What payment methods are accepted? Do you accept insurance? Do you accept HSA/FSA? 

 

In order to provide you with the care that you need, without insurance interference, I DO NOT accept insurance. Payments are processed in full, at time of purchase, via Stripe (credit/debit card processing) within the HIPAA-secured Healthie portal. 

What does a 90-day functional health program include? 

 

Your health journey begins with a complimentary zoom call to answer any questions and advise you on how I can help you with your specific concerns. After payment, labs are ordered within 24 hours and are shipped to you within a week. You collect them in the privacy of your home (occasional local blood collection required) and return them via included pre-paid shipping. Results arrive in 3-4 weeks. During this waiting period, the 90 days has NOT started, and you will begin implementing required lifestyle routines. After the results appointment, the 90-day program begins, including supplement integration (separate cost). We will communicate through weekly surveys to monitor progress, text for quick questions, email for results and instructions throughout the program, and bi-weekly zoom appointments if needed. I'm available to you throughout the entire protocol for questions and adjustments. No third parties are involved. If you would like to get more information on a complimentary zoom consult, click here. 

What is a functional healing wellness retreat and what is included? 

 

Retreats are separate from the lab testing and 90-day program. They are international resort experiences that provide rest and relaxation, functional wellness education related to your health concerns, local wellness practices, and restorative movement. All retreats are hosted by me, your personal Functional Health Consultant and Concierge Coordinator, so that you can simply show up and heal. I also provide a functional healing consult, within the retreat, to answer any personal health questions. Flights are not included but I can assist with booking if necessary. If you would like to join a Functional Healing Wellness Retreat, click here. 

What testing is included?

 

Each individual has different health concerns, but some of the most common functional labs ordered are the DUTCH Complete, GI-Map, HTMA, and comprehensive thyroid, iron, and ferritin panels. These identify microbiome imbalances in the gut, inflammation, nutrient deficiencies, heavy metals, and hormone imbalance (including metabolism and clearance of hormones and utilization. If you would like to discuss how these tests could help guide you on your journey to feeling better over a complimentary zoom consult, click here. 

What does the DUTCH test show?

 

The DUTCH (Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones) test provides a detailed picture of your sex hormones, adrenal hormones, and their metabolites, going far beyond what a standard blood panel captures. It shows patterns in estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone production and metabolism, cortisol and cortisone levels across a full daily rhythm (not just a single snapshot), and key organic acid markers related to nutrient status and neurotransmitter activity. This level of detail helps identify not just whether a hormone is low or high, but why, including how your body is processing and clearing hormones, which single blood draws can't show. It's especially useful for understanding complex symptoms like fatigue, mood changes, cycle irregularities, and stress resilience that don't resolve with standard hormone testing alone. If you would like to discuss how this test could apply to your health concerns and book a complimentary zoom consult, click here. 

What does the GI-Map test show?

 

The GI-MAP is a comprehensive stool test that uses DNA-based technology to map out what's actually happening in your gut microbiome. It identifies pathogenic bacteria, parasites, and yeast/fungal overgrowth, along with markers for intestinal inflammation, gut lining integrity (leaky gut), digestive function (how well you're breaking down and absorbing fat and protein), and immune activity in the gut. Because it uses DNA testing rather than older culture-based methods, it can detect organisms that traditional stool tests often miss. This gives a much clearer picture of what's actually disrupting digestion, driving inflammation, or feeding immune and skin-related symptoms elsewhere in the body, rather than guessing based on symptoms alone. If you would like to discuss how this test could apply to your health concerns and book a complimentary zoom consult, click here. 

What does the HTMA test show?

 

HTMA (Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis) is a lab test that measures mineral levels and heavy metal exposure using a small hair sample, reflecting your body's mineral status over the past 2-3 months rather than a single point in time. It shows key mineral levels (like magnesium, zinc, calcium, and potassium) and their ratios to each other, which often matter more than any single mineral in isolation, along with exposure to heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and cadmium. Mineral imbalances and ratios can influence energy production, thyroid function, stress resilience, and detoxification capacity, often underlying symptoms that don't show up clearly on standard blood work. HTMA is especially useful for identifying long-term patterns and hidden burdens that a single blood draw, which reflects only recent intake, can miss. If you would like to discuss how this test could apply to your health concerns and book a complimentary zoom consult, click here. 

What does comprehensive thyroid testing show?

