My Health Journey – Part 3: The Ongoing Puzzle and Finding a Functional Doctor
In this post, I will share how I finally got some answers, but it didn’t come without its own challenges. This is the 3rd post in my healthcare journey, for context, here are the 1st and 2nd posts.
Years of Searching for Answers: From Medical Dismissals to Finding Some Hope
After my challenges with Candida, I went back to a general practitioner and requested more testing. Fortunately my new doctor was receptive as he didn’t know what to make of my symptoms. Similar to previous, my labs came back within normal ranges. At this point, my symptoms included:
- Stomach issues (alternating diarrhea and constipation)
- Excessively dry and cracking skin that was painful
- Bloating and feeling sick after eating certain foods
- Excessive sweating and intolerance to heat and cold
- Hair loss
It is important to note that this was right around 2021. Covid was still in full swing, and my symptoms were starting to increase. I had been vaccinated with mRNA vaccines, and had contracted covid once. It wouldn’t be till much later that information came out on the impacts of Covid on the body. I will provide more details on this in a future post.
Based on the symptoms I was experiencing, my doctor referred me to an endocrinologist (gut specialist). In Canada, we have universal healthcare, meaning we don’t have to pay for doctor visits. The downside is you can wait an extended period of time to see the specialist. I waited close to 6 months before I was able to get in for my first consult.
I was excited for this appointment. I felt like I had been waiting year to find someone that could help, and someone that specialized in gut health would be perfect. I spent weeks getting prepared for the appointment. I had a list of my symptoms, the tests that I had completed, and my questions.
Unfortunately nothing went as planned. Almost immediately the doctor was questioning why I was referred to him. That I didn’t look sick in comparison to many of his other patients who had ‘actual issues’ like cancer. He looked at the testing data I brought him and told me that they weren’t reliable and things like Candida overgrowth were don’t exist because yeast is naturally occurring in the body. This was my first real taste of medical gaslighting, but not the last. As I sat there, feeling like a child being reprimanded, I tried my best to follow my notes. Each time the doctor found a way to question if my symptoms were in my head, and not real. I had been doing research and had stumbled upon SIBO (Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth) and noticed that many of the symptoms aligned with mine. I asked the doctor about SIBO and told me it didn’t exist, and there was no way to test for it anyway. I was disappointed and feel stupid for bringing something like that up, even though I shouldn’t have been.
The power dynamics between doctors and patients is misaligned and many believe that doctors know everything. It is not possible for a doctor to stay current on all aspects of their practice, and you do need to be your own advocate. I found out later that there was an ICD code for SIBO, which proves its legitimacy as doctors can bill towards it. More importantly I learned you need to be your own advocate, your doctor isn’t in control of your life, you are.
What The Endocrinologist Tests Told Me
The testing started off with some imaging of my stomach and a endoscopy (scope down your throat). The results showed mild inflammation, but the doctor provided little in the way of options and support. I was told to eat a a low FODMAP diet, but was given no direction or instructions. In addition to that, I was booked for a colonoscopy, however that would take 18 months to get done due to Covid challenges and the perceived severity of my issues.
While Waiting My Symptoms Escalated
Over the next 18 months my symptoms continued to worsen. I started to become much more sensitive to foods, chemicals, dust and mold. I would get sudden headaches, become dizzy, feel nauseous, or get bloated. It even happened when I was eating healthy food. It was a frustrating puzzle and day by day I was getting worse. My reactions were happening more often and they hit me harder each time. I struggled to sleep since my body didn’t really settle down at night.
And The Test Results Were…
After finally having my colonoscopy, I sat down with my endocrinologist. I had waited years to get to this point and was excited to finally get some insight as to what was going on with me. Aside from a little inflammation, I was told nothing was wrong. I was stunned. I didn’t think that could be possible.
Finding a Functional Medical Doctor
After leaving the endocrinologists office, I spent the next week in a depressive state. I wasn’t sure what to do or where to go next.
It took me a few weeks to pull myself up to a headspace where I could try to figure out next steps. As I began to research what other supports were out there, Functional Medical Doctors kept popping up. This was a term that I had never heard before.
What Is a Functional Medicine Doctor?
A functional medicine doctor is a licensed medical professional (usually an MD, DO, ND, or other qualified practitioner) who looks beyond your symptoms to understand the root cause of your health issues. Instead of just treating the disease or masking symptoms with medication, they focus on how different systems in your body are working together or not working as they should.
Think of them as a health detective. While traditional doctors might say, “Your labs are normal, you’re fine,” a functional medicine doctor asks why you’re still feeling unwell and digs deeper.
Key Benefits of Seeing a Functional Medicine Doctor
Root-Cause Focused
They want to know why you’re experiencing symptoms, not just what the symptoms are.
Whole-Body Approach
They consider your gut health, immune system, hormones, nutrition, stress, sleep, environment, and more. Everything is connected.
Personalized Treatment
No one-size-fits-all plans. Your history, genetics, and lifestyle shape your treatment — which might include diet changes, supplements, lifestyle shifts, or targeted medications.
Advanced Testing
They often use more detailed or specialized tests (like GI-MAP, SIBO breath tests, food sensitivity panels, and hormone testing) that go beyond the basic bloodwork you may have already had.
Time & Attention
Appointments tend to be longer, and many doctors take time to listen to your full health story, something many people say is missing from standard visits.
Why This Matters If You’ve Been Told “Everything’s Normal”
If you’ve been struggling with gut issues like bloating, constipation, fatigue, or food sensitivities and your doctor keeps telling you “your labs are normal” it can feel discouraging. You know something is wrong, but you’re not getting answers.
Functional medicine is built for these situations.
Rather than stopping at “normal ranges,” they ask:
- Could your symptoms be early signs of imbalance?
- Are there underlying infections or nutrient deficiencies being missed?
- Is your gut microbiome or nervous system out of balance?
This approach is especially powerful for chronic, unresolved, or complex issues like SIBO, candida overgrowth, IBS, MCAS, or long-standing inflammation.
What’s Next?
It didn’t take too long after researching to know that I needed to find a functional medical doctor to help me. Unfortunately this was in the middle of Covid, and locally there weren’t any available. I did find a practitioner in a city relatively close, and booked an initial consultation. As soon as I saw the patient intake form was about 50 pages, I started to get the sense this would be different. You can find a scaled down version here to see what it was like.
Thankfully there are more options now for functional doctors, and you can find a link to a registry here. It is important to note that functional doctors are normally out of pocket, so even if you have health coverage where you live, you would need to pay for this separately.
In my next post I will go into detail about what the consultation and testing was like and what it told me. I will explain which types of tests were most valuable and how you can get them done yourself.
