan, but they have mixed reviews in the results so far.

The first thing he had my wife do was take a bunch of tests to gather data. His focus so far has been around her taking a variety of different supplements to get rid of any imbalance in hormones, mineral deficiencies or whatever. She's been taking them for several months, but I don't think she's really seen or felt much of a difference yet. I know that impacts typically aren't felt immediately when doing things more naturally, but I'm not sure if there is an expected timeline....

bigtruckguy3500 said:

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What do you mean by functional medicine?

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It's a doctor who tells you that you have "leaky gut" as the cause of all of your symptoms (as opposed to a Chiro Quackter, who tells you that your spinal alignment is the cause of all of your symptoms).

I would also avoid a doc who sells their own supplements or requires a specific lab(which they often own). If your living is based on what you are peddling as a doc it is going to hurt your objectivity.

Wife just saw one in Dallas last month. She was recommended to her by Dr Charlie ***enholz - he's got a decent following on Social Media and just started a podcast on Spotify called "Red Pill Your Healthcast."

I'm still coming up to speed on functional doctors myself and alot of it is quite strange but a lot of it also makes a lot of sense. I think traditional western medicine is highly corrupt and people just will believe anything their doctor says without doing any research themselves. In addition, most docs just write up an Rx and away you go. Our culture is so heavily medicated without ever addressing issues like nutrition, fungus, or bodily toxicity.

Functional doctors to me look at the body with a wholistic approach. Everything in the body works together and by just seeing traditional specialist doctors only, you often don't get to the root cause.

An example for us is that my wife has always had a type of skin fungal issue - similar to eczema. She's typically seen a dermatologist that just prescribes a topical ointment. Her functional doctor says the fungus is due to something else going on inside - some deficiency or imbalance. Guess we will see if she's able to solve it.

My wife started going down this path as she has battled anxiety for her adult life. She's sought out most normal treatments except for brain drugs which is her last resort. Interested to see if this functional doc is able to help or not.

That's the thing though, much of what they practice and preach does not make sense to trained doctors. I'll be interested to see if your wife's fungal infection improves. For anxiety placebo is almost as effective as SSRI's so if she thinks the treatments will work they likely will.

I have no issue with people trying to find safer or better answers than evidence based medicine, but it is called evidence based for a darn good reason.

And I would venture the corruption issue is MUCH MUCH worse among functional doctors compared to traditional. I make $0 extra dollars ordering labs or medicine for a patient so it does not effect my medical decision making at all.

I hear ya and respect your perspective. I guess the opposing side would simply say that the evidence based training isn't always the right training.

Vaccines for example - from my understanding these are not deeply tested for long periods of time. Adverse affects may take years to manifest in one's body due to toxicity levels being introduced in our modern day vaccine schedules. Most people don't read vaccine cards to try to understand aluminum and other ingredients and how these are being introduced before the blood brain barrier is closed. Do we really have true evidence based results that can guarantee safety? (Not meaning to go down this rabbit hole, just an example)

Another example - sunscreen. Suncare products are approx a 10 billion industry and any doctor out there will tell ya to lather your kids up. But is that really backed by evidence? What I have started to learn, melanin is key to healthy skin and sunscreen blocks it with many ingredients that your largest organ is soaking in. Your body produces more melanin when exposed to UV in a healthy way.

Happy to report back any kinds of things we continue to learn or experience and continue a edifying dialogue!

10andBOUNCE said:

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I hear ya and respect your perspective. I guess the opposing side would simply say that the evidence based training isn't always the right training.

Vaccines for example - from my understanding these are not deeply tested for long periods of time. Adverse affects may take years to manifest in one's body due to toxicity levels being introduced in our modern day vaccine schedules. Most people don't read vaccine cards to try to understand aluminum and other ingredients and how these are being introduced before the blood brain barrier is closed. Do we really have true evidence based results that can guarantee safety? (Not meaning to go down this rabbit hole, just an example)

Another example - sunscreen. Suncare products are approx a 10 billion industry and any doctor out there will tell ya to lather your kids up. But is that really backed by evidence? What I have started to learn, melanin is key to healthy skin and sunscreen blocks it with many ingredients that your largest organ is soaking in. Your body produces more melanin when exposed to UV in a healthy way.

Happy to report back any kinds of things we continue to learn or experience and continue a edifying dialogue!

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The blood brain barrier is pretty closed when we are born. What kind of conditions are being attributed to these supposed toxic metals? I have yet to have a patient in 20 years that responded to metal detox in any way and I have had many that have tried it. Most vaccines are studied at least 5 years to prove safety and efficacy prior to approval.

There is extensive post marketing surveillance of all vaccines and drugs. So for children's vaccines there is 14+ years of data showing safety (HPV is the newest kid vaccine and is 14 years on the market).

