Hypothyroidism and Functional Medicine

Rae Thompson is a certified functional medicine health coach based in Louisville, Kentucky. Her battles with hypothyroidism and osteoporosis led her to search out the underlying causes of her health issues, rather than just medicating her symptoms. She believes that our bodies were meant to heal themselves given the right environment to do so, and I use my unique experience and skills to assist clients in setting realistic goals, providing educational and emotional support, while promoting self-management, accountability and compliance. In this episode, she shares about her thyroid issues, and how they eventually led her to functional medicine, which has improved her quality of life and has even become a second career at Indwelling Health. I really appreciate her reflections on the ways in which functional medicine practitioners can come alongside mainstream western medicine to enhance the level of healthcare that patients receive.

She shares these resources:

Rae's practice is Indwelling Health: https://www.indwellinghealth.com/

Dr. Mark Hyman: https://drhyman.com/

Bobby Approved App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bobby-approved-food-scanner/id1571725006

Function Health Platform: https://www.functionhealth.com/

Abundant Health Family Care: https://www.abundanthealthfc.com/?fbclid=IwAR0qed53qCAqPCN8rbzKM2FAmGbkIA8HtddbWNXwrO889IntMwKM7MkHWYQ

Radiant Integrative Health: https://www.healthbyradiant.com/

Contact Femammal:

• Email femammalpodcast@gmail.com
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If you have feedback or want to be a future guest, please get in touch!

Logo design: copyright Darragh Hannan

Transcript

[00:17] Greer: 
Hi, this is Greer, your host for Femammal, the podcast that holds space for women to explore what it means to live well in our bodies and celebrates moving through this world as female mammals. Today's guest is Rae Thompson. Rae is a certified functional medicine health coach based in Louisville, Kentucky. Her battles with hypothyroidism and osteoporosis led her to search out the underlying causes of her health issues rather than just medicating her symptoms. She believes that our bodies were meant to heal themselves given the right environment to do so. In this episode, she shares about her thyroid issues and how they eventually led her to functional medicine, which has improved her quality of life and has even become a second career at Indwelling Health. I really appreciate her reflections on the ways in which functional medicine practitioners can come alongside mainstream Western medicine to enhance the level of health care that patients receive. Welcome, Rae. Thank you for joining us today. And hypothyroidism is one health issue you've experienced and offered to share about today. Could you please explain what that condition is and how you got diagnosed?

[01:47] Rae: 
Sure, Greer. Thank you for having me. I first got diagnosed when I moved to California, so this was a cross country move from Louisville to California. We were working with a pastor on a church plant, and I had a three and a five year old at the time, just leaving family and friends and everything. I had known at least for the last 18 years because I moved to Louisville from a different state in 1985. So I think just the stress and pressure, I knew that going across country with a three and a five year old was going to be taxing and just all the new: so having to find a new doctor and establish some primary care. I actually went to first, a chiropractor who tested me for adrenals. I knew I was tired. I really couldn't put my finger on what was going on, but I had been an avid runner, exerciser. I just knew that I was experiencing some fatigue. So he tested my adrenals through saliva, and it came back that I guess I had some adrenal, heading toward adrenal burnout. And he was concerned and just said, we need to get you on the right track. You need to start taking care of yourself. And I thought I really was taking care of myself, but he said, stress is a huge component to your health, and if you keep going in this direction, it could lead to more serious health issues. Right. So that was put in my head. It's hard when you're in the midst of it to really deal with your stress, because I really couldn't put my finger on exactly which area was causing the stress. I mean, I knew I had two little kids, but a lot of people do. Right. Well, at the time, my husband didn't have a job. I wasn't working; we were living in some housing provided, that was great. So just like, anxiety about the future and being able to live with the price of living in California. So eventually, I did find a primary care physician. He tested me, just, your know, annual exam, just getting started with care. And he said, your thyroid is so underactive. He said, I don't know how you've been functioning. And I just started to cry. Oh, my gosh, there's a reason. Why I felt so relieved was that there was a reason why I was feeling all this fatigue and just all these hormonal imbalances. PMS was extreme, and I just thought, well, it's just hormones. It's just the way it is. It's hormones. It's stress from moving, all those things together. Strangely enough, I had really started to clean up my diet before I had moved, and I thought, that's good enough. But I'm telling you, we have no idea the effects that stress has on our body, even to the point where it can cause blood sugar issues and lack of sleep and all these things together just snowball, and it's like a cascade of hormonal issues, and thyroid being one of the hormones. Right. From there, he had me take a synthetic thyroid medication, which I did, and then eventually kind of easing in, I guess, really--I had a family history of my mom sold herbalife. She was a teacher, I was a teacher. My grandmother was always into natural health and supplements and those kind of things. None of us did this for a living, but it was always just a huge interest. So I thought, I hate being on medication. I wish there was another way. So I did hear about a chiropractor that worked with blood nutrition. Went to see him. He did some more testing, and he said, if you've not been on your thyroid medication more than five years, I could probably give you some supplements, and we can see if that works. So I worked with him for several years. He said to me, he said, you know, all the pathways I'm looking at with your testing? He said, I could give you a gluten sensitivity test. He said, but if you want to save the expense and at that time, you're paying out of pocket for all this care, right? Insurance doesn't cover alternative health at this time. Holistic, alternative functional medicine, integrative health, it's all kind of the same umbrella. And I was like, sure, save me some money. He said, I would just go on a gluten free diet. And at the time, I had never heard of Hashimoto's disease. And that has to do with a protein that your body produces that attacks your thyroid tissue, right? So it's in foods that we eat, gluten foods, so anything with, like, flour or MSG. There's all these hidden glutens that I wasn't even aware of at the time. So he said, yeah, just try to stick to a gluten free diet. And that's when gluten free was not cool. Right. It seems like lately everybody's doing the gluten free thing or the paleo thing or the keto thing, but it was not cool. So I learned about it. Never heard the word Hashimoto till I was in a spin class. And the instructor, somebody gave her some pasta that was gluten free, and I was like, what is that about? And she said, yeah, I have Hashimoto's disease. I was like, what is Hashimoto's disease? So just ironically, then, I am told that, yeah, you probably have it, just try going off gluten and see how you feel. So that really did make me feel better. But like I said, I was not aware of all the hidden gluten in foods. So throughout the years, I've kind of tried to just stay away from gluten, but then again, learn more and more about it. So I'm an English teacher, and I've taught middle and high school for almost 20 years and teaching literature. You think most English teachers would want to go read literature books when they're off for the summer. No, not me. I'm reading nutrition books, health books, fitness books. So that's kind of how I got diagnosed and how I've kind of been trying to find any avenues, modalities of healing that I could to try to stay off a medication and really get to the root cause. And that's what functional medicine is all about. It's all about getting to the root cause.

