Advertise on podcast: Made for Health | Medical Gaslighting | Lyme | Chronic Infections | Metabolic Syndrome | Insulin Resistance | Mystery Illness

🎒 Back-to-school season brings changing routines, new exposures, and added demands on the whole family. Support your family’s health this season with Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine’s Back-to-School 2026 resources. Back-to-School 2026: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/lp/back-to-school-2026/ In this deeply personal episode of Made for Health, Dr. Aaron Hartman sits down with Dr. Efrat “Dr. E” LaMandre, a family nurse practitioner, PhD in Integrative Medicine, host of the Medical Disruptor podcast, and a leading voice on medical gaslighting. What begins as a conversation about why patients feel dismissed when their tests come back “normal” becomes something much more personal. Dr. E shares that she was recently diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer after months of back pain that she repeatedly minimized herself. The experience transformed her from a clinician who teaches patient advocacy into a patient navigating the healthcare system firsthand. Pasted text Together, Dr. Hartman and Dr. E explore a rarely discussed side of medical gaslighting: the ways patients can begin gaslighting themselves. We may apologize for taking a clinician’s time, downplay symptoms, assume normal tests mean nothing is wrong, or ignore the internal sense that something has changed. Their message is not to reject conventional medicine. It is to understand what each clinician can and cannot provide, continue investigating when symptoms persist, and build a healthcare team capable of looking at the whole picture. Key Topics Covered What medical gaslighting actually meansWhy normal laboratory results do not automatically mean a patient feels wellWhy patients may feel dismissed even by well-intentioned cliniciansPopulations most affected by medical gaslightingWhy women may be especially likely to minimize their symptomsFatigue, migrating pain, unusual sensations, and GI complaints that can be difficult to fit into conventional diagnostic categoriesThe habit of “pre-apologizing” before describing symptomsHow patients learn to become “good patients”Why people sometimes trust test results more than their own bodily experienceIntuition as a form of pattern recognitionThe importance of knowing when something is different from your normalWhy self-advocacy does not mean rejecting doctorsUnderstanding the limitations of individual medical specialtiesWhy conventional testing still mattersHow to build a multidisciplinary healthcare teamChoosing clinicians and researchers over unqualified health adviceAvoiding overwhelm when facing a complex diagnosisWhy healing plans may need to be implemented graduallyThe emotional and mental challenges of serious and chronic illnessHope, family, purpose, and continuing to move forward In This Episode, You Will Learn ✅ What medical gaslighting can look like even when the clinician has good intentions ✅ Why being told “your tests are normal” should not automatically end the conversation when symptoms persist ✅ How patients can unknowingly participate in their own medical gaslighting by dismissing or minimizing what they feel ✅ Why Dr. E now tells patients to get concerning symptoms checked instead of talking themselves out of evaluation ✅ Why self-advocacy is not the same as being confrontational or distrustful of medicine ✅ How intuition can reflect years of subconscious pattern recognition ✅ Why every specialist has a particular role—and why complex health problems may require an entire team ✅ How to decide whose medical advice deserves your attention when everyone around you has an opinion ✅ Why you do not have to make every lifestyle or treatment change at once ✅ What becoming a patient taught Dr. E about exhaustion, uncertainty, hope, and the emotional burden of illness Connect With Dr. Efrat LaMandre 🌐 Website: https://www.drefratlamandre.com/ 🎙️ Medical Disruptor Podcast: https://www.drefratlamandre.com/e-podcasts Dr. E shares additional education and updates under Dr. Efrat LaMandre across her social platforms. Her official website describes the Medical Disruptor podcast as a show featuring credentialed clinicians who examine the limits of conventional care while exploring integrative solutions. Dr E. Resources & Links: 🌐 Dr. Aaron Hartman – Richmond Functional Medicine: richmondfunctionalmedicine.com 🌐 LinkedIn – Dr. Aaron Hartman: Connect Here 📺 YouTube – Richmond Functional Medicine: Watch Here 🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School Bundle Mentioned in this episode: 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season brings changing routines, new exposures, and added demands on the whole family. Support your family’s health this season with Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine’s Back-to-School 2026 resources. Back-to-School 2026: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/lp/back-to-school-2026/ In this Made for Health minisode, Dr. Aaron Hartman continues exploring an important question: Why are you still sick? Why does your body seem unable to get back into a healing state? This time, he focuses on dysautonomia and POTS—Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome—conditions involving dysfunction in the autonomic nervous system, which helps regulate processes such as heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, digestion, sleep, and the body's response to stress. Pasted text For some people, the signs are dramatic. For others, they can be subtle: feeling lightheaded when standing, experiencing a racing or pounding heart seemingly out of nowhere, waking suddenly at night, struggling with brain fog, cold hands and feet, unusual skin color changes, temperature intolerance, or simply feeling significantly better after fluids, electrolytes, compression, or time spent calming the nervous system. Pasted text Dr. Hartman explains why dysautonomia can easily become one more overlooked layer in complex chronic illness—and why identifying what originally disrupted the nervous system may be just as important as identifying POTS itself. Key Topics Covered What dysautonomia meansWhat POTS is and how it relates to dysautonomiaThe sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systemsLightheadedness and dizziness after standingHeart racing and unexplained palpitationsBrain fog and difficulty thinkingWaking at night with a racing heartCold hands and feetChanges in skin color and circulationProblems regulating body temperatureSleep, mood, hormonal, and gastrointestinal symptomsWhy mild dysautonomia may be overlookedFluids and electrolytesCompression garmentsNervous-system regulationDysautonomia after concussion