It is clear the UV exposure correlates with melanoma. It is true the small amounts of UV exposure is good for skin (and Vitamin D synthesis) so it is all about the dose. Pretty much the golden rule here-- too much of a good thing is bad! Not enough of a good thing is also bad.

Your post is why I like the idea of a FM Dr. I do think traditional medicine focuses too much on just treating symptoms without trying to find the root cause. Heck, my own OB/GYN said she was glad I'm seeing a hormone specialist (who is also an OB/GYN, just not employed by a hospital network) because she said they aren't going to do anything more than a basic annual exam for a woman my age. That's all insurance and the hospital system will let them do. Downside is the hormone specialist doesn't take insurance, so that's OOP.

But where the FMs lose me Is with the new-agey, non-scientific "diagnoses" - like inflammation and leaky gut that can be cured with a "detox". And if they are pimping supplements or expensive tests for "toxins" or heavy metals or genetic testing, my red flags go up.

TXTransplant said:

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Your post is why I like the idea of a FM Dr. I do think traditional medicine focuses too much on just treating symptoms without trying to find the root cause. Heck? My own OB/GYN said she was glad I'm seeing a hormone specialist (who is also an OB/GYN, just not employed by a hospital network) because she said they aren't going to do anything more than a basic annual exam fir a woman my age. That's all insurance and the hospital system will let them do. Downside is the hormone specialist Durant take insurance, so that's OOP.

But where the FMs lose me Is with the new-agey, non-scientific "diagnoses" - like inflammation and leaky gut that can be cured with a "detox". And if they are pimping supplements or expensive tests for "toxins" or heavy metals or genetic testing, my red flags go up.

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Why not see an endocrinologist for hormones? They are the experts.

I actually am now seeing an endocrinologist, too.

The GYN that I see for my hormones has transitioned her practice to nothing but health care for 40+ women. Basically women who are peri- or post-menopausal. She did this because, as I alluded to above, there is no place for us in "traditional" OB/GYN practices, unless all you are expecting is an annual pelvic exam and Pap smear.

However, when I got to the point that I also needed to see an endocrinologist, it was VERY difficult to get an appointment. Most are dealing with diabetics and fertility issues or patients with severe hormone imbalances. I called multiple doctors who said they had a months long waiting list for an appointment. Several refused to see me without a referral (I had an ultrasound that detected a very small nodule on my thyroid, and that's why I was trying to get the appt). I could not get an appt with any doctor local to my area and had to go to downtown Houston.

Long story short, the endo I wound up seeing was referred to me by the hormone specialist GYN. We are all on the same page, and the hormone specialist GYN does take a more holistic approach to my overall 40+ health. Frankly she has more time to spend with me and talk through my concerns because she is an independent provider.

To clarify, I am seeing a GYN that specializes in 40+ health care because I've read up on estrogen and the effects it has on women's health as we age. I'm keeping tabs on everything because when the time comes, I'm completely open to estrogen hormone therapy. And everything I've read is the earlier you start it, the better the result.

My hospital-affiliated OB/GYN practice doesn't even like to run the blood tests to quantify what your levels are. It's just not worth the hassle to have to beg for the tests every year.

Skin cancer concerns aside, I wear sunscreen and/or UV protective clothing because I burn like a hairless cat. Sunburns are special kind of self-inflicted torture. I do not enjoy days of having beet red skin that stings like a billion hot needles are being pressed into my body followed by blisters that ooze before peeling like a molting python. If I'm really lucky, I'll get lip and chin full of fever blisters from being out in the sun too long, too. Sign me up to slather myself in whatever cream will prevent that.

Also, the detrimental effects of the sun are cumulative over many years. If my 44 year old self could go back and tell my 20 year old self to put sunscreen on my face every time I went outside, I wouldn't be spending time and money to treat my melasma and age spots now.

I feel like the "all chemicals are toxic" movement has set its sights on discrediting sunscreen.

So do you think folks pre-sunscreen were just dropping like flies due to skin cancer?

KidDoc said:

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There is extensive post marketing surveillance of all vaccines and drugs. So for children's vaccines there is 14+ years of data showing safety (HPV is the newest kid vaccine and is 14 years on the market).

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Just because you brought it up...history of HPV vaccine is shaky at best. And this is related to your "evidence" based western medicine non-corrupt comments.