[08:51] Greer: 
Okay. You have covered so much ground, so I'm going to maybe just dive into some of those pieces because there's a lot of terms that people aren't familiar with. So first, maybe if we could step back. And you said you were experiencing fatigue, and so first they thought maybe it was your adrenal gland. I don't know much apart from when I get that burst of adrenaline if something scary happens. Could you tell us what your adrenal gland is and why that wound up not being your issue?

[09:20] Rae: 
Sure. So the adrenal gland, like the thyroid--I did a webinar on this, and it was really fascinating. I learned a lot. But I guess the thyroid is regulated by what's called the HPA axis. That's your hypothalamus. It's a little gland in your brain, your hypothalamus, your pituitary gland, and the adrenals. Right. So all these three organs play together to provide your thyroid with enough thyroid stimulating hormone. Right. So if these are off and a lot of this conversion happens in your gut, you'll experience thyroid issues. It could be hypothyroid, where you're underactive, your thyroid is underactive. Or it could be hyperthyroid, where it's overactive. Right. And that's where you maybe see people with Graves disease--their heart rate is really too high. Maybe sometimes they might experience a lot of palpitations. Where hypothyroid, what I was experiencing was low energy, dry skin, and actually, some of the symptoms overlap in the hypo and hyper. So to treat the problem. I mean, you could have some underlying issues, too, if it's not treated. Health issues like high cholesterol and heart issues could be a problem. But just like, general symptoms of fatigue dry skin, dry brittle nails, dry brittle hair, some sensitivities to like for me, things that I would put on my skin, certain foods, but there's a whole list of a lot of things. But I think fatigue is one of the biggest ones. And weight gain. Right. Whereas weight loss would be more of a symptom for hyperthyroid. But hypothyroid, it would be weight gain, trouble losing weight, hormonal issues, PMS, things like that.

[11:22] Greer: 
Okay, so you're bringing it all back to how your body uses energy. Like the thyroid, it's this gland, it makes the hormones that control how your body is using energy. And so for us as women, we have a lot going on with hormones, it's really complex. So I guess I only ever hear women talking about thyroid problems. I'm sure it happens to men, but I think just us being more prone to it. The hypothyroid diagnosis, was that through a blood test?

[11:50] Rae: 
It was through a blood test. And most of us, when you go to your doctor, they'll check, like, maybe twelve to 20 biomarkers. Right. And usually one of the ones they always test is TSH, your TSH. So your thyroid stimulating hormone, my doctor just happened to be an endocrinologist, which that's what they do is hormones. Right. So that was great that my primary care doctor was an endocrinologist, and he could actually help me with not just my thyroid, but other hormones as well.

[12:28] Greer: 
Yeah, that's really lucky. So first they identified that you have this hypothyroidism. Then they prescribed some medication, which how did that medication function for you?