 

A comprehensive thyroid panel goes well beyond the standard TSH-only test most doctors run, giving a full picture of thyroid function and what's actually driving symptoms. It typically includes TSH, Free T4 and Free T3 (the active thyroid hormones your cells actually use), Reverse T3 (which can block active hormone from working even when levels look normal), and thyroid antibodies (TPO and thyroglobulin) to check for autoimmune thyroid activity like Hashimoto's. This level of detail can reveal thyroid dysfunction, including conversion problems, autoimmune activity, or receptor resistance, that a standard TSH-only test frequently misses entirely, which is why so many people are told their thyroid is 'normal' while still experiencing fatigue, weight changes, hair loss, or brain fog. If you would like to discuss how this test could apply to your health concerns and book a complimentary zoom consult, click here. 

What does iron and ferritin testing show?

 

A comprehensive iron and ferritin panel gives a far more complete picture than a standard blood count, which often looks 'normal' even when iron status is actually a problem. It typically includes ferritin (your body's iron storage level, often the earliest marker to show depletion), serum iron, TIBC (total iron-binding capacity) and transferrin saturation (which show how iron is being transported and utilized, not just how much is present), and sometimes hemoglobin and hematocrit for a fuller picture. This distinction matters because ferritin can be low, indicating depleted iron stores and driving fatigue, hair loss, and poor energy, long before hemoglobin drops enough to register as textbook anemia on a standard CBC. It also matters that ferritin can appear artificially elevated during inflammation, which is why interpreting it alongside inflammatory markers gives a truer picture than looking at ferritin alone. Iron and ferritin dysfunction often accompany hormone imbalances and indicate an iron utilization issue, rather than just "low". If you would like to discuss how this test could apply to your health concerns and book a complimentary zoom consult, click here. 

Why do MCAS, POTS, and EDS so often occur together? Is there a connection between mast cell issues, autonomic dysfunction, and connective tissue problems?

​

MCAS, POTS, and EDS (or symptomatic presentations of these) frequently cluster together because they share overlapping upstream drivers, rather than being three unrelated diagnoses that happen to coincide. A few key mechanisms connect them:

 

Gut permeability and immune load. When the gut lining becomes permeable, undigested food particles and bacterial fragments cross into circulation, prompting the immune system to generate antibodies against substances it shouldn't be reacting to. This chronic antibody production keeps the immune system, and mast cells specifically, in a persistently primed, reactive state.

​

Histamine and mast cell reactivity. Mast cells sit at the intersection of gut, skin, and nervous system tissue. Once primed by gut-driven immune activation, they release histamine and other mediators more readily and unpredictably, which itself can trigger autonomic symptoms (rapid heart rate, blood pressure swings, flushing), creating a direct bridge into POTS-type presentations.

​

Autonomic nervous system dysregulation. Histamine and inflammatory mediators directly affect vascular tone and heart rate regulation. This is part of why mast cell activation and dysautonomia so often present together, the mediators driving one system are actively disrupting the other.

​

Connective tissue and structural vulnerability. In hypermobile connective tissue (as seen in EDS), even without the genetic component, tissue laxity affects blood vessel walls and venous return, which can worsen autonomic symptoms, and mast cells are known to be more numerous and more reactive in connective tissue, creating a feedback loop where structural laxity and mast cell reactivity compound each other.

​

The result is a self-reinforcing cycle, gut permeability drives immune and antibody activity, which primes mast cells, then mast cell mediators disrupt autonomic regulation, and structural connective tissue vulnerability amplifies the autonomic symptoms. Because these systems are interconnected, addressing any one in isolation (medicating symptoms of POTS alone, or antihistamines alone) tends to produce limited or temporary relief. An integrative approach that addresses gut integrity, immune and antibody burden, and histamine load together tends to create more durable improvement across all three presentations.

 

 If you would like to discuss how this test could apply to your health concerns and book a complimentary zoom consult, click here. 

What causes hormone imbalance symptoms, such as PCOS, endometriosis, fibroids, irregular cycles, PMS, heavy periods, estrogen dominance, anxiety, internal buzzing or vibration sensations, mood swings, insulin resistance, muscle loss, weight gain, headaches, and hot flashes?​

​

Hormone imbalance shows up differently for everyone, but symptoms and diagnoses like PCOS, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, irregular or heavy cycles, severe PMS, anxiety, internal buzzing or vibration sensations, mood swings, insulin resistance, unexplained muscle loss, weight gain, headaches, and hot flashes often trace back to a smaller set of underlying drivers rather than being separate, unrelated problems. Several functional pathways commonly contribute:

​

Estrogen metabolism and clearance. How well the body produces, uses, and clears estrogen matters as much as how much estrogen is made. Poor estrogen clearance, often due to liver detoxification burden or gut dysbiosis, can lead to estrogen dominance, a common driver of heavy periods, fibroids, endometriosis, PMS, and breast tenderness. On the other end, declining or rapidly shifting estrogen can drive hot flashes, anxiety, and internal buzzing or vibration sensations, since estrogen directly affects nervous system regulation and vascular tone.