Merck was highly unethical it the recent issues with Vioxx. Where was the evidence with this one?
https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/merck-manipulated-science-about-drug-vioxx

A few years later they come out and develop an HPV vaccine. Wonder how much of that was $$$ related. Did they all the sudden get more ethical and do everything right? Not hide anything?
https://www.baumhedlundlaw.com/prescription-drugs/gardasil-lawsuit/can-merck-be-trusted-after-vioxx-/

Do we really need a vaccine in which most people's body can pass HPV strands? Evidence shows 2-3% of people in the clinical trial developed new medical conditions "potentially indicative of systemic autoimmune disorders". How many people are reading these vaccine inserts before actually injecting themselves?
https://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/g/gardasil_9/gardasil_9_pi.pdf

To top it off, the ads on this HPV campaign have been gross. I couldn't find the original ones. These ads are all emotion and no evidence based science. This is the world we live in.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/08/11/do-the-new-merck-hpv-ads-guilt-trip-parents-or-tell-hard-truths-both/

Not necessarily. Cancer is a complex disease. Much like not all smokers develop lung cancer, not all people with excessive sun exposure will develop skin cancer. You can also get skin cancer on areas if the body that does not get significant sun exposure.

Which was exactly why I phrased my post the way I did. I use sunscreen for OTHER reasons besides to prevent skin cancer.

Sunburns are miserable. I don't want one. I burn very easily. If I'm outside without sunscreen and start to feel uncomfortable, it's too late. I'm going to be burned.

Even if you don't get skin cancer, sun exposure can wreak havoc on your skin. I'm at an age where I'm trying to get rid of wrinkles and brown spots and textured skin, but by the time you notice you have all that, it's kind of too late. Personally, I wish I had done a better job protecting my skin when I was younger, if for nothing more than vanity reasons.

There are plenty of reasons to wear sunscreen besides to prevent skin cancer, and even wearing sunscreen might not prevent one from getting it.

So, you're saying that the safety and effectiveness of a vaccine should be questioned because an arthritis drug was pulled from the market. By that logic, you should probably avoid all prescription drugs, and maybe OTCs, too.

Look, I'm not defending any deceptive behavior that may or may not have occurred. Honestly, I don't know the history of Vioxx. But modern medicine as a whole, including "traditional" doctors and big bad pharma, has saved the lives of probably billions of people - vaccines, insulin, chemotherapy, antibiotics, open heart surgery, MRIs, etc, etc.

And as far as vaccines are concerned, by definition they trigger an auto-immune response. That's fundamentally how they work. So, yes, if someone has an underlying auto-immune problem or disorder, a vaccine may trigger a severe auto-immune response. But an actual infection might also trigger that response.

For example, studies have shown that viral infections might trigger type-1 diabetes. Diabetes is an auto-immune disease. Certain viruses are known to cause cancer because cancer can develop when an immune system isn't functioning properly.

To be clear, I don't think anyone should be forced to take the HPV vaccine. However, to mischaracterize it as something that is inherently more dangerous than any other vaccine is just fear-mongering.

Read the insert on ANY vaccine or drug - they all have contraindications and warnings of side effects that range from mild to severe.

Why??? Because humans are human. There is no way to predict how every single individual will react to a drug, and it has to be accepted that some will have negative reactions. That's just what the numbers tell us. What experts and individuals have to do is determine the risk:benefit, hopefully in conjunction with their primary health care provider.

I will reiterate that the medical community as a whole also has a responsibility to not mislead or outright lie to the public. However, the massive distrust I see in modern medicine is disturbing considering how far we've come in the last century.

I am more concerned with doctors missing diagnoses because they are over-scheduled and spend too little time with patients or because they work in hospitals that are too crowded with patients.

And I'm equally concerned by snake-oil salesmen masquerading as drs and health care experts who convince people all they need is to take a few vitamins and a detox enema (all organic, of course) to prevent cancer.

Phew…did not mean to go down this rabbit hole today.

TXTransplant said:

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So, you're saying that the safety and effectiveness of a vaccine should be questioned because an arthritis drug was pulled from the market. By that logic, you should probably avoid all prescription drugs, and maybe OTCs, too.

Look, I'm not defending any deceptive behavior that may or may not have occurred. Honestly, I don't know the history of Vioxx. But modern medicine as a whole, including "traditional" doctors and big bad pharma, has saved the lives of probably billions of people - vaccines, insulin, chemotherapy, antibiotics, open heart surgery, MRIs, etc, etc.

And as far as vaccines are concerned, by definition they trigger an auto-immune response. That's fundamentally how they work. So, yes, if someone has an underlying auto-immune problem or disorder, a vaccine may trigger a severe auto-immune response. But an actual infection might also trigger that response.

For example, studies have shown that viral infections might trigger type-1 diabetes. Diabetes is an auto-immune disease. Certain viruses are known to cause cancer because cancer can develop when an immune system isn't functioning properly.

To be clear, I don't think anyone should be forced to take the HPV vaccine. However, to mischaracterize it as something that is inherently more dangerous than any other vaccine is just fear-mongering.

Read the insert on ANY vaccine or drug - they all have contraindications and warnings of side effects that range from mild to severe.

