Frequently Asked Questions

Once we decide which lab tests will be helpful for you, I place an order for your test kits through the testing lab. Test kits are sent to you directly, complete with step-by-step instructions. Some tests are paid for on ordering, others are paid for when you send the kits back. This depends on the lab and you’ll be informed in advanced.

Most of the labs can be taken from the comfort of your home. Everything you need to collect the samples is included in the package.  Once your samples are taken, you package them up and drop them off to be shipped back to the lab. 

The results will then be sent to me once they’re available. I’ll review them and write a personal interpretation report and 3-6 month protocol based on your results, which we’ll then discuss during a results & recommendations session.

Right after we meet, you’ll get a copy of the results and my recommendations to keep for yourself and/or share with your doctor.

I can help with a wide variety of issues that both women and men experience. My core areas of focus include:

• Women who want to get off and/or heal from birth control, both hormonal types and the copper IUD.
• Women who experience hormone imbalances, menstrual irregularities, PMS, PMDD, mood swings, bloating, and skin issues.
• Migraine sufferers.
• Brain fog.
• Insomnia
• Chronic fatigue, ongoing fatigue, caffeine dependency, unstable energy, and burnout.
• Day-to-day stress, anxiety, depression, and feelings of overwhelm.
• People who are doing all the “right things” and still not getting any results.
• People who have been told their lab tests are “normal” and they’re “fine”, but experience symptoms and know that there is something underlying going on.

I currently live about 65 miles northwest of Chicago. My clients are all over the US and Canada. We do everything virtually using tools like Zoom, Skype, and phone.  

My clients live all across the US and Canada and we meet virtually via phone, Skype, or Zoom. We stay in touch and communicate via email on a regular basis. And I share resources with you in a centralized location so you always have access to what we’re focusing on.

Check out my About page where I go into detail.

I have a whole page dedicated to this! Check it out here.

Below is a chart that explains the difference between what a doctor focuses on and what a Functional Health Strategist focuses on.

I do encourage my clients to also work with their doctors while we go through this process together. My work is not a substitution for medical care, but rather a complement to it.

Yes, I do! While my primary focus is women, I have worked with many men. If you have questions about whether I can help you based on your symptoms, feel free to send me a message.

D.R.E.S.S. is a 5-pillar approach that I take to work with my clients. It’s a focus on diet, rest, exercise, supplementation, and stress reduction (both internal stressors we uncover through lab testing and external stressors we deal with in everyday life).

I like to think of the 5 pillars like the legs of a table—all 5 are equally important to ensure optimal health. If even one leg of a table is shorter than the others, the table is shaky and wobbles.

Same thing happens with our health: if one of the pillars is not focused on or is given less attention, our health is not as solid. 

Symptoms…while very common…are not normal. And they are in indicator that something is wrong. 

The best way to explain symptoms is to compare it to the check engine light in your car. When your check engine light comes on, you know that something is going on under the hood to cause it to come on.

Thus, you take it to a mechanic to address the underlying issues and get everything back running smoothly. That’s typically when the check engine light turns off. We wouldn’t just put a piece of tape over the light to cover it up because that wouldn’t solve the issue. Approaching it that way would only lead to more problems that likely will be more expensive the longer it is ignored, and possibly even the car breaking down on the side of the road. 

Symptoms are and indicator that something is out of balance in the body. Just like with our cars, we have to address the underlying causes and imbalances in the body. Doing so will provide a solid foundation and build optimal health, thus leading to symptoms ultimately naturally just disappearing. We uncover these imbalances through functional lab testing so we can correlate how you’re feeling with what’s going on inside to create a customized healing protocol.  

Throwing just random supplements, diets, cleanses, exercises, medications and more focused on treating the symptoms is a common practice and is similar to putting a piece of tape over that check engine light. If this truly worked, we’d have a whole lot more people feeling better than we do. 

Every provider has different rules as to what the HSA can and cannot be used for, so I encourage you to check with yours to confirm.

This depends on how long you’ve been dealing with symptoms, coupled with your desire and commitment to becoming well again. It’s hard to say without having an idea of your health history, current symptoms, and goals.

I will say, though, that many of my clients have noticed an improvement in symptoms in just a few weeks after implementing the customized strategies that I share with them. Even if they’ve been dealing with their symptoms for years and have attempted many other things.

Not all doctors are functionally minded, and for the most part, they’re interested in keeping you disease-free and upright (which is amazing and an important thing to get help with!). However, they don’t necessarily have the time or inclination to take a deep dive into all aspects of your health to make sure you’re functioning optimally (have you heard how much nutrition training they get at medical school!?).

Some doctors are open-minded and will run additional testing, but this is generally blood testing for the purpose of looking for major dysfunction, not optimal function. Theirs is a “diagnose and treat” model, whereas most people with chronic symptoms need something different than this approach.

You can still live with fatigue, anxiety/depression, hormonal imbalances. It’s not fun – but it won’t kill you. Doctors do care and want to help, that’s why they may suggest medication to help alleviate the symptoms. While that might make you feel better in the short term, it doesn’t address the underlying causes of why you’re having the symptoms.

And it can lead to additional side effects. 

It’s just the nature of what they do – and is why going to the Doctor with a functional (vs medical) issue often leads to a dead end! Often we are asking the wrong people, the right questions (of vice versa).

I have three packages that I currently offer.  If you haven’t already, please review the offerings on those pages, which can be found by clicking here.