​

Gut health and the estrobolome. The gut microbiome plays a direct role in hormone regulation through a group of bacteria known as the estrobolome, which helps process and eliminate excess estrogen. When gut health is disrupted, estrogen can be reabsorbed into circulation instead of being properly cleared, compounding hormone imbalance.

​

Insulin resistance and blood sugar regulation. Blood sugar dysregulation and insulin resistance are closely tied to PCOS specifically, driving irregular cycles, acne, and elevated androgens, and also contribute more broadly to weight gain, muscle loss, and energy crashes, since hormone imbalance affects how efficiently the body builds and maintains muscle and regulates fat storage. This is a major reason standard diet and exercise approaches often stop working: when insulin resistance and hormone signaling are disrupted, the body responds differently to the same food and training inputs than it did before.

​

Chronic inflammation. Ongoing inflammation, often gut-driven, is increasingly recognized as a contributing factor in endometriosis and fibroid growth, and also plays a role in mood symptoms, headaches, and muscle loss by interfering with normal repair and recovery processes.

​

Histamine and mast cell activity. Histamine and estrogen have a direct, bidirectional relationship, estrogen can trigger mast cells to release more histamine, while histamine itself can stimulate estrogen production, creating a self-reinforcing cycle. This is a major reason many people notice histamine-related symptoms, headaches, flushing, hot flashes, internal buzzing, anxiety, and mood swings, intensify around ovulation and in the days before their period, when estrogen is highest relative to progesterone, and again during perimenopause when estrogen fluctuates unpredictably.

​

Nervous system regulation. Hormones and the nervous system are closely linked, particularly through their shared effect on how the body responds to stress. This connection is part of why anxiety, internal buzzing sensations, and mood swings often intensify during times of major hormonal transition.

​

Why this changes day-to-day, and across life stages. Because these systems are dynamic rather than fixed, symptoms often shift daily depending on where someone is in their cycle, not just monthly. The same underlying imbalances also shift in intensity across major hormonal transitions: puberty (as the reproductive hormone system first comes online), pregnancy and postpartum (as hormone levels rise dramatically and then drop sharply), and perimenopause and menopause (as estrogen and progesterone decline and fluctuate unpredictably before settling). Symptoms can be worse or better at different points within each of these phases, which is part of why the same person can feel completely different week to week, or year to year, even without any change in diet or lifestyle. It's also why standard diet and exercise advice often doesn't work as expected, those approaches assume a stable hormonal baseline, but when hormone production, clearance, and signaling are in flux, the body's response to food, training, and stress changes along with it.

​

Functional lab testing, including DUTCH (hormone production, metabolism, and clearance patterns across a full day) and GI-MAP (gut health and estrobolome function),  can help identify which of these drivers is most active in your specific case and at your current life stage, supporting a root-cause approach to resolving symptoms rather than managing them long-term.

 

 If you would like to discuss how this test could apply to your health concerns and book a complimentary zoom consult, click here. 

Why do infections like H. pylori, SIBO, HSV, Lyme disease, mold illness, EBV, or CMV keep coming back or never fully resolve?​

​

Chronic or recurring infections, including H. pylori, SIBO, HSV (herpes simplex), Lyme disease, mold-related illness, EBV (Epstein-Barr virus), and CMV (cytomegalovirus), often persist not because the infection itself is unusually aggressive, but because the immune system doesn't have the capacity left to fully suppress or clear it. A healthy immune system is normally very good at keeping dormant infections dormant and preventing recurrence, but that capacity gets used up when the immune system is pulled in other directions:

​

Gut-driven immune burden. A permeable gut lining allows food particles and bacterial fragments into circulation, prompting the immune system to produce antibodies against substances it shouldn't be reacting to. This chronic, low-grade immune activity consumes bandwidth that would otherwise go toward suppressing infections.

​

Histamine and mast cell load. Chronic histamine reactivity keeps the immune system in an inflamed, reactive state, further diverting immune resources away from pathogen control.

