Functional Medicine:You’re Not “Fine” When You Don’t Feel Fine

We unpack how functional medicine finds and treats root causes when standard labs say “normal” but you still feel off. Kelly explains testing, visit flow, and real cases where targeting inflammation and the gut led to better sleep, energy, and resilience.

• why a patient-first, whole-life intake changes outcomes
• when “normal” ranges don’t match how you feel
• inflammation as a driver of fatigue, hives and gut issues
• GI mapping, zonulin and targeted bloodwork for clarity
• peptides versus multiple daily pills
• setting visit cadence and phased treatment goals
• tackling big problems first so small ones resolve
• how to book a functional medicine visit

Go to hamiltontelehealth.com and click on get care now
Text us at 407-550-5441 and say you’re interested in functional medicine
Be sure to like and subscribe, guys

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Chapters

• 0:41 Why “Normal Labs” Isn’t Enough
• 1:16 What Functional Medicine Means
• 3:52 Root Cause Over Pills
• 5:31 Personalization And Whole-Life Intake
• 7:34 Ranges, Vitamin D, And Feeling Well
• 9:41 Case Studies: Inflammation Uncovered
• 11:44 Overactive Immune Responses
• 13:14 Don’t Settle For “You’re Fine”
• 14:54 Visit Lengths And Follow-Ups