Why??? Because humans are human. There is no way to predict how every single individual will react to a drug, and it has to be accepted that some will have negative reactions. That's just what the numbers tell us. What experts and individuals have to do is determine the risk:benefit, hopefully in conjunction with their primary health care provider.

I will reiterate that the medical community as a whole also has a responsibility to not mislead or outright lie to the public. However, the massive distrust I see in modern medicine is disturbing considering how far we've come in the last century.

I am more concerned with doctors missing diagnoses because they are over-scheduled and spend too little time with patients or because they work in hospitals that are too crowded with patients.

And I'm equally concerned by snake-oil salesmen masquerading as drs and health care experts who convince people all they need is to take a few vitamins and a detox enema (all organic, of course) to prevent cancer.

Phew…did not mean to go down this rabbit hole today.

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Your example with Vioxx is exactly what I was talking about. Even after FDA approval there is continued monitoring for unexpected safety issues.

Of course HPV vaccine can trigger auto-immune diseases, any vaccine or virus can. I'm just a big fan of a vaccine that is looking like it will make cervical cancer, and most oral cancers, a thing of the distant past.

In my opinion the people who get autoimmune disease trigger from vaccine are already setup to have that autoimmune diseases. They are just waiting for a trigger to hit it off and sometimes that is a cold and sometimes that is a vaccine.

10andBOUNCE said:

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So do you think folks pre-sunscreen were just dropping like flies due to skin cancer?

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Nah I think they were dying before they were 80 years old due to heart disease and infectious disease. Average life span was much lower prior to 1946.

Much better answer than mine!

Must not have ever read the Old Testament
Those guys lived to like 900 years old.
No sunscreen that I know of.

KidDoc said:

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In my opinion the people who get autoimmune disease trigger from vaccine are already setup to have that autoimmune diseases. They are just waiting for a trigger to hit it off and sometimes that is a cold and sometimes that is a vaccine.

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But this is my point - you called out how it's all evidence based. Where is the evidence that backs up your opinion? All I hear is speculation.

I just have a hard time believing everything that comes out in the name of medicine when so much money is at stake with these pharmaceuticals. Vioxx is just one example and it's not an anomaly.

I guess my point is that I encourage folks to ask the hard questions of their doctors. Get other opinions. Read about what you're putting into your body.

10andBOUNCE said:

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KidDoc said:

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In my opinion the people who get autoimmune disease trigger from vaccine are already setup to have that autoimmune diseases. They are just waiting for a trigger to hit it off and sometimes that is a cold and sometimes that is a vaccine.

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But this is my point - you called out how it's all evidence based. Where is the evidence that backs up your opinion? All I hear is speculation.

I just have a hard time believing everything that comes out in the name of medicine when so much money is at stake with these pharmaceuticals. Vioxx is just one example and it's not an anomaly.

I guess my point is that I encourage folks to ask the hard questions of their doctors. Get other opinions. Read about what you're putting into your body.

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Here ya go!

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01839-6#:~:text=Autoimmune%20diseases%20arise%20from%20a,mutations%20in%20a%20single%20gene.

If you read up on auto immune diseases, no one is certain what causes them. Like many medical diagnoses or hypotheses/theories, observationally, it appears they are caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

However, if you develop an auto-immune disease after some sort of specific event - like a vaccine or severe viral infection - it's almost impossible to know for certain if you would have developed the disease if the event hadn't happened. Or maybe some other event would have eventually triggered the auto-immune disease. It's a chicken and egg problem that probably can only be solved with very specific genetic testing (assuming the genes involved are known). The medical community can't diagnose auto-immune disease until you have auto-immune disease.

The same could be said of your example re skin cancer. Maybe someone diagnosed with skin cancer would have gotten it regardless of whether or not they used sunscreen. Once you have it, it's impossible to know for sure. Data has conclusively shown that sun exposure does cause cellular mutations that can result in skin cancer, but that doesn't mean it's the absolute cause in every case. We do have tools at our disposal to help prevent/lower our risk of skin cancer, though.

Another example - alcohol is a known mutagen and is toxic to every cell in the human body. However, it's not guaranteed that drinking alcohol will cause cancer. And if you get cancer, with maybe the exception of liver cancer, there is no conclusive way to determine if alcohol caused it.

It sure would be nice if medical conditions existed in those black and white absolutes, but the fact of the matter is, they just don't. A lot of modern medicine is still educated guesses based on statistical analysis of (ideally) robust data sets. The bottom line is medical science hasn't conclusively determined what makes some people more susceptible to these types of illnesses or how to predict which people will have a more severe reaction to a particular stressor.

At this point in my life, I feel like my health and well-being is equal parts maintaining a healthy weight/diet, avoiding drugs and excessive alcohol consumption, and luck of the genetic lottery. I can only control two of those three things, and at some point we all run out of luck. Live long enough and one of three things will kill you: heart disease, cancer, or Alzheimer's.