Debbie W.

When I decided to try out the Wellness clinic (this was a decision I labored over for several months after I stumbled upon the website), I was very skeptical and truly didn’t have any expectations of feeling better.  Since moving to Texas (about 2 ½ years ago), I had visited 2 separate doctors over the care of my thyroid and even involved my gynecologist with these issues.  The first doctor was a family practitioner that just kept me on the same dose of medicine and barely had time to speak with me during my visits.  I was feeling like my thyroid medicine needed to be altered because I was beginning to feel much the same way I did 11 years ago when I was first diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Disease.  I decided to switch to an internal medicine doctor.  I told him how I was feeling and told him how much I exercised but my energy level was still very low and everything was becoming more of a struggle. He kept my medicine the same and prescribed me diet pills (yes you read that right) to help me lose weight.  Uh, that’s not what I was complaining about, I was complaining about low energy and how hard it was to exercise and no matter what I did it seemed my weight stayed the same.  I was a little offended but he’s the one that went to medical school so I filled it and used them.  They obviously didn’t help at all except now I had to remind myself to eat because I wasn’t hungry.  I should add that throughout all this I considered myself quite healthy (I ran 4-6 times a week) and I ate healthy based on what I knew. I ate cooked oatmeal or eggs every morning, I didn’t eat processed food, no fast food, I ate lean cuts of meat and I ate vegetables.  People at work would tease me about how healthy I ate.  I should also mention that every time I was at the doctor, along with the low energy I told every one of them I was constantly bloated, had more gas than the normal person and just overall didn’t feel well.  Also, a full year prior to visiting the wellness center I was suffering from a recurring yeast infection (yeah, that’s right, disgusting and miserable).  My gynecologist kept prescribing me Fluconazole and stressing probiotics and even douching with a hydrogen peroxide mixture.  I would take the medicine and within 2 weeks of finishing it was back.  I was sure I had some horrible disease.  One time I even was on that medicine for a month (how could that not work) and it was back.  My insurance company even called my doctor over the amount of times it was prescribed for me.  My doctor was clearly frustrated and assumed I wasn’t following his direction regarding the probiotics, but I was following his instructions to the letter.  I asked for any advice on getting relief he could offer and he was stumped.  I finally just settled with the idea that I was going to have to suffer with the infection as well as all the other symptoms and worked on finding a way to deal with it.  I was at this point that I decided to make the appointment at The Woodlands Institute.  The hardest part was spending the money without having the faith it would work.  My husband was skeptical as well, his thinking was why spend money to go to a doctor when you have insurance, just go the regular doctor and get a pill (ok, been there done that and it didn’t work).  Well, my first visit was interesting, everyone there had a positive energy which I admit was infectious so I developed a glimmer of hope.  When I met Dr. McManus, I instantly liked her.  I resolved myself to commit 100% to her instructions (otherwise it would be a waste of money).  I then met with the nutritionist, I didn’t’ feel I needed to because after all I was already a healthy eater and I’m a voracious reader of health magazines and articles, but I was 100% committed.  Oh my goodness that was the most impactful part of this process for me.  I may have been a relatively healthy eater based on today’s standards, but I was NOT eating properly for my body.  I learned so much.  To make a long story shorter (because I could go on forever about what I learned), I followed the program to the letter, I feel GREAT, the yeast infection is GONE (after a year, imagine my JOY), and my allergy symptoms are gone.  I forgot to mention I’ve been a lifelong sufferer of allergies, to the point that I did allergy shots for 5 years when I lived in Seattle because they were so severe.  Moving to Houston they came back a little, not to the same degree but I was taking medicine fairly regularly.  Since starting the program I have not taken one allergy pill, my sinuses just continue to get more clear all the time, I don’t use nasal spray anymore, my skin has cleared up (I had minor trouble with it before – related to my cycle or so I thought but haven’t had any trouble since).  I could go on and on, my dizzy spells that I experienced pretty much multiple times each morning are gone and I just feel so good!   I honestly didn’t ever expect to feel this great, I truly feel like I have the energy I had in high school.  I literally just told a co-worker that the other day and I’m going to be 47 years old this month.  I did a follow up appointment with the nutritionist (I actually looked forward to it this time hungry for any knowledge I could get from her – far different that my attitude going into the first appointment) and I learned even more about myself.  I truly can’t speak highly enough about this experience and how life changing it has been and will continue to be.  If you are reading this and feel skeptical or on the fence about it, consider how skeptical I was and how my life has been changed. You guys do GREAT work!!!  It has to be so rewarding knowing you make such positive changes in lives.  Thanks for all your investment of time in me!