[12:45] Rae: 
I think it functioned fine. And with your thyroid, your T-4 is converted into T-3, which is the active form of thyroid. So they'll give you medication that has to do with that conversion issue so that you can bring your levels back to an optimal range. Right. So I was prescribed Synthroid, which is a synthetic version of the thyroid hormone. Again, I had kind of done a little research and was like, oh, I don't know about these synthetic hormones. And I know women have this issue, too, if they're doing female hormones or hormone replacement, right. They don't want to do synthetic ones. They'd rather do more natural. So that's when I started looking into things like Armour thyroid, which is made out of pig glands, thyroid glands, and then nature throid, NP Thyroid, all those are the non synthetic versions, which a lot of doctors will prescribe that as well. If you ask, most of them, I think, are going to use the synthetic, but some conventional doctors will also prescribe for Armour.

[13:56] Greer: 
Okay. Do you recall what your specific concerns about your thyroid medication being a synthetic hormone would have been?

[14:08] Rae: 
What I had heard was if you're on thyroid medication, you're going to be on it all your life, and then eventually you'll have to start taking more and more, like your dosage is going to increase. And then I also heard eventually it'll turn into hyperthyroid. Now, I don't know if that part is true. I haven't done much more research on that because I did switch to the natural or the glandular form. So I'm not quite sure if that's the truth. But I do remember reading that. And so for me personally, all I could think of was, I don't want to be on medication all my life. I don't want to mask the symptoms when maybe it's another hormonal issue, or maybe it's a gut issue, a GI issue, maybe it's a liver issue because your thyroid is also produced, that conversion also happens in your GI tract, in your gut. So that's another symptom, too, I forgot to mention, was constipation. And those things you just think about, everything kind of slowing down, right. Your digestion included. So I had a lot of those kind of GI issues as well.

[15:28] Greer: 
Okay. And so you started asking these questions of, yes, I have this thyroid problem, but why? And then that led you to noticing your gluten sensitivity. Did you wind up getting officially diagnosed with Hashimoto's, or was it more of you just kind of experimented with what worked better for you and kind of came to that conclusion yourself?

[15:54] Rae: 
Yeah, I would say I experimented with it from that one chiropractor's advice. And just recently, I did this testing. It's an amazing testing platform through I don't know if you've heard of Dr. Mark Hyman. I call him like the functional medicine guru. He and some other functional medicine doctors rolled out this platform this year that does a test for over 118 biomarkers, and anybody can get it done. And they're doing this for patients to be able to advocate for themselves, especially when it's difficult sometimes to get into a functional medicine practitioner. Sometimes you have to wait months. So I did this diagnostic testing, and they test for the antibodies, the thyroglobulin antibodies, that actually is that protein that affects your thyroid and is an autoimmune disease, Hashimoto. So, yeah, I did actually find out through that testing just recently in June that I do produce the antibody for it. Yeah.

[17:08] Greer: 
So Hashimoto's being an autoimmune disease, and so getting that biomarker tested sort of confirmed for you what you kind of discovered experimentally, like this gluten intolerance, and these kind of auto-antibiodies were clearly affecting your thyroid's ability to function.

[17:28] Rae: 
That's right.

[17:29] Greer: 
When you were initially put on the medication, were they doing regular follow up blood tests to make sure that the medication was functioning optimally for you?

[17:41] Rae: 
I was lucky because the physician that I was seeing, the endocrinologist, he was actually a personal friend of ours in California, so he was very supportive. Not all doctors are, but I told him I had been experimenting with a chiropractor and that I wanted to switch to Armour. And he was very supportive of all that. Not all doctors are, but he was, so I was lucky in that sense. So, yeah, I would be tested every year when I go to him for my annual visits. I'm telling you, I've gone every alternative route I think you could go. If there's any out there, I'd love to hear that I haven't tried. But I went from the blood nutrition, I did biofeedback, I did let's see, what else? A naturopath. I did DNA testing. Also thermography. So all these things I always say are like a piece of the puzzle of trying to figure out what's really going on and how to use because they say DNA is not your destiny. Right. It is a really good umbrella to see that, okay, these things are in my DNA, but I can change that. You can change the gene expression with epigenetics. Right. Your lifestyle, your nutrition. So all those things you can change, but knowing ahead of time that this is the path that I could take if I don't take care of my health. All these things to me were just those were the things on my radar. Just not treating the symptoms, but treating the root cause.

[19:39] Greer: 
Yeah. So it sounds like you were hopeful to sort of understand what was undermining the natural function of your thyroid and hopeful to have an alternative where you wouldn't have to be on medication even if it was the naturally occurring hormone rather than the synthetic one for the rest of your life. Was that the motivation with all this extra testing?