or head injuryLong COVID and post-infectious dysautonomiaLyme disease and nervous-system dysfunctionHypermobility and POTSMast Cell Activation SyndromeAutoimmune and gastrointestinal overlapWhy the patient's history can guide treatmentThe NASA Lean TestPhysical examination findings Dr. Hartman considersWhy treating the underlying trigger matters In This Episode, You Will Learn ✅ Why POTS is only one form within the broader category of dysautonomia ✅ How autonomic nervous-system dysfunction can affect much more than heart rate and blood pressure ✅ Why symptoms may sometimes resemble anxiety or panic ✅ Why someone can have significant autonomic symptoms without fitting a textbook presentation ✅ How POTS and dysautonomia may overlap with hypermobility, mast-cell activation, mold illness, Lyme disease, autoimmune issues, gut problems, and post-infectious conditions ✅ Why Dr. Hartman asks when the symptoms started and what happened around that time ✅ How concussion, illness, trauma, infection, or other physiological stressors may become part of the clinical timeline ✅ Why fluids, electrolytes, compression, strengthening, and nervous-system regulation may become part of an individualized approach ✅ How the NASA Lean Test can help collect heart-rate and blood-pressure information over time Resources & Links: 🌐 Dr. Aaron Hartman – Richmond Functional Medicine: richmondfunctionalmedicine.com 🌐 LinkedIn – Dr. Aaron Hartman: Connect Here 📺 YouTube – Richmond Functional Medicine: Watch Here 🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School Bundle Mentioned in this episode: 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season brings changing routines, new exposures, and added demands on the whole family. Support your family’s health this season with Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine’s Back-to-School 2026 resources. Back-to-School 2026: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/lp/back-to-school-2026/ In this special episode of Made for Health, Dr. Aaron Hartman shares the deeply personal story behind his journey from conventional family medicine into integrative and functional medicine—and why Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine exists today. The turning point began with his daughter, Anna. When Dr. Hartman and his wife began caring for Anna, who had cerebral palsy and significant medical needs, they quickly found themselves questioning recommendations from specialists. One of the earliest moments involved a recommendation for a feeding tube because Anna was considered extremely small on a standard growth chart. Dr. Hartman and his wife declined, believing there might be another path. Months later, they discovered a growth chart specifically for children with cerebral palsy—and Anna was right in the middle of the expected range. Pasted text That experience fundamentally changed how Dr. Hartman viewed expertise, medical decision-making, and the importance of looking at the right frame of reference for the individual patient. From there, his family continued exploring alternatives when standard medicine seemed to offer only procedures, medications, or surgery. Their search took them into nutrition, genetics, advanced gut testing, functional neurology, rehabilitation technologies, neuromodulation, and other approaches that were often being used elsewhere long before they became familiar in mainstream American medicine. Pasted text Today, Anna continues to make progress far beyond what her family was originally told to expect. Dr. Hartman shares how that experience shaped not only his life as a father but also his identity as a physician, researcher, and lifelong student of medicine. Pasted text Key Topics Covered How Dr. Hartman originally entered medicineThe difference between learning medicine and truly learning how to healHow adopting Anna changed his personal and professional lifeRaising a child with cerebral palsy and significant medical needsWhy his family began questioning specialist recommendationsAnna’s feeding-tube recommendation and the importance of the correct clinical reference pointWhy medical experts can sometimes be wrongMedical gaslighting and families with special-needs childrenLooking beyond one-size-fits-all treatmentWhy function mattered more than appearance in Anna’s careExploring nutrition, genetics, gut health, and functional neurologyTechnologies and therapies used in neurological rehabilitationWhy Dr. Hartman became increasingly interested in root-cause medicineHis transition from traditional family medicine into functional medicineThe role of clinical research in shaping his thinkingIFM, integrative medicine, functional medicine, and advanced trainingLearning about mold, CIRS, mast-cell activation, and hypermobilityHow his understanding of chronic illness evolved over timeWhy short conventional appointments were not enough for complex patientsThe creation of Richmond Integrative & Functional MedicineWhy complex patients need time, curiosity, and individualized careMoving the practice to a fully functional-medicine modelThe role of faith, family, persistence, and continuing educationDr. Hartman’s vision for the future of personalized medicine In This Episode, You Will Learn ✅ Why caring for his daughter became the biggest turning point in Dr. Hartman’s medical career ✅ How using the wrong clinical reference point almost led Anna toward an unnecessary feeding tube ✅ Why Dr. Hartman began questioning the idea that specialists always have the complete answer ✅ How parenting children with complex health needs pushed him to investigate nutrition, genetics, neurology, and rehabilitation more deeply ✅ Why functional medicine appealed to him as a way of asking “Why?” rather than only treating the diagnosis ✅ How research helped him recognize that many “new” therapies are often built on decades of previous science ✅ Why conditions such as mold illness, mast-cell activation, hypermobility, and complex chronic illness required him to keep expanding his training ✅ Why he eventually realized complex patients needed much more than a 10- or 12-minute appointment ✅ How Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine grew from a personal family journey into a practice serving patients with complex chronic conditions Resources & Links: 🌐 Dr. Aaron Hartman – Richmond Functional Medicine: richmondfunctionalmedicine.com 🌐 LinkedIn – Dr. Aaron Hartman: Connect Here 📺 YouTube – Richmond Functional Medicine: Watch Here 🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School Bundle Mentioned in this episode: 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season brings changing routines, new exposures, and added demands on the whole family. Support your family’s health this season with Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine’s