Transcript

hey everyone
Welcome to another episode
Welcome to another episode of Tattoos and TeleHealth
Today me and Kelli are gonna be talking about
struggles with chronic conditions
that maybe you've been told
your labs just look normal
you're fine it's just stress
there's nothing more we can do
we don't really know what's wrong with you 
but you're still struggling with some complaints of
maybe gut health maybe sensitivities
maybe chronic fatigue maybe always feeling run down
hormone imbalances
so
Kelli is double board certified in functional medicine
and today I want her to talk to you
about what functional medicine is
because it was super super enlightening to me
because that's not something
you know that I'm
I specialize in
I specialize in family medicine and healthcare law
and she specializes in family medicine
and functional medicine and
I had no idea the capacity
that functional medicine held
and so today
I really want Kelli to talk about her approach
how functional medicine can help those of you
who are struggling with these chronic issues
maybe you've been doctor to doctor to doctor
maybe you  know
have just been struggling for so long
you've given up hope
and
so that's kind of what we're gonna touch on today
I do wanna say that this is not
to be perceived as medical advice
we're just two gals just chatting it up
also
watching or listening to this podcast
does not constitute a patient
provider relationship
if you want to be our patient
you can go to HamiltonTelehealth.com
and you can click on Get Care Now
and so Kelli
so take it from here some of your experiences
I know over the last even just the last month
we have really I've kind of
picked your brain about functional medicine
cause I'm more curious about it myself
and you know
you've met with these patients
spent a lot of good quality time with them
and then sometimes you have these diagnosis
and I'm like that's insane
like that you were able to come up with that
I know you do you order certain testing
sometimes it's a stool test
sometimes it's a
you know all
all kinds of swab like
sometimes it's blood tests
like you know
just those those extended tests
to just try to figure out what's going on
with patients
that are really just struggling with these conditions
and they haven't found the help they can get
so talk to us a little bit about that and
what kind of things you can help with
and assist these patients
to really get to feeling better
sure so
you know
functional medicine really has been around for a long
long time you know
it was originally
I don't know what it was originally called
I think you and I called it holistic medicine
and then it's just kind of changed the way
you know the nomenclature over a period of time
but it truly is a head to toe approach for your patient
it's a very personalized patient centered approach
which in my opinion
my professional and personal opinion
is the way medicine should always be
I think that's what you know it
it was always intended to be
it never should have become 
the powerhouse that it looks like now 
and so functional medicine
lets me get back to the root of medicine
while allowing me to snuff out the root cause
of what's going on with people 
so it truly focuses on treating that individual
and their specific circumstances
and that may be genetics that may be their environment
their lifestyle their nutrition 
and it uncovers that underlying dysfunction
rather than just managing their symptoms
what I call a pill for an ill 
there's nothing worse in my opinion
than having a patient come to me
whom I just saw one recently this week
in fact 
that laid out this this
you know plan of pills
and she's like Kelli
I'm just tired of taking all these pills
what you know
what can we do 
and at the end of this you know
hour and 10 hour and 15 minute 
appointment
I was able to pull three of those pills away
in exchange for one peptide injection 
that probably is gonna be more effective for her
because as we've talked about before on our podcast
you know peptides are more effective
1 they're injectable they
they go straight to the source
and it's something that your body makes naturally
so you're not fighting with this
you know swallow the pill
get it through your intestines
go through the stomach do all the things
it's gotta be absorbed it's gotta go here
it's gotta go there and so
we pulled off three pills
that she's having to take every day
and in exchange for this peptide
that's gonna make her feel so much better
and so that approach
it really appeals to those that are frustrated
with that traditional medicine approach
you know patients come to me and they're like
I don't feel good something is not right
and I hear that so often and
you know I know that you appreciate it
and I appreciate it especially at this stage of my life
when we're peri menopausal
we're feeling all these feels
stuff isn't right and you go to your provider
and he's like well
your labs are normal you're fine
go do yoga go meditate
get some sunshine
I'm sorry you know
like I know you get frustrated with that right
like yeah
I mean I mean
those things are good for you
but it doesn't solve all the problems
and you know
patients want to understand
and they want solutions and they want
but and sometimes sunshine is the solution
sometimes it is right
but sometimes you just need to dig
to find out why
versus trying to put a Band aid on things
and I think that's where
the extreme value of what you're doing is
let's figure out the root cause
your your visits are 45 minutes to an hour
because it's I mean
you're gonna dig up some stuff right
yeah so we 
so instead of just treating the symptoms
it's not a one size fits all
we aim to identify and address
the functional causes of diseases 
and what triggered them you know what again
like
it goes back to whether it's genetic or environmental
or nutrition you know what
what triggered it and so
you know when you come see me
this is for a for example
you're gonna fill out extensive paperwork
there's a reason
when you fill all of that extensive paperwork out
I'm reviewing that extensive paperwork
and when we see each other
after we spend a few minutes chit chatting
getting to know one another
we're gonna go through every single question
that you filled out in that paperwork
and we're gonna touch base on every single section
whether it's lifestyle social sleep
 nutrition everything
we're gonna go through all of it together
 and then
that helps me to suss out
what a day in the life of Nicole looks like
what a week in the life of Nicole looks like
 and that gives me a really good sense of who you are
as an individual where you've been in this journey
what medications you're taking
what your diet exercise
stress management sleep
nutrition everything
what everything looks like
and it helps my brain to figure out
what do I need to do
to help restore balance in this person who feels off
I don't care that
in the moment that your labs say you're normal
because normal may not feel normal
and normal has a wide range
it goes back to you know
like I tell patients with vitamin d
normal is 30 to 100 that is a huge window
you may not feel normal until you're way over here
at 80 to 100 which ideally
is where you should be anyway
 we were not meant to be stuck inside all day long
with no sunshine and vitamin d
and living way over here under 30
even though 30 is normal we need to be way over here
that's where we feel good
that's our foundation so during this approach
you know we suss out all of these things and
you know I had a patient that
you know when she
by the time she came to me
dealing with all of these issues
I won't get into specifics about her
but by the time we got her GI mapping results back
and her zonulin testing back
her markers were so significant for inflammation
by the time we were able to pull some stuff out
and get her treated
and get her inflammation under control
within a matter of a couple
three weeks she was feeling a ton better
a ton better and there's nothing like
I get chill
I'm getting chilled right now thinking about her
because there's nothing more exciting
than having a patient come back to you saying
I feel so much better