[20:03] Rae:
 Totally. That is definitely the motivation, yes. And I'm still on NP Thyroid, but I'm still determined because just all these side effects, not getting to the root cause, I don't know. I'm just open I'm open to finding if there's anything else I can try, because, again, I'm also struggling or dealing with osteoporosis. Right. And that's also a side effect of thyroid issues. Then again, inflammation, stress, allergies upper and lower GI issues, anxiety, fatigue, all these things are just symptoms that we have to look deeper into, like what's going on with our sleep, what's going on with the mitochondria, what's going on with our genetics, hormone imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, infections, or even greater with our nutrition is toxins. Right. Just finding clean, organic foods that we can eat. So that's kind of been the game changer for me, at least in the last year, where I'm like, I'm reading ingredients and it's made a huge difference. A huge difference, yeah.

[21:30] Greer: 
So when I was first talking to you, it sounded like the fatigue was the red flag that told her you had a thyroid issue. But in some ways, the thyroid issue has become the red flag revealing that you actually have a lot going on autoimmune-wise with your body. And something is triggering these other experiences like the osteoporosis. So is that where kind of the functional medicine came in for you? Wanting to look at those kind of root causes and what deeper issues you could address?

[22:01] Rae: 
Yes. And I tell you, when you're looking at the root cause, you have to go back. Right. If you find a really good practitioner or a health coach, they'll go back like years and years, even to your childhood, right. Like, what was your diet, your lifestyle? Like, your family, any history of viruses or infections? So, I mean, I look back and I was exercising, training for a marathon. I was a vegetarian for like eight years. And I wasn't a healthy vegetarian. I was like Morningstar, soy products, all this processed food, right. And this was a time when all the fat free and low fat products came out on the market and it was all about fat, right. So it was high carb, little to no fat, which I just shudder to think what that did for my brain health and my hormones. Right, and then all of this exercise and then you're dealing with thyroid. You don't know it, so you're trying to keep your weight down and you're wondering, okay, how many miles do I have to run to balance this out? But I just think of all these empty calories I was eating and you could eat 3000 calories but not have any fat and you were good. So I think all these things that I did diet wise, all these crazy fad diets, I guess now they're fads, but back then, everybody was like, no, we need to lower heart disease, so we need to eat all these carbs and wheat. And I'm thinking that's what I was feeding my body, that now I look back, too, and we look at how our nutrition has changed and how our food has changed. I mean, just the glyphosates that they spray on crops and we don't have all the regulations in this country like they do in other countries. Right. And I've just started buying organic more in the last year because before it's really expensive and it's still expensive way more now than it's ever been. But you have to have that give and take of okay, but am I going to pay on the downstream where I'm paying higher doctors visits and other issues that are going to occur with more medications and more snowball effect of symptoms? I had to kind of look at that and really clean up my diet. And I can just look back to like when I moved to California and the stress again, I don't think we give stress enough credit for just playing in the downfall of our health; I was, I had a three and a five year old, a move. I had just started to clean up my diet. Years later, my dad was diagnosed with melanoma. I'm going through menopause. I have two teenagers. I'm teaching at a new job. I mean, the stress of life can really wreak havoc on our health, right? Then our nutrition goes down because we're stressed, our cortisol levels are high, so we're craving carbs. And I could remember like, having a really stressful day. And I'd eat flaming hot Cheetos in a diet Dr. Pepper on the way home. And I'm like looking back, I'm going, oh my, you know, this stage in my life, I'm like, okay, I really have to make that investment in my health. And I've been cleaning it up. So over the last couple of years, I decided I wanted a career change. And I just thought, you know what career sounds good to me? And that's when I got into, I met with a friend of mine here in town. He's a naturopath, Chip Gilmore. And I just said, okay, what's some avenues I can take? Like, how do you like your job? Because he had had a career change as well, years ago. So he told me about this health coaching. I'd never heard of health coaching. And he was working on a program that was all remote, you didn't have to have any background in nursing, or he's a naturopath, that they would teach you, you do these modules. So I did that. But in the midst of this program, you had to go through your own transformation. So I had to do a full blood panel. I had to do food inflammation testing of over 200 foods and additives and a GI map. And these were like really in depth tests with interpretations and guides to lifestyle changes, exercise changes. And then in my program, my Transformation, I was assigned a health coach that would work with me for twelve weeks, for twelve sessions. So I'm learning how to coach because I'm being coached, kind of like student teaching, right? And then I'm going through my own transformation. Like I would see my clients in the future, their transformation, right? So it was an excellent program. And then I am also signed up for another coaching program, which will help me to get the approval to sit for the boards, the National Board exam for health coaches. Because now insurance companies are starting to recognize CPT codes for health insurance. To where I know there was a time where you couldn't see a chiropractor that wasn't covered by insurance, but now you might have so many sessions where they're going to pay for a chiropractor and then a percentage. Well, now they're starting to recognize that health coaches have become really significant in healthcare for prevention, right? Keeping our health costs lower. And then a lot of corporations are hiring health coaches and people to look at their employees, trying to keep them healthy and less sick days, right, and creating these programs of wellness. So I'm really excited about the future for health coaching. And now that it's on my radar, it seems like there's so much information out there. So I'm just excited. I have an office locally, and I think it's revolutionary in that just even finding, I have a functional medicine nurse practitioner, and they take insurance. So that was huge, right? That somebody would actually take my insurance. And it was covered just like you would your regular doctor. But on top of that, just to have that person that's a health coach, because I would leave appointments and I was kind of overwhelmed. And I'm like, I know a lot about this subject, but at the same time, I was like, but nobody's really following up with me. So it was that person that the health coach, I thought, this is a perfect fit because that's the person where they're going to support you, whatever protocols your doctor may give. Right. You have somebody that supports you, somebody that listens, which is huge. Somebody that is invested, and they will encourage you. So, like, I'll send text messages. We'll do goal setting nutrition. I'm not a nutritionist like that's outside of my scope of practice, but I could still talk to people about, okay, how are we going to walk this out for the rest of your life? Right? It's not about just doing a diet that's a prescribed diet that I use. It's like, what do you need? What are your goals? Is it weight loss? Is it improving your health? Is it you have type two diabetes and you're wanting to know lifestyle changes and nutrition changes that are going to potentially help you to get off your medication, right. And just be able to improve your health and not have any other symptoms occur or have to be on more and more medications. Right? So I just love that idea that you're coming alongside of people and just helping them.

