The Autoimmune Hour

Are you tired of being told it's all in your head, or your tests all come back normal, and you still feel like cr*p...? Maybe you are having symptoms like food or environmental sensitivities, unresolved aches, pain, and fatigue... or skin rashes, nerve problems, racing heart, headaches, or feeling like every part of you is on overload?

We welcome back Dr. Anne Hill, ND., to answer questions about the rise of MCAS and other tough-to-diagnosis conditions. She specializes in functional medicine and other medical modalities to uncover 'mystery' chronic illnesses. On average, people come to her after seeing ten or more physicians, have multiple diagnoses (or NO working diagnosis), and are still sick with no answers.

She's found that many of her patients with chronic conditions also have MCAS. That's why we invited Dr. Anne Hill back to answer our questions like —

• What is a mast cell, and what 'activates' it,
• How to know if it's MCAS or something else,
• What type of doctor is best to treat you,
• How environmental factors, like mold and food sensitivities, create ill health,
• Plus much more...

More About Our Guest: Dr. Anne Hill, ND, shares her 20-plus years of research and experience in treating chronic infectious diseases such as chronic viral, tick-borne diseases, and environmental illnesses such as mycotoxins and mold exposure. She also sees patients with autoimmune disorders, Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder, EDS, Dysautonomia, and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome.

She's known for 'cracking the code' of hard-to-diagnose mystery conditions and is widely versed in healing modalities, including as an herbalist and craniosacral therapist since 1994. She has been an Oregon-licensed naturopathic physician since 2003 and has trained in the traditional eastern Indian medicine, Ayurveda, which she incorporates into patient care. Learn more at www.doctorannehill.com and on Facebook @wisdomwaymedicine.

Share this link with family and friends:
https://understandingautoimmune.com/DrAnne-2023

This show is not intended to diagnose, prevent, or treat autoimmune diseases or other illnesses. The information presented in this interview cannot substitute for the advice of your physician or other trained medical, healthcare, or other professionals. The information provided on UnderstandingAutoimmune.com, Life Interrupted Radio.com, and The Autoimmune Hour are for educational purposes only.


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-autoimmune-hour--2935987/support.

In this episode, we welcome back lifestyle and business coach Simone Giangiordano, better known as Simone G. She’s a multitalented lover of life. She’s an encourager. An autoimmune thriver. A songwriter. An ocean fanatic. And a coach and mentor who willingly shares what she’s learned on her life and healing journey. The cherry on top, she believes the courage to say “I CAN’T” will set you free. And more....

In our time together, we chat about a wide range of topics, including tips and techniques to
• Overcome misconceptions and stigmas around chronic health challenges,
• Become more self-aware and stand in your power,
• Set good health habits, including boundaries and limits,
• Push through being invisible when you have an ‘invisible’ illness and so much more...

More About Our Guest: Simone Giangiordano’s transition from her corporate career of nearly two decades to entrepreneurship and lifestyle and business coaching was due to her health challenges. Now she brings her wisdom and life lessons to bring help and hope to those with invisible health challenges impacting the quality of their life and their business success.

Recently, in caregiving for her father, she learned what matters most is the impact we have and the love we share. That experience gave her the courage to be silent no more and to author the Building Balance to Empower programs, which were created to guide others struggling with compromised health in building a business and creating a lifestyle that supports their work and well-being. Today, she uses her Signature Program, The Power of I Can’t®, alongside her business coaching to help her clients transform their lives, businesses, and well-being. Learn more at www.SimoneG.net

Share this link with family and friends:
www.UnderstandingAutoimmune.com/Simone-2023

This show is not intended to diagnose, prevent, or treat autoimmune diseases or other illnesses. The information presented within cannot substitute for the advice of your physician or other trained healthcare professionals. The information provided on UnderstandingAutoimmune.com, Life Interrupted Radio.com, and The Autoimmune Hour are for educational purposes only.


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-autoimmune-hour--2935987/support.

We welcome back Career, Transition, and Empowerment Coach Laurie Lawson, CEC, PCC. As a Certified Empowerment Coach since 2004, Laurie specializes in transition challenges, strategic planning, goal actualization, personal life re-invention, and so much more. Sharon and Laurie talk about staying on track with our goals, including our wellness goals and the quick-change tools she shares with her high-preforming clients, including

• How to cultivate the space for easy change
• Moving past fear and finding more time for play
• Breaking the patterns that no longer serve you
• Set boundaries that work plus much more…

More About Our Guest: Laurie Lawson is an expert at discovering her clients' hidden talents and assets to achieve their maximum success. She is a Certified Empowerment Coach from the Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC), a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) from the International Coach Federation (ICF), a Certified EQ Mentor Coach, a Certified DoLquest Expert, and a Certified Trainer for Points of You, The Coaching Game.