I feel better than I have in years
I'm sleeping I have energy
I feel rested because someone listened to them
someone listened to them
and found something that no one else had found
realized that it was this inflammation in their body
causing all of these issues
you know I get on this soapbox
and I feel I'm getting on it right now
like I can feel myself getting worked up
but inflammation guys
inflammation does so much to you
inflammation destroys your stem cells
inflammation will tear your body down
 it destroys your immune system in your guts
it will make you sick and fatigued
and feeling like life is horrible
it gives you
it gives you the sense of everything is bad
and so your body stress right
like it's like your body on extreme stress
yes it is
this chronic
fighter flight that your body goes through
and until you can reign that back in
like I have two patients right now
two very similar situations with both of them
both of them are displaying symptoms
of an overinflamed immune response
that looks like hives and anaphylaxis
and like
both of them like
breaking out in hives the skin reaction
they can't eat anything drink anything
without their whole body just going berserk
like a full on body attack
because their systems are so overloaded
and I'm trying to help them reign that back in
one of them is doing fantastic
I've been taking care of him for several months
and we finally have his system under control
by going through this process
and it's been a process because I tell people
you didn't get there overnight
we're not gonna fix it overnight
but we've gotten his
we've finally gotten his immune system to settle down
we've put the flames out
now we're just smoldering the smoke
and I have another lady
whom I have been visiting with recently
that we just finally figured out that
that was this overactive immune system
histamine response
and we've been able to slowly add in things to
to reign that back in under control
and she's starting to feel better
but it's it's what happens when doctors and
and nurse practitioners
and other providers were all guilty of it
look at the person and say well
your labs look fine well
her labs did look fine and they do
the ones that are ran but you're like no
we need to run different labs
yeah by the time I got everything else back
and I listened to what she was telling me
and saw what was happening in her body
and we realized that there was this
overwhelming inflammation happening in her gut
that was the trigger that said
here's what's happening here's what's going on
and when we get those things under control
then you can start seeing everything getting better
and people I think people often times
feel like they have to take that answer
from their provider guys
you do not
you do not have to take that answer from your provider
functional medicine steps in and says
there is a root cause for what's happening
we just need to find it
we just need to listen to what's happening
we need to keep digging till we figure it out
it's not always gonna be simple
but that's what we do
and that's why I love getting to spend
45 minutes to an hour with my patients
digging and digging and digging
until we figure out this is what's going on
and it's rewarding it's rewarding for me
it's rewarding for my patients
 if
even if I can help them go from
you know six
seven eight hours of feeling
just like they've been run over by a truck
to having maybe two or three hours of a great day
then I've done something for them yeah
how often do you follow up with your patients
when you meet with them is it very based on the patient
or does it require
so it it really does
it varies 
and depends on kind of what we're doing
so the initial appointment is gonna be an hour
maybe an hour and a half
kind of depending on them and what we are talking about
 and then we go through extensive testing
and I really base that next follow up on
when I get all the results back
I like to wait until I get everything together
and I've had a chance to sit down and review it all
and then
I have the team schedule that person for a follow up
to go over everything again
and that may be two three
four weeks 
before we get everything back
and get a good clinical picture
so it starts out at about every three to four weeks
initially
until we get a good picture of what we're treating
and then spaces out to about every four to six weeks
depending on what we're treating
and how we're treating it
 and depending on the person
I tend to lay out a list of several things
that we need to address
and I'll take two or three hot topics first
and we'll address them check them off the list
take the next two or three
check them off the list
and we just take little bite size pieces
because what I have found doing this for so long
is that once you hit those big trucks
and knock them out of the way
these little things down here tend to fall into place
and no longer are an issue
I love it I love it
I know some patients they're 
more like quicker you know
to to figure it out
and sometimes it takes it takes longer
and so you know
when you go to your primary care
this is this reminds me
when you go to your primary care
and there's something with your heart
they send you to the specialist
to a cardiologist something with your kidneys
you go to a renal doctor
but when there's something with the body
and they just can't figure it out
as a whole it's functional medicine
that's the specialist
and so it's really neat because we're
you're trained in western medicine
and primary care and family care
but this extra specialty kind of takes it beyond
for your patients to say hey
well this is not just something that
you know
standard run of the mill type of thing right
let's really see what's going on with you
and sometimes it's genetic testing
sometimes it's all kinds of different
it just depends on what the situation is
but you know I like that you take like the top three
you know what are your biggest complaints
let's work on knocking those out
I I think that's great
and I know we opened up more appointment slots for you
to be able to do that cause it does take some time
especially the first one 
so if you're looking for a functional 
just just have a visit
just have one visit like there's no subscription
there's there's no trickery right
just 
have one visit with Kelli
and just to see
if you feel like
it's something that she can help you with
you know it's not like you're locked in
we don't make you you know
sign a contract just
you know if you think that 
you could benefit from meeting with Kelli
go to Hamiltontelehealth.com
click on Get Care now
it just asks you basic stuff very quick name
date of birth
I think like the last question is reason for visit
there's a other at the bottom
which we probably should add
functional medicine but just click other
we'll reach out to you and get it scheduled
like it's super
super 
easy to schedule with her
and we've opened up some more slots
so I'm super excited for patients
to really get the relief they need
cause I know I send patients to you sometimes
I'm like you know what
I'm just I
I just don't know and so I know you just figure it out
and I absolutely love that
and I love it I love spending time with people
and it's it's always interesting
cause I learn almost as much from my patients
I feel like as they learn from me
 because
you know medicine is
is evolving you know
we all are we learn from each other
and I think that it should always be that way
yeah absolutely
well thank you
guys so much for joining us today again
this was a topic on functional medicine
you can find Kelli at Hamiltontelehealth.com 
click on Get Care now and 
or you can always send us a message at 4 0
7 5 5 0 5
4 4 1
you can shoot us a text 
and just say you're interested in functional medicine
and we will point you in the right direction
and get you scheduled with Kelli
make sure you have a little bit of quiet time set aside
cause you're gonna really get uh
get get into it with her
to make sure that nothing is missed
and no stone goes uncovered
so 
thank you for joining us
hope you guys have a wonderful blessed week
and we'll talk to you soon
be sure to like and subscribe guys
bye bye