[30:40] Greer: 
So as a health coach in general, you're helping people with that follow through based on what their practitioner is instructing them about. And then as a functional health coach, functional medicine health coach, specifically, what's unique about that approach as you work with your folks?

[31:01] Rae: 
Yes. So what's different about functional medicine? Because there's so many programs out there, and I feel like I looked at them all that are approved for the National Board. But functional medicine, Integrative, Holistic, they're all looking at the root cause. Right? Getting to the root cause. So that to me was huge because I could go in and coach people. But working alongside a practitioner, which I just have my own business. Right. I do work with a doctor remotely. He's a PhD doctor who is under the umbrella of other medical practitioners, MDS, and that's all remote. But I just think the functional medicine piece is trying to get to the root cause. And they have this five they call it the five R approach, where you're removing stressors and gut irritability. You're replacing with nutrition and any kind of thing we can do for the GI, because a lot of our immunity starts in the GI tract, right. Reinoculate. And that's like using prebiotics probiotics, postbiotics repair your intestinal wall and the lining of your intestines and then rebalance. It could be with lifestyle supplementation, exercise, sleep, stress management. Right. So I like that approach that we're going to choose medication last, so let's try to do everything we can that's in our control, right. And just to get to what's really causing the problem. Right.

[32:59] Greer: 
Could you talk about that dynamic then, as you talk to the folks you serve, where their primary care provider probably is not coming from a functional medicine perspective, their primary care provider is probably more focused on treating symptoms because that's what's available to them, that's the medications that are available to them. And then you're coming in with something that's from a very different perspective, maybe something that they're not considering, maybe something they don't have the time to consider. What is that dynamic like as your folks are kind of attacking it from both sides, potentially?

[33:42] Rae: 
Yeah, that's a really good question. I know we always talk about, like, test don't guess. Right? Because I'm at Rainbow Blossom, which is a health food store, but I'm at the wellness center. So people will come in and social media drives so much, it's mind blowing. So it's like, I'll be at the store helping customers, and it's like, this week it's Celtic sea salt, next week it's magnesium, the next week it's this supplement or that supplement. So we're like, okay, what's going on in social media? Like, we can't keep Celtic sea salt on the shelf. But I always say, are you testing? I mean, even just getting your conventional doctor just the regular test, are they saying that you're low in vitamin D or magnesium? Are they testing for that? Or are you just kind of grasping at straws because you heard it on social media? That is so key. And I have an example of this one woman that came in, and she was looking for progesterone cream for her husband because he was having hot flashes. And I was like, what's the last time he's tested? Like, his hormones? And she said, oh, probably a few years ago before COVID And I was like, I think he needs to be tested. I mean, I don't know about giving him progesterone cream. I mean, it was over the counter, right? But I looked it up and it could be a symptom of prostate cancer. We have to take a step back. And I think there's definitely a place for practitioners, right. Functional medicine, conventional practitioners get those tests done so you know what your body needs. Right. But then also where I can help too. And the doctor, I don't think the doctor is really going to any doctor would disagree with, I'm cleaning up my diet, I'm exercising, I'm destressing. Right. Just all these really simple things that we can do that aren't really so simple to some people, I think, just starting there. Right. And then if you do have a health issue, a serious health issue, then, you know what? Let's get tested. Let's see if there's some things that we can get to. I mean, there's so many things out there nowadays for, like, blood sugar control, even supplement wise, but then just simple things like 20 minutes walk after you eat can lower your blood sugar. Right. Exercise can lower your blood sugar. Meditation and just quieting your brain, and stretching, yoga, all these things can contribute to your health and has all these trickle down effects that can improve your health without even using medication supplements. I don't know if I answered your question. I kind of went around the world with that one.