Back-to-School 2026 resources. Back-to-School 2026: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/lp/back-to-school-2026/ In this Made for Health minisode, Dr. Aaron Hartman continues exploring the question at the center of this series: Why are you still sick? Why does your body seem stuck even after addressing so many other pieces? This time, he turns to something that connects nearly every structure in the body but often receives far less attention: fascia and connective tissue. Dr. Hartman explains that fascia helps support organs, tissues, joints, nerves, and other structures throughout the body. For people with hypermobility, those tissues may be more lax or stretchy, which he believes can influence everything from joint stability and pain to nervous-system activation and complex chronic illness. Pasted text And hypermobility doesn't always mean someone can still perform obvious “double-jointed” tricks. Dr. Hartman explains that people who were very flexible when younger may become increasingly tight and painful as they age because the surrounding fascia can stiffen and develop areas of restriction—even while certain joints remain hypermobile. Pasted text Key Topics Covered Why fascia and connective tissue may be an overlooked part of chronic illnessWhat hypermobility actually meansWhy hypermobility is more than being “double-jointed”The relationship between fascia and the nervous systemWhy loose connective tissue may increase sensory input to the brainHypermobility as both a potential strength and vulnerabilityWhy hypermobile people may become tighter with ageFascia, pain, and nervous-system activationEhlers-Danlos syndrome versus the broader hypermobility spectrumThe Pentad Super Syndrome discussed by Dr. HartmanHypermobility and Mast Cell Activation SyndromeHypermobility and POTS/dysautonomiaGastrointestinal issues and connective tissueAutoimmune conditions and hypermobilityAssociations with ADHD, autism, OCD, and other neuropsychiatric conditions discussed in the episodeBruising, bleeding, joint instability, and sports injuriesNutrition and connective-tissue repairProtein and collagenVitamin C and collagen productionTrace minerals and connective-tissue healthBone broth, organ meats, and mineral-rich foodsWhy childhood flexibility history may matter in adultsThe Beighton score as a screening tool In This Episode, You Will Learn ✅ Why connective tissue may deserve more attention when chronic symptoms aren't improving ✅ Why hypermobility affects more than just joints ✅ How Dr. Hartman connects fascia with sensory signaling and nervous-system activation ✅ Why someone can be hypermobile and still feel extremely stiff as an adult ✅ How hypermobility may overlap with POTS, dysautonomia, mast-cell activation, gastrointestinal problems, and autoimmune issues ✅ Why childhood flexibility can provide important clues even if you are no longer flexible today ✅ Why hypermobile athletes may sometimes experience repeated injuries despite being strong and highly trained ✅ Why Dr. Hartman pays particular attention to protein, collagen, vitamin C, and mineral status in hypermobile patients ✅ How the Beighton score can help identify physical signs associated with hypermobility Resources & Links: 🌐 Dr. Aaron Hartman – Richmond Functional Medicine: richmondfunctionalmedicine.com 🌐 LinkedIn – Dr. Aaron Hartman: Connect Here 📺 YouTube – Richmond Functional Medicine: Watch Here 🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School Bundle Mentioned in this episode: 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season brings new routines, new exposures, and new challenges for the whole family. Support your family this school year with targeted nutritional support designed with whole-person health in mind. Get 25% Off the Back-to-School Bundle In this episode of Made for Health, Dr. Aaron Hartman sits down with Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge, a leading psychologist, author, and educator, to discuss how parents and teachers can better support neurodivergent children. They explore the challenges these kids often face in traditional education systems—and why character, curiosity, and passion can matter more than grades. Dr. Capanna-Hodge highlights the value of hands-on learning, vocational training, and individualized education plans (IEPs) for fostering success. With warmth and expertise, she offers practical strategies for helping children regulate emotions, build resilience, and thrive despite stigma or misunderstanding. Through personal stories and evidence-based insights, this conversation encourages a shift toward inclusive, flexible, and strength-based approaches to learning. ✅ Show Highlights:Why traditional education can overlook neurodivergent kids’ strengthsThe role of character, curiosity, and passion in lifelong successHow vocational and hands-on learning opens doors for all learnersPractical emotional regulation strategies for childrenThe importance of early intervention and individualized education plans (IEPs)How stigma affects children’s confidence and opportunitiesBuilding inclusive environments at home and school 🎯 Some Questions We Explore:How can parents advocate for their neurodivergent child in school?What educational changes make the biggest difference for these students?How do emotional regulation skills support academic and social success?Why should we value vocational skills and creativity as much as grades?What can be done to reduce stigma in educational settings? 💡 In This Episode, You Will Learn:How to recognize and nurture a neurodivergent child’s unique strengthsActionable strategies to support focus, learning, and emotional well-beingWhy flexibility in teaching benefits all students—not just those with diagnosesHow to partner with schools to create effective IEPs and supportsResources to help parents and educators stay informed and empowered 🌐 Resources & Links:Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge – Official Website: drroseann.comDr. Aaron Hartman – Richmond Functional Medicine: richmondfunctionalmedicine.comYouTube – Richmond Functional Medicine: Watch HereLinkedIn – Dr. Aaron Hartman: Connect Here 🎧 Closing Call to Action:👉 Whether you’re a parent, teacher, or advocate, this episode will help you see and support neurodivergent children in a new light. Subscribe to Made for Health and share this episode to spread awareness and foster more inclusive communities. Mentioned in this episode: 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season brings changing routines, new exposures, and added demands on the whole family. Support your family’s health this season with Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine’s Back-to-School 2026 resources. Back-to-School 