A former competitive athlete came to me barely able to function. He had severe nausea, almost constant stomach pain, a known ulcer, crushing anxiety, and unrelenting fatigue.

After looking at his intake forms, it seemed obvious that his digestive system was screaming for help so I did what any practitioner would do - I started by supporting optimal upper digestion.

And everything made him worse.

Bitters? Made him worse. Gallbladder support? Worse. Aloe? Also worse. The PPI worked, then didn't. The DGL helped a little, then stopped.

I kept adjusting the protocol, thinking I just needed the right combination. But every change triggered more panic. Every new supplement amplified his symptoms.

Then I had a huge realization: his digestive system t wasn't the problem. It was just the microphone, amplifying the symptoms. His nervous system was so completely dysregulated that it couldn't regulate around anything - not food, not supplements, not even safety.

And I didn't see it until he was gone.

This is the hardest case I've shared in this series - not because the symptoms were complex, but because I had tunnel vision. I was so focused on fixing his upper digestion and gut that I missed the real driver: a nervous system that had completely gone off the rails and could no longer regulate.

What You'll Learn:

• The signs of complete nervous system dysregulation (and why they can be hard to spot)

• Why the loudest symptom isn't always what needs addressing first

• How asking patients to track symptoms can backfire badly

• The difference between stabilizing a patient and trying to fix them (spoiler: some people need 'boring' before they need a protocol)

• Why post-viral neuroimmune injury is a whole different beast

• What "creating safety" actually means clinically - and why it's medicine

Resources Mentioned:

• Free download: 6 Principles of Clinical Thinking

• Learn the "how" of functional medicine inside Clinical Academy

Connect with Ronda:

• Clinical Academy: rondanelson.com/clinicalacademy

• Free Resource: rondanelson.com/6principles