Robert Whitfield MDAmerica's Breast Implant Illness Expert™

Functional Medicine Saved My Life: My Health Journey

4 May 2025 · 1 min

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1:09

Speaker recounts severe, multisystem health problems (joint pain, gastrointestinal symptoms, skin issues, systemic inflammation) that were not resolved by conventional specialists despite medications and invasive procedures (colonoscopy, endoscopy). Through a referral to People’s Pharmacy in Austin they met Ann Ship B, a functional medicine provider who performed testing and dietary counseling (e.g., identifying gluten sensitivity), which the speaker credits with "saving" their life. That clinical turnaround inspired a career shift: working for Amy Myers as a nurse, then training/working as a functional medicine nurse practitioner and opening their own practice.

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Had joint pain, stomach issues, skin issues, super inflamed. My mom actually pretty much moved in with me. I was living downtown Austin, and I was just really sick, and I was going to endocrinologist, gastroenterologists, all the specialties, and no one really had answers. You know, I was put on different medications. I did invasive procedures, colonoscopy, endoscopy, and really had no answers. And so that's when I was desperate, and I was like, all right, there's gotta be more. And really, my parents were pushing me to go to, like, People's Pharmacy in Austin, and then they found Ann Ship B, who is a functional medicine provider, and she saved my life. You know, she did all this testing. She talked to me about my diet, and I was kind of like, no, I've eaten water burger. Like, I'm fine. But it was. I. And I wasn't fine anymore, you know, but I was like, wait, what do you mean, gluten? I've eaten this my whole life. So, yeah, that's how I kind of got into this field of functional medicine, which I feel like is an important part of my story. It, you know, I was really sick and desperate. I wasn't smart and ahead of the curve, and so changed my life, which changed the trajectory of my career. So I worked for Amy Myers as her nurse, and then I became a functional medicine nurse practitioner and opened my own practice and worked with patients over the years. And.