2026: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/lp/back-to-school-2026/ In this Made for Health minisode, Dr. Aaron Hartman continues his series exploring one central question: Why are you still sick? Maybe you've gone from provider to provider. You've received pieces of the answer, tried different treatments, and improved somewhat—but your body still feels stuck. One condition Dr. Hartman believes can sometimes sit underneath that complicated picture is Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, or MCAS. Mast cells are part of the immune system and are found throughout the body, including tissues associated with the skin, gastrointestinal tract, bladder, blood vessels, and nerves. Because of that widespread distribution, mast-cell activation can potentially produce symptoms across multiple systems rather than creating one simple or predictable symptom pattern. Dr. Hartman discusses symptoms such as rashes, hives, food and chemical sensitivities, reactions to supplements, heart palpitations, gastrointestinal problems, brain fog, and fatigue. He also explains why MCAS can overlap with conditions such as mold illness, Lyme disease, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, nervous-system dysregulation, and other complex chronic health problems. Key Topics Covered Why Mast Cell Activation Syndrome may be overlookedHow mast cells interact with the immune systemSkin symptoms, hives, and rashesFood, chemical, fragrance, and supplement sensitivitiesPalpitations and rapid heart rateDiarrhea, constipation, and gastrointestinal symptomsBrain fog and chronic fatigueWhy MCAS can resemble many other chronic illnessesMast cells and neurological symptomsInterstitial cystitis and other less obvious presentationsThe overlap between MCAS, Lyme disease, and mold exposureWhy some highly sensitive patients may need mast cells stabilized firstChallenges surrounding laboratory testing for mast-cell mediatorsHistamine, prostaglandin D2, and tryptase testing discussed in the episodeWhy sample handling may influence test resultsClinical criteria and treatment-response trialsIdentifying the trigger behind mast-cell activationStress and nervous-system activationFood and environmental chemical triggersMold and Lyme diseaseSIBO and gastrointestinal triggersHormonal shifts, menstrual cycles, and menopauseConcussion, infections, travel-related illness, COVID, and other possible triggering eventsWhy understanding when symptoms began can provide important clues In This Episode, You Will Learn ✅ Why Mast Cell Activation Syndrome can produce symptoms throughout multiple body systems ✅ Why someone with MCAS may become unusually reactive to foods, chemicals, fragrances, or supplements ✅ How mast-cell activation may overlap with Lyme disease, mold exposure, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and nervous-system symptoms ✅ Why laboratory testing for mast-cell mediators can sometimes be difficult ✅ Why Dr. Hartman also relies on clinical history, symptom patterns, and response to treatment when evaluating suspected mast-cell activation ✅ Why calming mast-cell symptoms may sometimes need to happen before aggressively addressing mold, Lyme, or another underlying trigger ✅ Why improving symptoms is not necessarily the same as identifying the root cause ✅ How stress, infections, environmental exposure, gut dysfunction, and hormonal changes may potentially trigger mast-cell activation ✅ Why asking “When did this begin?” can be one of the most useful questions in a complicated chronic illness case Follow Dr. Aaron Hartman and Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine 🌐 Website: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/ 🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School Bundle 📺 YouTube: @AaronHartmanMD Mentioned in this episode: 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season brings new routines, new exposures, and new challenges for the whole family. Support your family this school year with targeted nutritional support designed with whole-person health in mind. Get 25% Off the Back-to-School Bundle In this episode of Made for Health, Dr. Aaron Hartman welcomes back Dr. Neil Nathan, a pioneer in integrative and functional medicine with more than five decades of medical experience. Dr. Nathan has spent much of his career working with the patients other practitioners struggled to understand—people living with complex chronic illness, mold toxicity, Lyme disease, multiple chemical sensitivities, chronic fatigue, and increasingly reactive nervous and immune systems. Their conversation centers on a question that both physicians encounter regularly: Why do some patients improve to a certain point and then stop getting better? For Dr. Nathan, the answer often requires looking beyond a single diagnosis or treatment protocol. A patient may have already addressed mold, Lyme disease, gut health, autoimmune issues, or nutritional deficiencies and still feel stuck. At that point, he believes healing may require exploring the neurological, emotional, energetic, and spiritual dimensions of illness alongside the physical ones. The discussion also dives into the growing population of highly sensitive patients—people who may react to light, sound, touch, fragrances, foods, supplements, medications, or electromagnetic exposures. Dr. Nathan explains why these reactions should not simply be dismissed as psychological and explores how the limbic system, vagal system, immune system, and mast cells can become interconnected in chronic illness. Key Topics CoveredWhy complex chronic illness appears increasingly difficult to treatWhat Dr. Nathan means by a “sensitive patient”Sensitivity to light, sound, touch, fragrances, foods, supplements, and environmental exposuresMold toxicity and Lyme disease in complex chronic illnessEnvironmental chemicals and the cumulative burden of exposureDr. Nathan’s clinical perspective on electromagnetic field sensitivityWhy some patients improve 50–60% and then become stuckEmotional, energetic, spiritual, and physical blockages to healingTrauma and neurological hypervigilanceBig-T trauma versus accumulated smaller stressorsThe limbic system and the brain’s threat-detection responseVagal dysfunction and autonomic nervous system symptomsPOTS, gastrointestinal symptoms, palpitations, and dysautonomiaMast Cell Activation SyndromeThe connection between the nervous and immune systemsMold, mast cells, and hypermobilityCranio-cervical instability and the “spiky-leaky” concept discussed in the episodeThiamine deficiency and mitochondrial functionVitamin B1 and autonomic nervous-system healthOxalates as a potential source of inflammationWhy dietary changes sometimes need to happen graduallySSRI and benzodiazepine withdrawal in sensitive patientsWhy medication tapering needs