What it Looks Like to be Restored to Mint Health!

It's stories like the one I’m about to share that make Dr Buchert and I sooooo glad we are in the Functional Medicine world. The purpose of Functional Medicine is to determine how and why illness has occurred and to restore health by addressing the root causes of disease for each individual. This model is individualized, science-based, and is a working relationship that is centered on YOU- the patient. When you embark on the journey of Functional Medicine, we help you to become equipped with the tools to bring healing to the damaged areas of your body, and also teach you ways to stay healthy! We often see reversal of disease, and we ALMOST ALWAYS see people feeling better and lab markers getting better, and sometimes these changes are very evident just in a few short months.

Functional Medicine requires a detailed understanding of each patient’s biochemical and lifestyle factors and genetics; and, then we leverage that information to a personalized treatment plan that leads to improved patient outcomes.

Meet one of our 2020 Rock Star Patients!

Kathy came to see us in May of 2020 desperate to feel better. For Kathy, she just couldn’t accept that being in your late 50s meant she would continue to gain weight and feel super tired!! Kathy used to run marathons and has always been an avid exerciser, but now she feels crippled with negative health symptoms. Kathy’s long (but common) list of health concerns are fatigue, weight gain, reflux/heartburn, joint pain (especially knees), hormonal symptoms, and allergies. Kathy was concerned that her strong family history of diabetes would become her story too. We had Kathy do a Medical Symptom Questionnaire (MSQ) when she first got started, and her score was 127 which is considered very high.

At her first lab follow up appointment we found out that Kathy was also having some autoimmune issues going on, was now in a prediabetic category, and had several nutritional deficiencies. She also had poor mitochondrial function (mitochondria make energy in our body), high oxidative stress markers (high free radicals), and high markers for yeast overgrowth. All of this information was determined from our first set of comprehensive labs.

Kathy took an impressive dive right into the recommended nutritional changes. She loved sugar a little too much like so many of us do, but overall Kathy was already eating in a way that most would consider healthy. She ate a variety of veggies (including problematic nightshades), fruits, grains, legumes, nuts/seeds and select seafoods and eggs. We guided her on removing certain foods in her diet that unknowingly may be inflaming her and causing leaky gut, which is a driver of autoimmunity and fatigue. We also added some gut repair nutrients, treated yeast, and gave targeted nutrients that she was low in.

After 2 months, Kathy’s Medical Symptom Score was improved by 50% (dropped from 127 to 63), and she lost 10lbs! One improvement that she wasn’t expecting was her mood to feel so much better.

Kathy was an exceptionally motivated person and at the 2nd month mark she was eager to try tapering off her protonix (a common medication for heartburn), and to incorporate intermittent fasting. We also added Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) at this appointment. LDN is helpful for inflammation, arthritis, autoimmune, and lots more. Kathy re-challenged with certain whole foods to see what could be brought back without causing any issues with how she feels; sadly she found out that tomatoes caused her joint pain and fatigue to flare.

After another 6 weeks, Kathy returned and her Medical Symptom Score improved even more! Now from 127 to 63 to 34 (WOW!!). She also successfully tapered the protonix, and lost another 15 pounds with intermittent fasting moving her BMI from 26 to 24 to 22. While her joint pain was already a lot better with the nutraceuticals and nutrition changes, losing a little weight helped even more. Intermittent fasting not only helps with metabolic issues, but it also helps with cellular repair by boosting Growth Hormone which improves energy and promotes healing.

Kathy came back last week and her symptoms score continues to drop, now with a MSQ score of 23 (reminder- original 127!). We have continued to adjust her supplements to support what is going on with her body, finishing up some things and adding other things. She is taking a few supplements that specifically help with the joint pain in her knees. She has been able to systematically tease out bothersome foods from her diet, the biggest culprit being grains and nightshades. Her fatigue is still not completely resolved but is at least 50% improved, so we will add a mitochondrial supplement, and there are also IV therapies and prescription nutraceuticals that can be tried.

With a purely conventional approach, Kathy would still be on Protonix for reflux; Celebrex, steroid injections, and considering surgery for her knees; Trazadone for insomnia; Zyrtec and Flonase for allergies; Metformin for pre-diabetes, and probably this list would continue to grow over time. Instead, she is on a handful of supplements and LDN and is feeling vibrant and proud of herself (we are proud of her too!)!

Kathy has responded beautifully to a functional medicine approach to her health. She is feeling amazing and thriving, and there is still more that we can do as she needs and desires.

Here at Mint Health, helping you to become healthier and providing you with the tools to use for yourself and your family, brings us so much satisfaction, because we know how bad things can be health-wise, and we also know how powerful making a few changes can be in helping you to restore health. We love to teach people to be more in tune with their bodies, and to learn that symptoms are actually signs that something within you is out of balance. I love knowing that -Nothing in your body or about your body is supposed to make you feel terrible!

If you are excited about the Functional Wellness approach that we use at Mint Health, visit our website to learn more here and then “Get Started”.

CHECK HERE TO SEE VIDEO STORIES from patients just like you who have gotten started with Functional Medicine!

For even more information about this cutting-edge approach to meaningful wellness, and how we, as Functional Medicine practitioners, help people where the conventional system fails, visit Institute of Functional Medicine.

If you are scheduled to see us on a Tuesday or Thursday, but feel you are really looking for what we do in Functional Wellness on Monday and Wednesday, please contact us right away to schedule the appointment for the kind of approach you really want!

We hope to see you soon!

Renee NP and the Mint Health team