Testimonials

I began my healing journey with Dr. Flannery about 4 years ago. Before I finally found him, I had been to at least 10 different types of doctors (internal medicine doctors, specialists, NDs, naturopathic doctors, integrative doctors, Medical Doctors, endocrinologists, acupuncturist, emergency room doctors, energy healers, etc.) with very little help. My symptoms were severe and included insomnia, tinnitus, hormonal imbalances, leaky gut, adrenal fatigue, constipation, hypothyroidism, hair loss by the handfuls, hot flashes all day and night, no libido, blood sugar dysregulation, brain fog and inflammation, compromised immune system, parasites, EBV, CMV, other viruses, and on and on.

 

I was the head therapist and energy healer in a world-class spa and had to quit my job that I loved in Hawaii. I was healthy (or so I thought), fit, and ate as clean and organic as possible for my whole adult life until I crashed. I was pretty much bedridden for several years – not living and not yet dead – but pretty far down the rabbit hole and it was a very scary place to be for a long time. Once I quit my job, I would lay in bed and research all day trying to find out how to get well, how to sleep again, live again. Luckily, my angel husband stuck with me through it all.

 

Finally, I found a Facebook group called Hashi411, and that’s when I found out about Dr. Kharrazian and Dr. Flannery, Hashimoto’s, and autoimmune disease. I read most of Dr. Kharrazian’s books and, in those books, I found testimonials about Dr. Flannery. I called his office in California and set up a skype session in 6 months (he had a 6-month waiting list). I finally had a glimmer of hope that this doctor might be able to help me. I had my first session with him, and he told me I had a lot of health issues going on and that we would approach it step by step. All of the other doctors couldn’t really find anything wrong with me except hypothyroidism. Dr. Flannery looked at the same tests and saw issues that the other doctors couldn’t see.

 

I started his program addressing gut health, my thyroid, and blood sugar regulation. That’s where we began to unravel the mystery and I began the long journey of getting healthy again. At first, I was a bit skeptical and then I told myself to just trust him and do his protocol and to give it 100%. My gut was so compromised I couldn’t even start with the AIP diet he recommended, as I was only eating 4 different kinds of veggies, meat, salt, olive oil, and rooibos tea for the past 7 months. I had to slowly, very slowly, move into the AIP diet. It was a very slow process and, because of having insomnia for so long (20 years) and being sick for so long, I developed a limbic system trauma loop: PTSD anxiety, and depression. Now my mental health was becoming compromised. I did a DNR program (Dynamic Neural Retraining Program) every day for 6 months and the mental health improved dramatically along with Dr. Flannery’s program.

 

I also started my own healing regimen which included cold plunging and cryotherapy every day, walking 5 days a week (at first only a little bit), kundalini yoga, and meditation. I allowed only positive words and people around me – no negativity entered my life. I also did self-energy healings with the nature intelligence, Rife machine, coffee enemas, acupuncture, cranial-sacral therapy, chiropractic sessions, and many other alternative treatments. My husband had to prepare all my food at first because I was not healthy enough even to do my own cooking and cleaning.

 

Little by little, I started getting better. The ear ringing calmed down, the constipation was not as severe, energy was coming back, bloating stopped, adrenals and the fatigue that goes with that started getting better, and the blood sugar issues improved significantly. I was climbing out of the rabbit hole. Insomnia was still an issue but, since I had that symptom the longest, I knew it would be one of the last symptoms to get better.

 

This has been a long process, but Dr. Flannery has been with me every step of the way. The office staff has also been extremely kind and professional, following up with me through the whole process. Many of the other doctors never even got back to me. I had to constantly follow up with them which is so frustrating when you are so sick.

 

These days, I’m feeling about 90% better than when I started with Dr. Flannery. I am stabilizing my thyroid medication, sleeping so much better, and I rarely have tinnitus or hot flashes anymore. My constipation and bloating have been completely resolved. After being able to reintroduce most foods, I still stay away from grains, beans, and cow dairy. I have lots of energy all day and only get tired at night. My hair is full and thick. I hear myself laughing again. My libido is still low, but I can feel a glimmer of something coming back. My immune system is finally online again and soon we will tackle the viruses as we continue to heal the root causes.

 

While this has been a significant investment of time and money, I was unwilling to settle for anything less than full health. I was and am willing to go the distance and do whatever it takes and pay whatever it costs to reach my full potential. I feel confident I can start working again. In fact, I just applied for a job today in a brand-new spa opening up in October!

 

If this testimonial helps even one person, I will be grateful. I am so very, very thankful to Dr. Flannery. He believed in me every step of the way. I know I wouldn’t have achieved getting my health back without his vast knowledge of the human body and what it means to have optimal health plus his tenacity of spirit guiding me and believing in me.

Thank you, Dr. Flannery, with all my heart.

Aloha,

Rose R.

Big Island, Hawaii

I spent my entire life living as a rock star. That would be figuratively, not literally. I flew through most of my adult life as an Alaskan wilderness adventurer, global traveler, health care provider, backcountry hiker, commercial fisherman, endurance horse racer, power yoga practitioner and Latin dancer. All these fun-filled activities ran neck and neck along side an action-packed career in integrative health care and traditional Chinese medicine. Needless to say, I was happy, healthy and whole and was living life as large as I could possibly manifest.