to be individualized and medically supervisedWhy Dr. Nathan refuses to use a one-size-fits-all mold-treatment algorithmThe importance of truly personalized medicine In This Episode, You Will Learn✅ Why Dr. Nathan believes some of today’s chronic illness patients are becoming increasingly sensitive and complex ✅ What distinguishes a sensitive patient from someone dealing with a single isolated condition ✅ Why mold, Lyme disease, environmental exposures, and immune dysfunction may overlap rather than exist as completely separate problems ✅ How trauma and chronic stress can contribute to a nervous system that remains hypervigilant long after the original stressor has passed ✅ Why the limbic system, vagal system, and mast cells may need to be addressed together in highly sensitive patients ✅ How autonomic dysfunction can contribute to symptoms involving digestion, heart rate, blood pressure, fatigue, and other body systems ✅ Why neurological sensitivity is different from simply labeling symptoms as psychological ✅ Why thiamine may deserve consideration when mitochondrial and autonomic function are impaired ✅ How oxalates can become another source of irritation and inflammation for certain individuals ✅ Why suddenly making major dietary changes may sometimes worsen symptoms in highly sensitive patients ✅ Why antidepressants and benzodiazepines should not be abruptly discontinued and why tapering needs to be individualized with the prescribing clinician ✅ Why the most sensitive patients often require treatment to move slower, not faster Resources & Links: 🌐 Dr. Aaron Hartman – Richmond Functional Medicine: richmondfunctionalmedicine.com 🌐 LinkedIn – Dr. Aaron Hartman: Connect Here 📺 YouTube – Richmond Functional Medicine: Watch Here 🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School Bundle Mentioned in this episode: 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season brings changing routines, new exposures, and added demands on the whole family. Support your family’s health this season with Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine’s Back-to-School 2026 resources. Back-to-School 2026: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/lp/back-to-school-2026/ In this Made for Health minisode, Dr. Aaron Hartman continues his series exploring an important question: Why are you still sick? Why does your body seem stuck even after you’ve tried so many things? This time, he turns his attention to Lyme disease—an infection that can present in different ways and may sometimes enter the differential diagnosis when people are dealing with persistent fatigue, body pain, migrating joint or muscle symptoms, neurological complaints, or other unexplained problems. Dr. Hartman shares examples from his clinical experience, including patients with symptoms such as chronic fatigue, widespread pain, Bell’s palsy, sciatica, and foot drop. His broader message is that when a patient’s symptoms do not fit neatly into the expected picture, clinicians may need to take another look at the history, exposure risk, symptom pattern, and appropriate testing rather than relying on one isolated result. He also discusses the challenges surrounding Lyme disease testing, including antibody testing, Western blot testing, immunoblot testing, and symptom-based clinical evaluation. Current CDC guidance recommends a two-step, FDA-cleared serologic testing process and notes that antibody tests can be falsely negative during the first several weeks after infection. IDSA guidelines also recognize that a classic erythema migrans rash can be diagnosed clinically without laboratory testing. Key Topics Covered Why Lyme disease may be considered when someone remains chronically unwellPersistent fatigue, body aches, and migrating painNeurological presentations discussed in the episodeLyme disease and Bell’s palsyDr. Hartman’s clinical experiences with unusual symptom patternsWhy timing matters with Lyme antibody testingStandard two-tier Lyme disease testingWestern blot and immunoblot testingThe limits of relying on a single laboratory resultThe importance of symptoms, history, and possible tick exposureDr. Hartman’s approach when clinical suspicion remains highThe MSIDS questionnaire discussed in the episodeWhy chronic illness may involve more than one contributing factorWhen a deeper evaluation may be appropriateContinuing the search for overlooked contributors when someone feels “stuck” In This Episode, You Will Learn ✅ Why Dr. Hartman considers Lyme disease in some patients with persistent or unusual symptoms ✅ Why Lyme disease does not always present in exactly the same way ✅ How symptoms such as fatigue, migrating pain, and certain neurological complaints may prompt further evaluation ✅ Why the timing of antibody testing can affect results ✅ How standard Lyme testing generally uses a two-step serologic process ✅ Why Dr. Hartman emphasizes looking at the whole clinical picture, rather than interpreting one test result in isolation ✅ How he approaches situations in which symptoms and previous testing appear not to match ✅ Why finding Lyme disease does not necessarily mean it is the only factor affecting a person’s recovery Follow Dr. Aaron Hartman and Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine 🌐 Website: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/ 🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School Bundle 📺 YouTube: @AaronHartmanMD Mentioned in this episode: 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season can bring changing routines, increased stress, new exposures, and added demands on the whole family. Support your family’s health this season with Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine’s Back-to-School 2026 resources. Back-to-School 2026: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/lp/back-to-school-2026/ In this episode of Made for Health, Dr. Aaron Hartman welcomes back Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge, a leading expert in emotional and behavioral dysregulation with more than 30 years of experience helping children and families. Their conversation explores what happens when the nervous system becomes chronically overwhelmed—and why addressing behavior alone may miss what is actually driving a child’s struggles. Dr. Roseann explains dysregulation as difficulty moving effectively between states of stress and calm. When the nervous system’s “stress cup” keeps filling without enough opportunities to release that stress, children and adults can remain chronically activated. That activation may show up through anxiety, emotional outbursts, attention difficulties, shutdowns, impulsivity, sleep problems, or other physical and mental health challenges. Dr. Hartman and Dr. Roseann also take a close look at screen time and device