A science-backed, personalised approach to treating autoimmune disease

Functional medicine is a comprehensive healthcare approach that addresses chronic health issues. Research now shows that health issues like undiagnosed autoimmunity or autoimmune disease are influenced mainly by your diet, lifestyle and environment. Functional medicine also acknowledges that each person is biochemically unique, and that solving a health problem starts with finding the cause or drivers of the problem. Therefore, the resolution of health issues requires a root-cause based, personalised approach.

Functional medicine practitioners seek to understand you and your health picture, as well as your diet and lifestyle. When all of these elements are brought together and assessed, we can start to build a clear picture of what’s going on and why. This assessment can often involve functional pathology testing to dig more deeply into your health. Once insights become clear, your functional medicine practitioner will create a personalised treatment plan to solve the root cause and contributing factors to your health concerns. The outcome is that your health can be restored.

Around 80% of people fail to achieve their health goals due to deeply ingrained habits, especially around food, which are often influenced by emotional connections. Health coaches specialise in the science of behavioural change, helping you navigate these challenges with clarity and confidence.

They understand the difficulties of making lasting health changes, because they’ve often overcome similar obstacles themselves. Health coaches serve as your guide, supporter, and accountability partner, making it easier to stay on track. Many of our patients find the support they receive from their health coach invaluable, often realising its importance only after experiencing it firsthand.

Health coaching is a core part of our program because it’s key to achieving lasting results. While it’s a departure from the traditional approach to healthcare, we believe the combination of functional medicine and coaching is the most effective way to drive meaningful change, and it’s this holistic approach that helped us win many awards, including most recently the 2024 ATMS Clinic of the Year award. We’re confident that working with a coach will set you up for success.

Working with Melbourne Functional Medicine could be the perfect fit if you’re highly motivated, curious, and ready to make lasting changes to your health. If you’re dealing with chronic conditions like autoimmunity or ongoing health issues and are seeking a personalised, root-cause approach, we can provide the tailored support you need.

Our team of functional medicine practitioners and health coaches work with you to uncover the underlying causes of your health challenges, creating a comprehensive plan that goes beyond just managing symptoms.

If you’re eager to invest time and energy, learn new habits, and take an active role in your healing, we’re here to guide you through a transformative process toward long-term health improvements.

During your session, your practitioner will be in full detective mode to begin to piece together all the factors impacting – or potentially impacting – your health. As they gather details about your health history, diet, lifestyle, and any existing test results, they’ll create a mindmap to connect the dots and make sense of your unique health puzzle. This process helps identify the root causes of your health concerns.

Throughout the session, you’ll have the opportunity to ask as many questions as you like. If you’ve had unresolved health concerns or unanswered questions, bring them along – your practitioner will explain what’s happening in simple, clear terms, avoiding technical jargon.

Towards the end of the session, you and your practitioner will collaboratively develop an investigative healthcare plan to address your health issues. At this point, one of our health coaches will join the session to ensure you fully understand the plan and the mindmap. They’ll provide additional resources to support you and review the treatment plan you’ve designed with your practitioner.

If you decide to join our healthcare program, your health coach will help arrange supplements, coordinate any necessary testing, and schedule your first coaching appointment. Together, you’ll outline the practical steps to implement your treatment plan effectively.

By the end of the session, you’ll have gained valuable insights into what might be driving your autoimmune condition. You’ll likely leave feeling hopeful and excited about the possibilities of regaining control of your health.

A health mindmap is a powerful visual tool that distils and connects all the insights from your deep dive session, offering you a clearer, more holistic understanding of your health. It organises the information you share with your practitioner, mapping out your symptoms from a biological perspective and linking them to potential influences like lifestyle, diet, and environmental factors. Patients often gain newfound clarity, seeing their health picture in a way that truly makes sense for the first time.

As you progress through the program (should you choose to join), your practitioner will continuously update and refine the mindmap as new insights are discovered – ensuring nothing is missed. This dynamic map guides your treatment plan, leaving no stone unturned on your journey to recovery.

Here’s an example of what a mindmap looks like:

Yes, we work with patients worldwide via telehealth. Please note that managing international logistics – such as lab testing and supplement delivery – can sometimes result in delays. We do our best to minimise these where possible.

A payment of $870 is due at the time of booking your deep dive consultation. The program fee of $5700 is payable upon signing up to our program, with the option to split the payment into monthly instalments through our trusted payment partners.

To find out more about payment solutions download our resource here.

Any supplements or lab testing will be charged separately.

Autoimmune diseases occur when the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells, leading to chronic inflammation and tissue damage. There are over 80 known autoimmune diseases, including Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, coeliac disease, and type 1 diabetes.

Symptoms vary widely but often include fatigue, joint pain, digestive issues, and skin conditions. Identifying autoimmune conditions early and addressing underlying triggers through a functional medicine approach can help manage symptoms and improve quality of life.

Autoimmune diseases develop due to a combination of genetic predisposition and environmental triggers. Factors such as chronic stress, gut dysbiosis, infections, toxins, and food sensitivities can contribute to immune system dysfunction. Leaky gut (intestinal permeability) is often a key factor, as it can allow harmful substances to enter the bloodstream and trigger immune responses.

The functional medicine approach to autoimmune disease focuses on identifying and addressing these root causes, and supporting immune regulation through diet, lifestyle, and targeted therapies.

Our autoimmune specialists can help you uncover contributing factors through advanced testing, indepth analysis and investigation, and tailor a plan to address your unique factors so health can be improved.

Autoimmune diseases often present with a wide array of symptoms that can vary from person to person. Common signs include chronic fatigue, joint pain, muscle weakness, digestive disturbances, skin rashes, brain fog, and hormonal imbalances. For example, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis may cause weight fluctuations and sensitivity to cold, while rheumatoid arthritis is often marked by joint inflammation. Since these symptoms frequently overlap with other health conditions, comprehensive testing and a functional medicine approach that our autoimmune disease specialists provide are important for an accurate diagnosis and personalised care.

While autoimmune diseases are generally not curable, many people achieve remission by reducing inflammation and rebalancing the immune system. Functional medicine takes a root-cause approach, addressing factors such as gut health, infections, stress, and environmental toxins. Through personalised dietary changes, lifestyle modifications, and targeted supplementation, it is possible to minimise symptoms, restore immune balance, and improve long-term health. Early intervention is key to preventing further progression of autoimmune conditions.

Functional medicine focuses on identifying and addressing the root causes of autoimmune disease rather than just managing symptoms. This may include healing the gut, reducing inflammation, identifying food sensitivities, balancing hormones, and optimising immune function. At Melbourne Functional Medicine, your functional medicine practitioner will work with you to develop a personalised treatment plan based on in-depth investigation that may include comprehensive testing, plus your unique health history. This may involve targeted nutritional strategies, gut healing protocols, lifestyle modifications, and stress management techniques to restore immune balance. By taking a holistic, patient-centred approach, we aim to help you achieve long-term immune balance and symptom relief.

If you experience persistent fatigue, joint pain, digestive issues, or unexplained inflammation, it may be time to seek the support of our team who have decades of experience supporting people with autoimmune diseases. Early diagnosis and intervention can help slow disease progression and improve quality of life.

At Melbourne Functional Medicine, we go beyond conventional care by providing a unique collaborative model, where you work with both a functional medicine practitioner and a dedicated health coach. While your practitioner creates a tailored treatment plan, your health coach helps you implement it in a way that fits your needs.

If you’re looking for a functional medicine autoimmune specialist in Melbourne who takes a root-cause, personalised approach, we’d love to help. Book a discovery call to find out if our program is the right fit for you.