Gut Health IS The Solution
In the spring of 2017, I was 42 and living in a body that was burned out, exhausted, in crisis. I suffered with poor digestion and GERD, brain fog, chronic fatigue, unexplained aches and pains. I’d wake up completely exhausted after having slept 10+ hours. Life stress, illness, a stressful job, working late hours, and eating on the fly had taken their toll. My white blood cell count was nearly non-existent and I was told that I was at high risk for cancer or a serious infection. As a registered nurse, I had discovered that conventional medicine offered drugs to mask symptoms but not true healing. In a seemingly random turn of events, I encountered a functional wellness specialist who, for a price of around $5K, ran exhaustive labs and ultimately diagnosed me with a debilitating autoimmune disease. I was absolutely devastated and felt hopeless. But this functional medicine specialist explained that chronic disease can be effectively managed by treating the root cause. Over the next several months, I learned how to properly care for my body, with specific emphasis on healing my gut lining.
I discovered the stressors, including food sensitivities, that were disrupting my gut lining, allowing large food molecules to enter the bloodstream, firing up my immune system, and triggering inflammation, including autoimmunity. I learned that body fat is metabolically-active and is involved in a positive-feedback loop that stimulates further inflammation, which causes MORE fat storage. I began taking steps to correct imbalances and manage my life in a way that dramatically reduced several sources of stress so that my body could rest and heal. Beginning in the first couple of weeks, my symptoms began to subside without the use of any medication, and in less than a year, I was sleeping 9p-5a every night, waking up energized without the use of an alarm, and running nearly 4 miles daily on rugged mountain trails, in full remission. During that first year of my own wellness journey, I began pursuing training in functional medicine and nutrition, determined to help others experience the same type of healing that had changed my life, and at a small fraction of what that care had cost me.
I’m now a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and first opened Integrated Wellness, PLLC in February of 2020. Most of my patients only need 4-6 visits with me because my goal is for you to learn how to care for your body for sustainable wellbeing. If you’re struggling with chronic stress, overweight, obesity, fatigue, joint pain, digestive problems, skin conditions, brain fog, or have an existing chronic-disease diagnosis, give me a call to learn more about how we can work together to optimize your wellness!