dysregulation. Rather than framing technology as inherently bad, Dr. Roseann emphasizes the importance of boundaries, especially because children can have difficulty disengaging once they are deeply absorbed in stimulating digital content. The conversation then moves into the heart of Dr. Roseann’s work: helping families regulate the nervous system first. Nutrition, gut health, magnesium, neurofeedback, PEMF, and other tools may all have a role, but she stresses that lasting change also requires consistent daily practices that help reduce nervous-system activation and create greater capacity for stress. Key Topics Covered What emotional and nervous-system dysregulation can look like in childrenWhy people can appear highly functional while living in chronic fight, flight, or freezeThe “stress cup” and why accumulated stress mattersADHD, anxiety, OCD, PANS/PANDAS, sensory challenges, and dysregulationDevice dysregulation and screen-time boundariesWhy smartphones and short-form content can be difficult for children to disengage fromWhy simply removing one physical stressor may not fully regulate the nervous systemNutrition, magnesium, gut health, mold, and nervous-system supportBig-T trauma, little-t trauma, and chronic everyday stressSympathetic nervous-system activationWhy consistency matters more than searching for one “magic” interventionBreathwork, somatic exercises, Tai Chi, prayer, art, and other daily regulation practicesNeurofeedback, PEMF, and brain-based toolsPolyvagal theory and vagus-nerve regulationWhy parents need to regulate themselves before helping a dysregulated childCo-dysregulation versus co-regulationGenerational patterns and emotional regulation within familiesThe CALMS Dysregulation Protocol®Regulation First Parenting®Dr. Roseann’s book, The Dysregulated Kid In This Episode, You Will Learn ✅ Why dysregulation is about the nervous system’s ability to move between stress and calm ✅ Why chronic stress can affect the nervous system even when there has not been one major traumatic event ✅ Why correcting behavior may be ineffective when a child is already highly dysregulated ✅ How technology and device use can add another layer of stimulation for children ✅ Why supplements or advanced therapies alone may not replace daily nervous-system regulation ✅ How simple practices such as breathwork, movement, art, prayer, Tai Chi, and somatic exercises can become part of a daily regulation routine ✅ Why parents’ nervous systems influence their children through verbal and nonverbal cues ✅ How families can shift from co-dysregulation to co-regulation ✅ Why Dr. Roseann believes parents need to stop personalizing a child’s dysregulated behavior ✅ How the CALMS Dysregulation Protocol® gives families a practical framework for responding differently Follow Dr. Aaron Hartman and Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine 🌐 Website: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/ 🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School Bundle 📺 YouTube: @AaronHartmanMD Mentioned in this episode: 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season brings changing routines, new exposures, and added demands on the whole family. Support your family’s health this season with Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine’s Back-to-School 2026 offer. Back-to-School 2026: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/lp/back-to-school-2026/ In this Made for Health minisode, Dr. Aaron Hartman continues exploring a question he hears frequently from patients: Why am I still sick? Why am I not getting better? What has been overlooked? Sometimes you've seen multiple doctors, received diagnoses, tried medications, completed specialized testing, and even worked with functional medicine practitioners, yet your recovery eventually reaches a plateau. According to Dr. Hartman, one potential piece worth investigating is mold exposure. He explains that mold and other biotoxins can interact with the immune system in complicated ways. One aspect of this is Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS), which Dr. Hartman describes in relation to activation of the innate immune system by biotoxins. He also discusses direct toxin exposure and how mold-related problems may intersect with autoimmune and inflammatory conditions. The challenge is that mold exposure can be easy to dismiss precisely because it is so common. A water-damaged environment or mold around an HVAC system may look “normal” to someone who sees it every day, but Dr. Hartman argues that common does not necessarily mean harmless for every individual. Key Topics Covered Why mold may be overlooked when chronic illness isn't improvingMold exposure and Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS)What Dr. Hartman means by the biotoxin pathwayInnate versus adaptive immune responsesDirect toxicity from mold and mycotoxinsMold and chronic inflammationPotential connections with autoimmune and autoinflammatory conditionsWater-damaged buildings and environmental exposureWhy common mold exposure can be easy to dismissMold in HVAC systems and indoor environmentsHLA-DR/DQ genetics and susceptibilityWhy some people may have more difficulty handling biotoxinsMold exposure versus immune-system dysregulationUrine testing for mold toxinsEvaluating the building as well as the individualMold as a possible complicating factor in chronic Lyme diseaseDr. Hartman's clinical example involving Lyme disease, hypermobility, and POTSBinders, phosphatidylcholine, environmental changes, and gut support discussed in his clinical approachWhy foundational health still matters when dealing with environmental exposuresRIFM's Healthy Building Guide and mold resources In This Episode, You Will Learn ✅ Why Dr. Hartman considers mold when someone with a complex chronic illness stops progressing ✅ How he distinguishes mold exposure, direct toxin effects, and CIRS ✅ Why a water-damaged building may affect different people differently ✅ How Dr. Hartman describes the role of HLA-DR/DQ genetics in the body's ability to handle biotoxins ✅ Why simply finding mold-related toxins doesn't necessarily tell you whether your innate immune system is dysregulated ✅ Why evaluating your home or workplace environment can be an important part of investigating possible mold exposure ✅ How mold may complicate conditions such as chronic Lyme disease, autoimmune disease, mast cell activation syndrome, long COVID, and other complex health problems ✅ Why Dr. Hartman continues emphasizing nutrition, gut health, detoxification, and other foundations even when addressing mold Follow Dr. Aaron Hartman and Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine 🌐 Website: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/ 🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School