[36:40] Greer: 
No, that's helpful. And maybe you could say more by kind of describing what the narrative arc of your interactions with the people you serve. Do you go in and do some kind of panel of tests right away or refer them out to get a panel of tests as your starting point, or what's your starting point? And then how do you build from there?

[37:02] Rae: 
Yeah, I offer them, like, three different options. So I'll say, okay, if you want to talk to a practitioner that interprets your results, if you want to do, like, the route that I did, where I did blood work, you can do blood work and food inflammation testing. You could do blood work, food inflammation testing, and then GI mapping. Right. If we're really trying to get to the root cause. And then that way you can talk to the doctor that I work with out of Florida and ask questions. Right. Rae: Because some people like to ask questions. Second thing I offer is I have coaching packages, right. So people may not even want any blood work. Let's just start with let's try to cut out processed foods. Let's try to cut out maybe dairy and gluten for a time, like a couple of weeks, and see how you feel. You might feel better. Let's start eating clean foods. The next level, like non GMO, organic, glyphosate free. Let's go on a shopping know, and let's try to read some labels. And I have this great app. I love the Bobby Approved app, and I'll go shopping with them. We'll scan items. And that was groundbreaking for me because reading labels, it takes so long, right. So the apps make it so easy. I can just scan an item and then that's an education right there. Just looking the list of all the things that are highlighted that are not good for us, getting tested would be the next step. And I offer Function Health. Dr. Mark Hyman and some other functional medicine practitioners have invested in this platform called Function Health, and right now they're in beta testing. But there were, like 30,000 people on the waiting list to do this platform. It tests over 118 biomarkers. So that's something I offer. And with that, because I've done the testing and they really created it for health coaches and people that wanted to advocate for their own health. I will have a package where I can work with someone because they do an initial blood test and then they do a follow up test six months later and it's $499 for the year. I think that is amazing because if you've ever gone to a health practitioner that doesn't accept insurance, you're going to pay way more than that, right? So they wanted the patient to have all the information and they log in the site and everything's there. There's a functional health doctor will give the client or the patient a translation, an interpretation of all their blood work. It is so detailed. I can't even begin to say how amazing this platform is for just people that say, you want to see a functional medicine doctor for blood work, but it's going to be three months before they can get you in. And not all of them are like that, right? But this, to me, you get your results back in like three to four weeks. They give you ideas for foods to avoid, foods to include, supplementation, why this biomarker matters. But it is very detailed and then you have it for life. So if you continue to get tested, then you can see, okay, I want to know if I'm doing this protocol and I am spending all this money, say I'm getting supplements or I'm changing my diet, my lifestyle, whatever I'm doing, I'm paying for coaching. I want to see that it's working right. I want to see that my investment is paying off. And I have it. It's science backed evidence that look at that. My numbers came up. My numbers came down, right. I can see it in black and white. So to me, that's really exciting, but not everybody wants to go that route or needs to go that route or can afford to go to that route. So I'll just work with just basic, let's set some goals this week. I'm going to keep you accountable. I'm going to text you and you kind of come up. It's more like client based rather than I'm the coach and this is what you need to do. And you have to be on this diet because everybody's so different. Everybody's biological needs are different, right? Just elimination or detox those things right there. People are amazed how much better they feel, and that kind of motivates them to let's keep going with this. I want to feel even better. So that's the modalities that I'm taking.

[42:05] Greer:
 It's nice to hear how personalized it is and sustained, because I think those are some of the things that there's nothing wrong with your primary care provider, but your primary care provider doesn't have the availability to provide that kind of sustained personal support.

[42:24] Rae: 
That's it. I thought it was like ten minutes per patient. And then I heard one of the customers here said his sister or sister in law was a nurse practitioner and she said, no, she has seven minutes. And I'm like, now not all doctors are like this, right? We always have those ones that really they'll spend more time with you. But most because of insurance, they have to see a required amount of patients a day and they just don't have that time even if they do have the compassion. And I think most of them do, right? It's mostly, okay, I got your blood work back and your cholesterol is a little high, see you next year. Let's cut back on the fats or the fried foods or something like that. So it's such a bigger picture. But doctors definitely have their place with acute care and emergencies and medications when you do have to be on medications, for sure. But I just love the fact that that health coach, whether it's a conventional doctor or alternative medicine, can come alongside and work with them and say, I'm going to advocate for the patient and I'm going to see you through better compliance, right? You're going to have better outcomes, you're going to have support. I'm in a health food store all day and so many people just need somebody to listen. It amazes me. Even community, especially since COVID it's like the community piece, a lot of people are going it on their own and we have all this information, we have all the information, but it's just applying it, right? It's somebody sitting down with you to, okay, so let's apply it to our lives. Because I get analysis paralysis and I see so many people that get the same know, I've listened to so many podcasts or YouTubes about this one specific thing, it's like, oh my gosh, so what is it I'm supposed to take and avoid? I'm just overwhelmed.

