When to think out of the box….
- If you want to plan for optimal health and longevity (traditional medicine doesn’t typically focus down the road)
- If you are being told you are ok and you aren’t feeling optimal
- If you have been to several physicians and still have no answers
This happens so often and as a matter of fact it has happened to me! There is nothing worse than being told you are fine when you just know that you are not functioning at your optimal level!!
Obviously, when you are sick and not getting answers, getting a second opinion by another provider is always something to consider. However, many of my patients have seen numerous physicians with no answers before coming to me!
It is time to think out of the box…
Here are three important tips to help you be optimal… READ ON…
- Go back thru your labs and look at them thru a functional medicine perspective. This means look at where your labs are in relation to the reference ranges. While some are not as critical there are a few that can really make a difference if you are not in optimal range. Optimal in these cases is being in the middle of the reference range. Examples of labs that are important include thyroid labs (TSH, free T4, free T3), ferritin level, vitamins like B12 and D, DHEA-S and several more. **if you want to learn more about how to figure out what optimal truly is, be sure and join me for the Functional Labs Decoded Program where I teach you what to look for in your labs in addition to which labs you actually need!
- Make sure you have the right tests. For example, so many physicians only check a TSH for thyroid but you really need free T4, free T3, thyroid peroxidase antibodies and thyroglobulin antibodies at the very least! Looking for insulin resistance – a plain glucose level is just not enough! You need an insulin resistance panel that looks at insulin levels and C peptide levels and your insulin resistance score. Do you have inflammation? Instead of the basic iron panel did they also screen for your ferritin level which is iron storage? How about your true risk factor with cholesterol – go deeper and look at apoB (the carrier that says hey let’s go make plaque) and lp(a) – the genetic marker that tips you off that your cholesterol LDL level needs to be lower than 70. So many more basic tests that can really give you information.
- What else could it be? Many times there are other things as the root cause of your symptoms. Perhaps it is viral like Epstein barr virus – if you didn’t have a full panel with the early antigen in addition to the IgM level then you need more information! Maybe you have a food sensitivity that is creating a lot of symptoms not only in your gut but swelling in your fingers, headaches, brain fog and so on. What about mold exposure? Lymes disease or the co-infections like babesia and bartonella? What about your adrenal glands as the culprit for your significant fatigue after years of chronic stress? How about that old root canal creating so much inflammation it is making your body sick? Oh yes, this is a significant culprit! I could go on.
The bottom line is if you want to be preventative or if feel bad, KEEP LOOKING!! The answers are most likely out there – we just aren’t asking the right questions!
To your health,
Laura