​

Lifestyle and physiological stress. Ongoing physical, mental, or emotional stress and low quality sleep raises cortisol and shifts immune function away from long-term surveillance and toward short-term threat response, weakening the body's ability to keep latent infections suppressed.

​

Medication history. Steroid use suppresses immune activity directly, and antibiotic use, even when necessary, can disrupt the microbiome balance the immune system relies on, both of which can reduce the body's capacity to keep dormant infections in check.

​

The result is a cycle: the more the immune system is preoccupied with gut permeability, histamine, stress, or medication-driven disruption, the less capacity it has to do its normal job of infection surveillance, which is why these infections often flare, persist, or recur despite treatment aimed only at the pathogen itself. Restoring immune capacity, by addressing gut integrity, histamine load, and the underlying burdens, is often necessary alongside any direct antimicrobial or antiviral treatment for lasting improvement.

 

 If you would like to discuss how this test could apply to your health concerns and book a complimentary zoom consult, click here. 

What causes chronic pain, such as joint pain, headaches, migraines, muscle pain, back pain, plantar fasciitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and fibromyalgia, and what is pain actually telling us?​

​

Pain is the body's signaling system. It exists to alert you that something needs attention, whether that's an injury, inflammation, imbalance, or an unresolved internal stressor. Chronic pain that persists without a clear injury, or resolves and returns repeatedly, including joint pain, headaches, migraines, muscle pain, back pain, plantar fasciitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and fibromyalgia, often reflects an ongoing internal process rather than a mechanical problem alone. Several functional pathways commonly contribute:

​

Chronic inflammation, often originating in the gut, is a major driver of joint pain, recurring headaches, and stubborn connective tissue and nerve-compression pain like plantar fasciitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. When the immune system stays activated, frequently due to gut permeability or food sensitivities, inflammatory compounds circulate throughout the body and can settle in joints, fascia, tendons, muscles, or trigger head pain and widespread pain sensitivity, as seen in fibromyalgia.

​

Hormonal fluctuations. Estrogen and progesterone shifts are closely tied to headache and migraine patterns, particularly around ovulation, the luteal phase, and menstruation. Hormonal imbalance can also contribute to joint pain, muscle tension, fluid retention that increases pressure on the carpal tunnel, slower tissue repair that can prolong conditions like plantar fasciitis, and fluctuations in fibromyalgia symptom severity.

​

Histamine and mast cell activity. Histamine is a known trigger for headaches and migraines in many people, and mast cell activity can also contribute to joint pain, tissue swelling, and generalized body pain, including the widespread pain and sensitivity patterns common in fibromyalgia and central nervous system sensitization.

​

Nutrient and mineral status. Magnesium deficiency is strongly linked to migraines, muscle tension, cramping, and the muscle pain seen in fibromyalgia, while other mineral imbalances can affect nerve function, tissue repair, and pain sensitivity throughout the body, relevant to both nerve-related pain like carpal tunnel and slow-healing issues like plantar fasciitis.

​

Nervous system dysregulation. A nervous system stuck in a chronic stress response can amplify pain signaling and lower pain threshold, making the body more reactive to stimuli that wouldn't otherwise register as painful. This central sensitization pattern, where the nervous system itself becomes hypersensitive to pain signals, is considered a core mechanism in fibromyalgia specifically, and can also slow tissue healing and nerve recovery in other pain conditions.

​

Because pain is a signal rather than a problem to simply suppress, understanding what's driving it matters more than masking it. Functional lab testing, including GI-MAP (gut inflammation and permeability), DUTCH (hormone patterns), and HTMA (mineral status), can help identify which of these pathways is most active in your specific case, supporting a root-cause approach to resolving pain rather than managing it long-term.

​

If you would like to discuss how this test could apply to your health concerns and book a complimentary zoom consult, click here. 

What causes chronic skin issues like eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, acne, dermatitis, hives, or unexplained rashes?

​

​Chronic skin conditions, including eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, acne, dermatitis, hives, and recurring unexplained rashes, are often the visible surface of internal imbalances rather than standalone skin problems. Several functional pathways commonly drive these presentations:

​

Gut-mediated inflammation. When the gut lining becomes permeable, undigested food particles and bacterial byproducts pass into circulation, triggering an immune response that frequently shows up on the skin, the body's largest detox and elimination organ.

