Functional medicine in Lafayette

Functional medicine

Functional medicine in Lafayette

Charles Turner, M.D. practises functional and integrative medicine in Lafayette, Indiana — finding the cause of chronic symptoms rather than managing them one prescription at a time.

Call (765) 471-1100 How care works

What functional medicine actually means

Conventional medicine is very good at acute problems. You break a bone, you have a heart attack, you get an infection — go to a hospital, and the system works.

It is much worse at the person who is tired every day, gaining weight, sleeping badly and thinking through fog, whose blood work comes back "normal". There is no procedure for that, no fifteen-minute answer, and often no diagnosis code. So nothing happens.

Functional medicine is the practice of taking that person seriously: a long history, wide testing, and a plan built on what the testing shows. It is ordinary medicine done with more time and a wider panel.

Conditions we treat with this

Dr. Turner has written about 48 of these. A few are below; the rest are on the conditions index.

Alcoholism Treatment in Lafayette IN

We treat alcohol addiction with Vivitrol injections or Revia. As long as the alcoholic...

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Opiate Addiction Treatment in Lafayette IN

Buprenorphine/Naloxone (Suboxone, Zubsolv, Bunavail) is a fantastic medication for immediately taking an opiate addicted...

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Allergies

In 2013 when I had my yearly checkup with Dr. Turner, it was casually...

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Autoimmune Disease

Autoimmune disease means your immune system is attacking yourself. This does not mean you’re...

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Back Pain

Antibiotics could cure 40% of chronic back pain patients

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Brain Function

The dementia drugs provide zero benefit—they are a waste of money. However, one reversible...

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Carb Cravings

Can’t stay awayfrom sugar? “Carb cravings” interfering with your diet plan?

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Chromium

Can’t stay awayfrom sugar? “Carb cravings” interfering with your diet plan?

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Chron's Disease

This is an autoimmune inflammatory bowel disease. But just because you have it does...

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Why it is done this way

Ordinary medicine, with more time and a wider panel

Nothing here is exotic. It is standard laboratory medicine, ordered properly and read against you rather than against a population.

A fifteen-minute appointment and a screening panel is a reasonable system for acute illness. It is a poor system for someone who has felt wrong for two years.

The difference is not a secret protocol. It is a long first visit, a panel three times the usual size, and someone sitting down to explain what came back.

What we test

What we look at first

Thyroid, properly tested

Not just TSH. Free T3, free T4, reverse T3 and antibodies — because a "normal" TSH sits on top of a great many untreated thyroid problems.

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Sex hormones

Testosterone in men, estrogen and progesterone in women, at real physiologic detail rather than a single screening number.

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Metabolic health

Fasting insulin, HbA1c, lipid particle detail. Insulin resistance is visible years before a diabetes diagnosis, if anyone looks.

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Nutrient status

Vitamin D, B12, ferritin, magnesium, iodine, zinc. Deficiencies here produce exactly the symptoms patients are told are stress.

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Inflammation

The markers that explain joint pain, brain fog and fatigue that no imaging can account for.

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Gut function

Reflux, bloating and food reactions are frequently upstream of symptoms that look unrelated.

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How it works

How care works here

Functional medicine is not a different set of drugs. It is a different order of operations: measure first, then treat what the measurements actually show.

  1. 01

    Step 1

    1. A long first visit

    We take a full history — symptoms, timeline, diet, sleep, stress, medications, family history. Most patients have never been asked these questions in one sitting. This is where the pattern usually shows up.

  2. 02

    Step 2

    2. Testing that goes past the standard panel

    A normal thyroid panel is often just TSH. A normal hormone panel is often nothing at all. We test the full picture — thyroid antibodies, free hormones, nutrient status, inflammatory and metabolic markers — so the treatment plan has something real underneath it.

  3. 03

    Step 3

    3. A plan you understand

    You get your results explained, not filed. What is out of range, what it means, what we are going to do about it, and what should change and by when.

  4. 04

    Step 4

    4. Re-test and adjust

    We re-measure. If the numbers moved and you feel better, we hold. If they did not, we change the plan. Treating on symptoms alone is how people end up on therapy they do not need.

Who this is for

Patients generally come to functional medicine after conventional care ran out of next steps.
  • You have felt wrong for months or years and every test came back normal.
  • You are on three or more prescriptions and no one has asked whether they interact.
  • Your symptoms cross specialties — fatigue plus weight plus mood plus sleep — so nobody owns the whole picture.
  • You want the cause found rather than the symptom suppressed.
  • You are willing to change diet, sleep or activity if the testing shows it matters.

If none of that sounds like you, call anyway — we will tell you honestly whether this is the right service.

Common questions

Is functional medicine real medicine?
Dr. Turner is a licensed medical doctor. The testing is standard laboratory medicine — the difference is how much of it gets run and how it is interpreted. We work alongside your other physicians.
Will my insurance cover it?
Laboratory work is frequently covered even when the consultation is not. Call the office at (765) 471-1100 with your card and we will tell you specifically.
How long before I feel different?
It depends entirely on the cause. A significant vitamin D or iron deficiency can change how someone feels within weeks. Thyroid and hormone work is usually measured over two to three months, with re-testing.
Do you treat patients from outside Lafayette?
Yes. Patients travel from across Tippecanoe County, West Lafayette, Crawfordsville, Frankfort, Delphi, Monticello and the greater Indianapolis area.

Or ask us to call you

The office is open Monday to Thursday. Send this and someone will call you back — a sentence about what is going on is enough.

Please do not send personal health information through this form. We only need enough to call you back.

Start with the first visit

A long history, the right panel, and a plan you understand.

Call (765) 471-1100