WHY specialized testing & interpretation is crucial
Do you feel jaded because you’ve spent thousands on specialty labs...and still ZERO results?
If so, you’re not alone. Sadly, I hear this so often, and here’s why:
Getting a good lab is only part of the deal.
Being able to accurately interpret the lab AND create individualized plans to address the root cause are the most important parts.
Let’s put it another way…
I’m sure most of you have gotten your hair cut by several different people throughout your life.
Sometimes you find an amazing stylist who knows how to cut your hair so it lays perfectly.💇♀️ Other times, you end up with such a bad haircut that you don’t even want to leave the house.
Two people with the same knowledge, but different skill levels.
It’s the same with doctors, trainers, functional medicine providers, etc. Even if someone has the SAME basic training, learning skills doesn’t mean applying skills.
Here are 3 specific examples of people who came to me who had already done some testing, but it either wasn’t the right test or had the right test, but was interpreted wrong.
NOTE: all names have been changed for privacy reasons. I’d like to also note that these tests are just a small snippet of the extensive data collected for each individual, each new client undergoes a 90 minute initial evaluation and completes a comprehensive 30 page history prior to this initial appointment.
Sally came to me already having done in depth testing.
She came to me struggling with unrelenting GI symptoms. Sally had seen 3 different providers in the last several years, with no symptom relief.
She showed me the last several years worth of stool tests; I had an idea why she hadn’t seen any results, but unsure if the cause of her gut symptoms now were the same as they were previously, so we re-tested the gut again to see what’s going on now (because things can change quite quickly).
The new test was very similar to all the previous ones, including elevated levels of desulfovibrio & citrobacter.
What I found was that while the correct labs were ordered, they were read WRONG, and that the WRONG protocol was built for this patient.
And instead of the protocol being helpful or even neutral, it actually made Sally’s #SIBO worse. (NOTE: there are 3 main types of SIBO, each responds differently to treatment. For instance hydrogen sulphide SIBO, the type Sally had, does not typically respond to a low #FODMAP diet).
After implementing the correct protocol, Sally began to experience relief in her symptoms in less than 2 weeks when she had been suffering for years.
A few months ago I was working with Susan who was going through menopause.
She would range from 70-180 with her home glucometer.
She had “normal” fasting glucose and HgA1C levels
She was dealing with extreme fatigue and insomnia
I had a hunch that she was on the blood sugar roller coaster all day long because she was severely fatigued.
So we ran testing, and made sure to include an insulin test (this test is often left out) to see if this was triggering her to feel tired all day long.
Indeed her fasting insulin was elevated 4xs over the optimal range of <5mIU/L
Insulin is important to test but even more so if you are going through menopause because because of its ability to be more sensitive than testing fasting glucose or HgA1C alone.
During menopause the adrenals get the old “batton handoff” from the ovaries to produce sex hormones, plus cortisol, if they are already taxed due to blood sugar imbalances, the adrenals will have an even harder time trying to regulate production of these hormones.
Estrogens regulate glucose and fat metabolism, fat cell differentiation, bone formation, and even the inflammatory response in atherosclerosis and cancer. Studies have shown that the normal reductions in estrogen that occurs at menopause impair these estrogen-dependent processes, that can lead to not only diabetes, but obesity, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and potentially cancer. DOI: 10.1007/s12253-011-9466-8 PMID: 24734243, PMID: 14697301, 10.1172/JCI86062
It behooves us to be aware of our risk and do all we can to support proper blood sugar regulation, adrenal health and detox pathways to allow for our bodies to transition through menopause with as few symptoms and sequelae as is possible.
Stan came to see me with a complaint of brain fog & fatigue that he just couldn’t figure out why since he was on a grain-free, low carb, high protein, moderate fat diet.
He was also unable to get off of stomach acid support.
We ran some initial tests:
✅Glucose: 84
✅A1C: 5.6%
❌Fasting Insulin: 16.5
This is always why I run insulin -- because your other numbers may look great, but your insulin could be very high!
So we ran additional testing to figure out WHY his insulin was so high despite a seemingly “clean” diet.
What we found:
Protein Maldigestion
Excess protein breaks down and functions like carbs which can spike your blood sugar. In this case there was insufficient chewing of the food as well. When food is not adequately broken down in the mouth it places a significant increased stress on the digestive system to produce MORE stomach acid and MORE pancreatic enzymes to try and keep up.
Micronutrient Deficiency
Low thiamine & zinc, 2 cofactors critical to the production of stomach acid, were low. Based on labs we dosed these micronutrients to aid in repletion of his micronutrient stores.
Hormonal Imbalances
This gentleman had low testosterone (PS the body also needs adequate zinc to make testosterone) and was on hormone replacement therapy. However, within his hypothalamic adrenal and hypothalamic gonadal axes there was something that wasn’t “working” properly - so simply giving more testosterone was not fixing the issue -- it was actually making his insulin numbers higher by driving the androgen, DHT level higher!
If you’re curious to know if something is being missed by your lab tests and want to see if you could benefit from working, I’d love to chat with you to answer any questions.