​

Liver and detoxification load. The liver is responsible for clearing hormones, toxins, and metabolic byproducts from the body. When detox pathways are overwhelmed or sluggish, the skin often acts as a backup elimination route, contributing to breakouts, rashes, and inflammatory flare-ups.

​

Histamine and mast cell activity. Many chronic skin conditions, particularly hives, flushing, and reactive rashes, are driven by excess histamine release from an overactive immune and mast cell response, often triggered by gut permeability, food sensitivities, or hormonal shifts.

​

Hormonal and immune dysregulation. Conditions like acne and psoriasis are closely tied to hormone fluctuations and immune system patterns, particularly autoimmune activity, which can flare or calm based on gut health, stress, and inflammatory load.

​

Because these pathways overlap and reinforce each other, addressing skin symptoms topically alone often provides only temporary relief. Functional lab testing (such as GI-MAP and DUTCH) can identify which of these pathways is driving your specific presentation, allowing for an integrative approach rather than symptom management alone.

​

If you would like more information on how functional lab testing could help guide your health issues to recovery, click here. 

What causes autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto's, Graves' disease, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriatic arthritis, celiac disease, multiple sclerosis, scleroderma, or other autoimmune disorders?

​​

Autoimmune conditions, including Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Graves' disease, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriatic arthritis, celiac disease, and other immune-mediated disorders, occur when the immune system mistakenly targets the body's own tissue. While each condition has a different target (thyroid, joints, skin, gut lining, connective tissue), several functional pathways commonly drive and perpetuate autoimmune activity across all of them:

​

Gut permeability and molecular mimicry. When the gut lining becomes permeable, undigested proteins and bacterial fragments enter circulation and trigger antibody production. In some cases, these antibodies closely resemble the body's own tissue (a process called molecular mimicry), leading the immune system to attack its own cells by mistake.

​

Chronic immune activation and antibody burden. A gut-driven cycle of ongoing antibody production keeps the immune system in a persistently primed, reactive state, making it more likely to escalate from low-grade inflammation into full autoimmune activity over time.

​

Infections and immune dysregulation. Underlying or reactivated infections (such as H. pylori, EBV, shingles, lyme, HSV, mold, CMV, SIBO, candida, or others) can trigger or worsen autoimmune activity by further taxing immune capacity and disrupting normal immune regulation.

​

Hormonal influence. Sex hormones and cortisol directly affect immune regulation, which is part of why many autoimmune conditions fluctuate with hormonal shifts, worsen during high-stress periods, or first emerge around major hormonal transitions.

​

Nutrient status and detoxification capacity. Mineral deficiencies and impaired detoxification can reduce the body's ability to regulate inflammation and clear immune complexes, adding to the overall burden driving autoimmune activity.

​

Because these pathways interact and reinforce one another, autoimmune conditions rarely improve by addressing the immune system in isolation. Functional lab testing (such as GI-MAP, DUTCH, and comprehensive thyroid panels) can help identify which of these underlying drivers is most active in your specific case, supporting an integrative approach to the symptoms.

​

If you would like more information on how functional lab testing could help guide your health issues to recovery, click here. 

Can functional lab testing help identify terrain factors associated with cancer risk?

Research increasingly points to certain terrain factors — chronic inflammation, gut microbiome imbalance, hormone metabolism, and metabolic dysfunction — as being associated with cancer risk and outcomes, alongside genetics, environment, and other established risk factors. Functional lab testing can offer insight into some of these areas:

​

Inflammatory and immune markers. Chronic low-grade inflammation has been associated with increased cancer risk and progression in research literature. Functional testing can assess and guide inflammatory burden as one piece of a broader risk picture.

​

Gut microbiome balance. GI-MAP testing evaluates microbiome composition and gut lining integrity. Emerging research has linked microbiome imbalance to immune regulation and inflammatory processes relevant to cancer risk, particularly for colorectal cancer.

​

Hormone metabolism. DUTCH testing evaluates how the body produces and clears hormones. Hormone metabolism patterns have been studied in relation to hormone-sensitive cancers, including breast and prostate cancer.

​

Nutrient and metabolic status. Micronutrient deficiencies and metabolic dysfunction (such as insulin resistance) have been associated with cancer risk in research, and functional testing can identify these patterns.

​

This kind of testing offers insight into contributing terrain factors as one part of a broader risk picture, but it does not diagnose, prevent, or treat specific cancers. It's best used to support overall health, resilience, and metabolic function as a prevention and healing lifestyle.

​

If you would like more information on how functional lab testing could help guide your health issues, click here.