Bundle 📺 YouTube: @AaronHartmanMD Mentioned in this episode: 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season brings new routines, new exposures, and new challenges for the whole family. Support your family this school year with targeted nutritional support designed with whole-person health in mind. Get 25% Off the Back-to-School Bundle In this episode of Made for Health, Dr. Aaron Hartman, MD, and Dr. Jenski, MD, explore Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) and the biotoxin pathway. They break down how exposure to biotoxins from mold, water-damaged environments, and chemicals can trigger complex immune responses, and how genetic factors such as HLA gene mutations may influence the way certain individuals respond to these exposures. The conversation examines the connection between biotoxins, chronic inflammation, detoxification, and seemingly interconnected health problems. Dr. Hartman and Dr. Jenski explain why CIRS can be complex to identify and manage and why treatment needs to be personalized rather than approached with a one-size-fits-all protocol. They also discuss strategies used to support the body during treatment, including omega-3 fatty acids and curcumin, while emphasizing the importance of addressing CIRS through a thoughtful, step-by-step process. This episode provides listeners with a clearer understanding of the biotoxin pathway, why chronic inflammation can persist, and how a structured approach can help guide CIRS treatment. Resources & Links: 🌐 Dr. Aaron Hartman – Richmond Functional Medicine: richmondfunctionalmedicine.com 🌐 LinkedIn – Dr. Aaron Hartman: Connect Here 📺 YouTube – Richmond Functional Medicine: Watch Here 🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School Bundle Mentioned in this episode: 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season brings changing routines, new exposures, and added demands on the whole family. Support your family’s health this season with Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine’s Back-to-School 2026 offer. Back-to-School 2026: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/lp/back-to-school-2026/ In this episode of Made for Health, Dr. Aaron Hartman continues his series exploring a question he hears constantly from people dealing with chronic and complex health problems: Why am I still not getting better? You may have seen the specialists, received the diagnoses, taken the medications, completed advanced testing, or worked with integrative and functional medicine providers. Maybe you've made it 50% of the way—but something still feels missing. Dr. Hartman introduces the Hierarchy of Healing, a concept he says has existed within naturopathic medicine for more than a century. Rather than beginning with the newest test, supplement, or advanced treatment, this framework asks whether you've created the conditions your body needs to heal in the first place. That includes your physical environment, nervous system, connection with nature, food and water, and something medicine doesn't always know how to measure: meaning and purpose. Key Topics Covered Why some people improve but eventually become stuck in their healing journeyThe Hierarchy of Healing in naturopathic medicineDr. Hartman's Triangle of HealthCreating an environment that supports healingWhy feeling safe matters to the nervous systemTrauma, chaos, and nervous-system dysregulationThe relationship between mind, body, and healingConnecting with nature and natural rhythmsSeasonal changes in food and lifestyleThe microbiome, polyphenols, mitochondria, and the environmentNourishing the body with real food and clean waterGiving the body what it needs rather than only trying to remove what's wrongWhy meaning and purpose belong in a conversation about healthThe biopsychosocial model of healingWhy foundational principles still matter in complex chronic illnessTurning health information into meaningful action In This Episode, You Will Learn ✅ What Dr. Hartman means by the Hierarchy of Healing ✅ Why the environment surrounding you can become part of your healing process ✅ Why nervous-system safety may matter when your body seems unable to move forward ✅ How natural and seasonal rhythms fit into Dr. Hartman's framework for health ✅ Why nourishment involves more than simply avoiding unhealthy foods ✅ How Dr. Hartman connects the microbiome, polyphenols, mitochondria, and environmental influences ✅ Why meaning, purpose, relationships, vocation, and creativity can be important pieces of a healing journey ✅ Why getting better shouldn't be viewed only through medications, testing, supplements, or procedures ✅ Why Dr. Hartman continues returning to foundational principles even when working with people experiencing significant chronic illness Follow Dr. Aaron Hartman and Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine 🌐 Website: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/ 🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School Bundle 📺 YouTube: @AaronHartmanMD Mentioned in this episode: 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season brings new routines, new exposures, and new challenges for the whole family. Support your family this school year with targeted nutritional support designed with whole-person health in mind. Get 25% Off the Back-to-School Bundle In this episode of Made for Health, Dr. Aaron Hartman is joined by internationally renowned Lyme disease expert Dr. Richard Horowitz, who shares insights from his 35+ years of experience treating over 13,000 patients with chronic Lyme disease and complex chronic illnesses. Dr. Horowitz unpacks the 16-point treatment model he developed to address the multifactorial nature of chronic disease—including infections, inflammation, environmental toxins, mitochondrial dysfunction, and immune dysregulation. He explores how chronic Lyme overlaps with long COVID, mold illness, and autoimmune conditions, and emphasizes the importance of personalized, root-cause approaches to healing. This eye-opening episode also addresses the medical and political challenges faced by Lyme patients and practitioners, the need for systemic change, and how advocacy and collaboration can help reshape the future of chronic care. Show Highlights: ✅ What makes chronic Lyme disease so difficult to diagnose and treat ✅ Dr. Horowitz’s 16-point model and why it’s transforming chronic illness care ✅ The intersection of Lyme, long COVID, and other systemic health conditions ✅ How toxins, infections, and inflammation fuel long-term illness ✅ The political and institutional barriers to better care and research ✅ Real-world patient stories that highlight hope and healing ✅ Where patients and practitioners can access further education and support Some Questions We Explore: ✅ Why are so many patients misdiagnosed—or not diagnosed at all? ✅ How can chronic Lyme mimic other diseases like fibromyalgia or MS? ✅ What’s the role of mitochondrial health and detoxification in recovery? ✅ How do we move from symptom management to root-cause resolution? In This Episode, You Will Learn: ✅ What a truly integrative, systems-based approach to chronic illness looks like ✅ How to use Dr. Horowitz’s model to guide testing, diagnosis, and treatment ✅ Why collaboration between conventional and functional medicine is crucial ✅ How to advocate for better awareness, resources, and policy change Resources & Links: 🌐 Dr. Richard Horowitz – Official Website: cangetbetter.com 📘 Book – Why Can’t I Get Better? by Dr. Richard Horowitz 📘 Book – How Can I Get Better? by Dr. Richard Horowitz 🌐 Dr. Aaron Hartman – Richmond Functional Medicine: richmondfunctionalmedicine.com 🌐 LinkedIn – Dr. Aaron Hartman: Connect Here 📺 YouTube – Richmond Functional Medicine: Watch Here 🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School Bundle Mentioned in this episode: 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season puts extra demands on the whole family. Support your health this fall with physician-vetted, foundational supplements from Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine. Get 25% off Back-to-School Support while the seasonal offer lasts. https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/lp/back-to-school-2026/ In this episode of Made for Health, Dr. Aaron Hartman begins a new series with a question he hears almost every day: “Why am I not getting better?” You may be doing everything you think you’re supposed to do. You’ve seen doctors and specialists. You’ve changed your diet, tried supplements, addressed your diagnosis, and worked hard on your health. Maybe you’ve improved 20%, 40%, or even 60%—but then something happens. Progress stops, symptoms linger, and you feel stuck. Before jumping to more complicated possibilities like mold, Lyme disease, mast cell issues, hormones, or advanced testing, Dr. Hartman argues that it’s worth returning to the foundations. In his clinical experience, three of the most commonly overlooked areas are gut health, stress, and sleep. He explores how nutrition, the microbiome, food reactivity, detoxification, stress and trauma, nervous-system regulation, and restorative sleep can influence the healing process. The goal isn't simply to chase the newest health trend. It's to identify what may be blocking progress, address what's lacking, and build a stronger foundation for healing. Key Topics Covered Why people can make significant progress and then suddenly get stuckThe danger of chasing the newest health trend or treatmentWhy foundational health still matters in complex chronic illnessGut health and the microbiomeReal food versus highly processed foodFood sensitivities and immune reactivityProtein, minerals, and nutrition in detoxificationPrebiotics, probiotics, postbiotics, polyphenols, and fiberChronic stress and its impact on healingHealth-related and healthcare-related stressTrauma and nervous-system dysregulationEMDR, tapping, somatic therapy, and parts therapyThe default mode network and established brain patternsWhy sleep is essential for repair and recoveryDeep sleep, REM sleep, memory, and nervous-system regulationWhy the basics should come before more complex interventions Follow Dr. Aaron Hartman and Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine 🌐 Website: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/ 🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School Bundle 📺 YouTube: @AaronHartmanMD Mentioned in this episode: 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season brings new routines, new exposures, and new challenges for the whole family. Support your family this school year with targeted nutritional support designed with whole-person health in mind. Get 25% Off the Back-to-School Bundle In this episode of Made for Health, Dr. Aaron Hartman welcomes Dr. Jill Carnahan, a leading expert in functional and integrative medicine, for a powerful conversation about resilience, healing, and the root causes of chronic illness. Dr. Carnahan shares her deeply personal story—surviving breast cancer at 25, living with Crohn’s disease, and overcoming debilitating mold toxicity. These challenges became the catalyst for her shift from conventional to holistic, patient-centered care. Together, she and Dr. Hartman explore the connection between trauma, toxic exposures, belief systems, and spiritual healing in the path to true wellness. This is more than a medical discussion—it’s an invitation to reclaim your health through compassionate, root-cause medicine that honors both science and soul. ✅ Show Highlights:Dr. Carnahan’s journey through cancer, autoimmune disease, and mold illnessWhy trauma and belief systems play a critical role in recoveryHow conventional medicine often overlooks root causesThe role of diet, detoxification, and the environment in healingHer shift from protocols to personalized, whole-person careThe impact of spirituality and mindset in chronic illness recoveryInsights from her new book and documentary 🎯 Some Questions We Explore:How did Dr. Carnahan’s personal health battles shape her medical philosophy?What’s the connection between trauma, the immune system, and chronic disease?Why are environmental toxins often missed in conventional care?How can spiritual practices aid physical recovery? 💡 In This Episode, You Will Learn:The importance of addressing trauma in healing complex illnessWhy belief, choice, and action are cornerstones of recoveryFunctional medicine tools for detox, gut healing, and immune regulationHow to become an empowered advocate for your own healthWhere to start if you feel dismissed or overlooked in traditional healthcare 🌐 Resources & Links:Dr. Jill Carnahan – Official Website: https://www.jillcarnahan.comBook – Unexpected: Finding Resilience through Functional Medicine, Science, and Faith: Buy Here Follow Dr. Aaron Hartman and Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine 🌐 Website: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/ 🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School Bundle 📺 YouTube: @AaronHartmanMD Mentioned in this episode: Get Dr. Hartman's New Book - UnCURABLE If you’ve been let down by the system, you’re not alone — and you’re not powerless. Dr. Hartmans wrote UnCURABLE to help you take back control of your health and your hope. Visit the link below ⬇️ to get your copy and start your transformation today. Get the new book UnCURABLE 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents 25% Off Back to School Support for Parents Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale Back to School Support for Parents