Then came 2010-11. That was the year of my tsunami. I was 52 years old and had been living overseas for 10 years. It was a year of cascading personal stressors in my life and the rheostat of my energy slowly dialed down. So slowly, that I didn’t even perceive it was happening as I was so strong and so passionate about my life. And then one day I found myself struggling to avoid being a half-bubble above bed-ridden. (more…)

My whole life I had suffered from stomach issues and a handful of other problems that as I got older became just a part of life. I would just deal with them, living off of Pepto-Bismol, and assumed that everyone had these same issues. As I got into my early 20’s those symptoms began to manifest and I began to pretty regularly faint or come right to the edge of fainting. I saw a couple doctors, was put on antidepressants and anxiety medications, diagnose with IBS-C and a thyroid disorder. They kept telling me that it was just because I was about to graduate college and the stress of that was getting to me. I didn’t feel stressed, I was excited to be finishing school and following my dreams. I went on a family vacation at the age of 24 and blacked out, though I was awake I couldn’t see anything, my heart was beating 100 miles a min and I was certain I was going to die. That’s when I decided it was time to solve this problem, because there was no way this could be normal. (more…)

I appreciative of the impact Dr. Flannery and the HealthWise office has had on my health journey. I spent the week before my wedding romping endlessly around town with my bridesmaids and creating wonderful memories. I woke up early on my wedding day to an hours-long hair and makeup session, smiled through tons of photo shoots, walked down the aisle (in 4-inch heels!) to marry my now-husband, and danced the night away with friends and family. My husband and I are now in Kaua`i for our honeymoon doing so much every day! (more…)

I had spent the two years prior to finding Dr. Flannery suffering from exacerbated symptoms that I had been dealing with my entire adult life. For the longest time, I attributed these symptoms as being “normal”. My doctors had always come up with a seemingly reasonable explanation for every symptom I had and eventually I was convinced that it was all a result of stressors in my life, of which at the time, I had many. Determined to find a way to reduce my stress, I quit my high profile executive level job which almost immediately dissipated all that was causing my stress. Somehow though, my symptoms were getting worse and they were all emerging at once.

I couldn’t understand why I still had the fatigue, anxiety, depression, brain fog, irritable bowels, moodiness, and difficultly sleeping. On top of it all, I had recurring infections, severe back pain and was losing my hair in patches. I went to the doctor’s office on numerous occasions and was refused referrals to specialists because my symptoms were not seen as uncommon and were not severe enough to be referred. I was however, offered antidepressants and therapy, which I refused. If there was any other medication to be prescribed, it was either steroids or antibiotics and I was sent on my way. (more…)

After having the first dose of Gardasil, my health started deteriorated at a rapid rate. I started having unbearable migraines once a month (had to sleep it off and any movement would result in me vomiting), knee pain, leg weakness when walking short distances, complete loss of menstrual cycle, abdominal pain, weight gain, brain fog, IBS symptoms and digestive problems. I experienced these health problems for at least five years while seeking a variety of medical attention (multiple endocrinologists, multiple GI doctors, multiple neurologists and multiple OBGYN’s). (more…)

So grateful for Dr Flannery and all his expertise and passion for functional medicine. My journey started about 13 years ago with my daughter’s stomach issues. As a toddler I took her to the family pediatrician, to urgent cares, we visited specialists from UCLA and other highly recommended doctors. They tested her for Celiac, Crohn’s, she had scans, X-Rays, blood work done – unfortunately no doctor we saw ever had an explanation. The typical response to us was – “it’s probably just constipation, have her take Miralax every day.” That wasn’t an acceptable response for me. I never gave up, we visited doctors over the years as she got older hoping someone would be able to offer us some type of answer as to why her stomach hurt her weekly. (more…)

It was in 1997 when I was 27-years-old that my health first started to decline. I was an upbeat, energetic, extreme athlete up to that point in time. It wasn’t until a falling-out with my father which caused so much stress in my life that my health began to decline.

It started out with headaches and moved on to depression. I became debilitated, so much so, that I could not even make a trip to the grocery store, it was too overwhelming. I tried to muster up enough energy just to go into work and make it back home. This was during my pre-healthcare days; I did not know anything about health. I was eating McDonalds 2 to 3 times per day and would order the fish sandwich when I felt like eating “healthy”. I saw specialist after specialist for my headaches, brain fog, fatigue, and my depression. I spent tens of thousands of dollars seeking help. No one could help me. (more…)

Dear Dr. Flannery,

This month, as we begin a new year, I would like to express my deepest gratitude for your excellent treatment which has really given me my life back in so many ways. Last year at this time, I was struggling with blood sugar issues which were leading me towards type one and type two diabetes, gut issues including SIBO, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel disease, severe constipation/motility issues, and multiple food allergies which put me on a severely limited diet.  My primary care doctor and gastroenterologists could not really help me anymore, and I was pretty incapacitated. I also had problems sleeping and had been taking sleeping pills on and off for many years. In addition, I was struggling with depression, anxiety, brain fog and a tremor, chronic pain, as well as a very low energy level. (more…)

I was referred to Dr. Mark Flannery by a woman I work with after telling her about how tired I felt and the stomach pain, bloating and weight gain that I was suffering with. My condition was keeping me from spending quality time with my kids and I was losing focus at school. At first I thought it was normal “female” problems, but when the symptoms didn’t go away after 1-1/2 years , I knew I needed to take action. (more…)