[44:44] Greer: 
Yeah. And I really appreciate the fact that you are not in a tug of war with the kind of pharmaceutical based western med school medicine that's widely practiced. It sounds like you really see yourself as expanding the team of healthcare providers to support a person and I think that's awesome. I'm also wondering if you maybe could riff on why you think the functional medicine approach isn't more widely available yet. And I think women in particular are looking for this kind of approach that really looks at underlying causes rather than just focusing on symptoms. And I can tell you that at our podcast email address that I put in the show notes every week I get emails from women specifically looking for recommendations for functional medicine providers locally and I say, I don't really have a resource for that, I can't give you a recommendation. Why do you think there's kind of that lack and this is slow to pick up steam?

[45:50] Rae: 
Yeah, I have to wonder if a lot of them just have to fly under the radar because they don't want to get shut down? I don't know. That's a good question, especially if they take insurance, right? But I know that I've been following Dr. Mark Hyman. He's a huge advocate. He was a regular conventional allopathic doctor for years, and then until he had his own health struggle. And he has been really forthcoming with starting coaching schools and schools that will train doctors in nutrition and functional medicine. So it's becoming more definitely, more readily available. But I think that's one of the reasons why they created this platform, this function health platform, so that people wouldn't have to wait to get to see someone. But I tell you, just working here at Rainbow Blossom, I'm at the wellness center. So we're mostly supplements. We have a few aisles of grocery items, but we're a wellness center. People come in and I'll be helping a customer and hear them saying, my doctor said to get this supplement. I'm like wait, hold on. Your doctor said? So I'll immediately go get my notepad and go, okay, tell me who this is. Because I keep a tab, I keep a contact list of all these either conventional doctors that are just open minded, right? And I'll even write down dentists. So there's some dentists that are practicing, like in a more functional medicine, alternative medicine practice, which that's amazing, too, but I'll get their contact information and I'll try to reach out to them, or I'll refer customers that come in to them if they're looking for something like that. Because I think it's good to develop a relationship with a practitioner, whether it's functional medicine or a conventional allopathic doctor. So it's just, I think the functional medicine doctors, the alternative, the integrative, the holistic, the naturopathic, they're not under that restriction of the insurance companies or pharmaceutical companies, so they can spend more time with you. But more and more I'm starting to see some that accept insurance. So this testing could be included. But I've yet to see someone that is going to test 118 biomarkers, because Dr. Hyman says that his regular panel, your annual panel, when you would go in for your annual visit, would be usually twelve biomarkers, no more than 20, right? So if you wanted to get a full thyroid panel, for instance, you would have to pay out of pocket. Your insurance might pay for it, but mine never did. If you wanted to get a GI map, right, you're usually going to have to pay out of pocket. So the fact that he sees the need for health coaches and for this functional medicine piece of getting to the root cause, I can list off some practitioners I know of here in town, if your listeners want that. Word of mouth is great too, right? I mean, I meet people every day that have a new practitioner that I'm like, oh, wait, give me their name, give me their number. Did I answer that?

[49:30] Greer: 
Yeah, yeah, and it kind of sprung a memory in me know, I have a primary care provider who does recommend supplements as appropriate for different issues of mine, but because supplements are unregulated in the US, compared to the way pharmaceuticals work, my primary care provider can't write me a prescription for one specific thing for me to go out and buy. So then I wind up standing in the aisle, like reading every bottle, trying to figure out which version of the iron supplement is going to be best for me, cause me the least problems. And I just want to tear my hair out because I'm not an expert. And I literally am just standing there with my phone googling. What's the best way to consume my iron supplement? It's so frustrating. So thinking of a person like you coming behind and doing that part of it, right?

[50:26] Rae: 
And it is so true. And I mean, little things like I have osteoporosis, so I'm going to just take calcium. Right?, Well, if you don't take it with magnesium D3, K2. Is it bioavailable and is it calcification in your arteries? Right? Is it building up in your arteries? So it's like, oh my gosh, I really do need some help with this. That's what I like about that function health platform and working with a functional medicine doctor where they will, they'll give you specifics. Like, I've been going to Radiant Health Care off here in Louisville, and my nurse practitioner, Brittany Young, just opened her own clinic called Abundant Health. That's local. I know there's some other places and other names of doctors that are taking insurance as well and they are open to their patients. Hey, I read this book and I found this out and they'll listen and actually take that to heart and research as well alongside their patient and try different methods before trying medication. I've heard some amazing stories, amazing stories.

[51:49] Greer:
 Yeah. Has delving into functional health and getting help for your thyroid and this whole journey you've been on with gluten and everything changed how you think or feel about your body?

