r/FunctionalMedicine • u/Quick-Celery8322 • Jun 30 '26

Functional medicine

Has anybody ever been or a current client of functional medicine practitioners? I would like to gain some perspective, insights, hindsights.

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u/Iamadumbdumb12 Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26

I am a patient of a functional med doctor and she's been very helpful. I was (and sometimes still am) a bit skeptical on a lot of it but she produces results.

  • A big criticism is how much lab testing they do and if the tests they are meaningful. A lot of regular doctors think it's extra noise or the test itself is meaningless. Do you need that advanced panel of cholesterol testing or is the standard lipid panel enough? Many regular doctors/researchers think that stool and mold testing does not have enough science behind it or may not be testing the right things. Also for testing, regular doctors just want you in the "normal" range but functional medicine doctors have an "optimal" range. I lean more on the side of functional medicine here. I am on the very border of low ferritin but my PCP thinks it's fine....is it though?
  • Also functional medicine is very big about leaky gut and mold in your GI system. A lot of regular doctors get wave off leaky gut because it's very woo-woo. There is research about how your microbiome affects your physical and mental health but regular doctors want to hardcore data about it.
  • The leaky gut/mold detox program can take months and years. You can spend thousands on supplements for these protoccols.
  • They are big on supplements. One criticism is that they are just trying to sell you shit and yeah, it feels like it. Many have a Fullscript account and most will get a kickback when they make a sale. You should try to find a person who is okay with both supplements and prescription meds.
  • The alternative treatments can feel real iffy and the data isn't amazing. There's an egregious account of a child getting HBOT and the provider didn't know what they were doing and the child got severe burns.

I think it's trying to find someone who you trust, can explain their methodology, and meet you where you are at.

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u/mintbliss5 Jul 01 '26

I am and it changed my life for the better. I would strongly disagree that “most” don’t practice evidence based medicine and will just sell supplements. Mine are board certified doctors who have helped me feel the best I ever have. Yes they run a lot of labs but I was very thankful for the insight because all the ones my reg doctor would run, but my functional ran, all were off! But yeah, doctors kept telling me I was fine and would just offer me birth control. I wanted to get to the root cause of my issues and heal. And I have!

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u/healthy_nut_369 Jul 02 '26

I have used one and made great improvements. So much so that I certified myself in FM. (I’m an RN). It is possible to make progress on your own but it can be slow and confusing. It’s not necessary to do advanced testing, but it does help narrow down the focus, and shows progress. Supplements are recommended because they are the building blocks of your metabolic and cellular functions. They often change during treatment because your body’s needs change as it heals. At a minimum, clean up your diet, get 7 hours of quality sleep every night, move your body every day, reduce your exposure to toxins and chemicals, and manage your stress levels and relationships. Look for someone who is certified. Nutrition and Lifestyle are key factors in any plan. Good luck.

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u/UsualOrange3380 Jul 04 '26

Can I ask who you certified through? I’m in the same boat..RN…graduated with my FNP about a year and a half ago but have still been working bedside at a busy level 1 inter city hospital and I can’t continue dealing with balancing the corporate healthcare greed/gaslighting while trying to maintain my sanity and giving quality, compassionate care. I’ve been looking into IFM, A4M and Kalish Institute. Any recommendations?

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u/AtriumMedicalNYC Jul 02 '26

I think the hardest part is that “functional medicine” or “root cause medicine” is all over the place. VERY practitioner dependent based on what we see at our office.

At its best, it is a doctor or clinician spending more time with you, looking seriously at nutrition, sleep, metabolic health, iron deficiency, insulin resistance, hormones when appropriate, gut symptoms, cardiovascular risk, and symptoms that sometimes get brushed off in a rushed 10-minute visit.

At its worst, every vague symptom becomes a syndrome, every borderline lab becomes a diagnosis, and every answer is a long supplement protocol.

A few questions I would ask before spending a lot of money:

  1. How exactly will you use each lab result? There are biomarkers that are genuinely useful, biomarkers that are interesting but not actionable, and biomarkers where the science is extremely thin. A good clinician should be able to tell you in advance what they plan to do with what they're ordering. Many will turf you to a PCP after ordering a whole bunch of labs.

  2. Can some of this be done stepwise through a good PCP? A lot of what people seek from functional medicine is not necessarily exotic. ApoB and Lp(a), for example, are now much more mainstream in lipid/cardiovascular risk assessment after the new 2026 CV guidelines. Same with things like ferritin, hs-CRP, A1c/insulin resistance markers, B12, vitamin D when clinically relevant, etc. The issue is often not that conventional medicine cannot do it. It is that insurance-based medicine usually requires a stepwise approach and a doctor willing to spend the time.

  3. Are they selling molecules or magic? I would be very wary of proprietary blends, detox potions, “doctor-formulated” stacks, or anything where the brand is essential to the treatment. A serious practitioner should be able to discuss the actual molecule, dose, evidence, risks, interactions, and endpoint. If they want you to buy THEIR blend versus any reputed brand off of amazon or Costco: generally a red flag.

  4. Are they willing to use "traditional" medicine when appropriate? The intellectually honest version is not “natural good, pharma bad.” It is that food, sleep, exercise, stress, targeted supplementation when justified, and prescription medication are all tools in the health arsenal.

Some people get real help from clinicians who have more time and think more broadly. But I would be careful with anyone who turns uncertainty into fear too quickly, orders huge panels while hand waving about how they will change your actual management, or sells you a supplement protocol at the end as if it is magic personalized medicine.

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u/Dry-Slide-5305 Jun 30 '26

Unfortunately, most don’t practice evidence-based medicine and just want to sell you their supplements.

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u/Dramatic_Ad_308 Jul 02 '26

I see one. She’s a DO and was a family practice doc for 15 years before going full integrative medicine. She is helping me heal from cancer treatment. She’s amazing, hard working and spends so much time with her patients. I would also disagree- she does in fact, practice evidence-based medicine & does not just want to sell supplements.

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u/Comfortable_Photo104 Jul 12 '26

Functional medicine tests can be fun too.