[52:03] Rae: 
Yes, it definitely has. I mean, we can all start. You've heard that adage food is medicine, right? But then I'm like, yeah, food is medicine, but it could also be poison. If it's the wrong food, it can be medicine, but what kind of food are we buying? So it's really made me conscious about everything. I've heard people say that your healing is at the end of your fork. Right. So we can choose what we put in our body, but when we're busy, when we're stressed, if we're not taking the time, it's just garbage in, garbage out. So we really have to be, I think that's where I've seen my health turn around the most is just starting with nutrition, just eliminating the processed foods, right? Just cooking clean foods, like lowering the sugar intake. Yes, I might be giving up a little flavor but you know what? Once you give up sugar, for the most part, the slightest things taste sweet to me, like an apple or a grapefruit, even. So, there's so many things we can do just with diet alone. Lifestyle changes. Exercise is so important for brain health as well. Sleep is so important. All these things affect your thyroid, all your hormones. Right. Male or female hormones. It's just we create this cascade, and when one of these things are off, so we just have to start working upstream.

[53:53] Greer: 
Yeah. I hear a lot of optimism in your voice, and I hear just this perspective of empowerment. Like, you've got these things in your life that you can't control or kind of got out of hand, but you are doing what you can for the things that you can.

[54:10] Rae: 
Exactly. And just finding grocery stores that sell organic foods or clean foods, I mean, they're out there in every grocery store we go to. It's just you have to be mindful. You have to take that initial time to find what works for you. I've gotten meal plans before, and I'm like, oh, my gosh, this is so overwhelming. So I'm more about what works for you. What foods do you like? Right. Let's think about what we can add rather than what we can take away. And I mean, my family, my kids are 23 and 25 now, but they live with us. And I never fix rice. It's cauliflower rice. I mean, sometimes I'll make rice, but I've done it so gradually that I don't even think they knew what they were missing. Now they do more because they're adults, but they still eat what I cook. So it's just replacing like there's so many great hacks. Even my husband's, like, amazed at some of the things I can cook that still taste great, that actually nurture your body and your health. Mind, body, spirit, it's all connected. But, man, gone are the days where I'm sitting down with a soda, a diet soda with all the neurotoxins, right, and the sweeteners and then the flaming hot cheetos. Lord knows what that did to my gut. I'm sure that's why I'm still suffering. When you know better, you do better, right?

[55:51] Greer: 
Yeah. So I've really appreciated this conversation, and I can imagine some folks also have appreciated listening to this and might want to reach out to connect with you, learn more, especially in the Louisville area. I don't know if you also do kind of remote practice.

[56:10] Rae: 
Yes, I do. And if you just go to Indwellinghealth.com, that's Indwellinghealth.com. You can find me there. And locally in Louisville, I have an office at Rainbow Blossom off Springhurst. It's the wellness center. We have other practitioners here, too, that do massage, reiki, Jinshin Jitsu, foot baths, all these great methodologies for healing. So you can find me at Rainbow Blossom. I can do in person. I can do remote. I've done hybrids before. Yeah, you can find out more. You could book a consultation with me. I'd love to talk to you. I think it takes a community.

[56:56] Greer:
 I'll put the link to your website in our show notes as well, so people can follow that really easily. And I just wanted to end with one last question that I ask all my guests, and that's what kind of advice do you have on learning to listen well to our bodies?

[57:13] Rae: 
Yeah, I think learning to listen well you have to slow down. You just have to slow down. Getting enough sleep? I always love this acronym. If you're hungry, angry, Lonely or tired, you need to HALT. I mean stop, right? Hungry, angry, lonely or tired. So just all those things. If you can just stop and just assess all those different areas. How is your sleep going? How's your nutrition? Have you slowed down to even think, stop and be grateful? I mean, journaling. Yeah, just looking at your nutrition. But I think it's just you have to slow down. I think when we're on high stress adrenaline cortisol we're not slowing down. It's like the classic example of when you're running from a bear, your cortisol levels are through the roof. I hope I never have to run from a bear. But everything's stopping your digestion. Any thoughts? You're just in high stress mode and everything shuts down. It's just fight or flight. It's just survival. Right. And as Americans, we tend to live like that and we don't stop to listen to our bodies. It just wreaks havoc on our sympathetic nervous system, our parasympathetic nervous system. So just slow down. Breathe. Meditation, that's been something else I've added in the last year. Yeah, just listen. You have to stop to listen.

[58:55] Greer:
 Thanks for sharing that insight. I think that's great wisdom. And I really appreciate you sharing your story with us today, Rae. I've learned a lot, so thanks so much.

[59:06] Rae: 
All right. Thank you, Greer.

[59:13] Greer: 
If today's episode resonated with you, I'd love to hear from you. You can email me at femammlpodcast@gmail.com. That's femammalpodcast@gmail.com. You can also follow this podcast on Facebook. Just search for Femammal podcast and you will find a community of people who are interested in living well in our bodies. And of course, I'd love for you. To rate this podcast and leave a review wherever you download your podcasts. Until next time, be well.