She specializes in coaching groups, small businesses, and individuals in Leadership Management, Team Development, Transition Challenges, Strategic Planning, Mission Definition, Goal Actualization, Personal Life Coaching, and Re-Invention.

She is the Past President of the International Coach Federation of New York City, a Committee Member of Global ICF’s Membership & Community and Ethics & Standards Committees, Executive Producer of The Coaching Game TV Show, Creator/Co-Host of Coach Chat Radio and the international radio show Meaning in Madness, and Editor/Writer/Reviewer for Electronic Link Journey, an online entertainment magazine. For more information: www.laurielawson-elj.com

Share this link with family and friends:
www.UnderstandingAutoimmune.com/Laurie-2023

This show is not intended to diagnose, prevent, or treat autoimmune diseases or other illnesses. The information presented within cannot substitute for the advice of your physician or other trained healthcare professionals. The information provided on UnderstandingAutoimmune.com, Life Interrupted Radio.com, and The Autoimmune Hour are for educational purposes only.


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-autoimmune-hour--2935987/support.

In this episode, we welcome Dr. Andrena Zeigler author of the award-winning children’s book, 'But I’m Not Sick!' We chat with Dr. Andrena about her practical and playful book on how to ease children’s fear of a pediatric checkup and the first things to do when our child isn’t feeling well plus

• How to prevent illness in the time of tripledemic,

• When we should have our child seen in-office,

• What to do with a picky eater and childhood obesity,

• We even talk about the ‘p-word (as in ‘poop’) ;-) ...

More About Our Guest: Dr. Andrena Zeigler is an advanced practice registered nurse who earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree as a first honor graduate from the Medical University of South Carolina and has been a nurse practicing in pediatrics for 20 years. Named the South Carolina Primary Care Nurse of the Year in 2012, Dr. Zeigler is a board-certified pediatric nurse practitioner and a board-certified pediatric primary care mental health specialist. She also loves teaching the next generation of nurses and nurse practitioners in pediatrics.

She is the award winner of the prestigious 2022 Moonbeam Awards Gold Medal in the Health Issues category for her delightful children’s book ‘But I’m Not Sick!’ It was inspired by all the children in her life, including her daughters, nieces and nephews, and her patients. She recently published her second book; ‘I’m Bigger and Braver.’ For more information, visit www.andrenajzeigler.com.

Share this link with family and friends: www.UnderstandingAutoimmune.com/DrAndrena-2023

This show is not intended to diagnose, prevent, or treat autoimmune diseases or other illnesses. The information presented within cannot substitute for the advice of your physician or other trained healthcare professionals. The information provided on UnderstandingAutoimmune.com, Life Interrupted Radio.com, and The Autoimmune Hour are for educational purposes only.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-autoimmune-hour--2935987/support.

(Or Healing is an Inside Job...)
Fasten your seat belt for a fascinating romp through the question what does ‘to be healed’ actually mean? and other intriguing life questions.

In this episode, we chat with Ed Cohen, author of 'On Learning to Heal, or What Medicine Doesn’t Know.’ His book has been described as “memoir-cum-medical philosophy,” which I think sums it up nicely.

A favorite quote from this thought-provoking book is, “Learning to heal does not necessarily require us to know how we heal, but it does require that we desire to heal and that we actively value this possibility.”

In our time together, Ed shares with us how he overcame a decades-long autoimmune struggle, starting at thirteen when he was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. At that impressionable age, his doctors told him that the best he could hope for was periods of remission. Unfortunately, they never mentioned healing as a possibility. His new book was borne out of his lifetime of seeking answers to heal himself. He shares with us how he has come to understand the transformative power of illness and dis-ease, plus a few of the lessons he’s learned along the way, including

• Why knowing “what’s wrong with us” and how to “fix it” might not help,

• How discovering new meanings and possibilities for your life is essential,

• Regardless of the quality of external care, healing doesn’t come from outside of us. And so much more...

More About Our Guest: Ed Cohen draws on fifty years of living with Crohn’s to consider how Western medicine’s turn from an “art of healing” toward a “science of medicine” deeply affects medical practitioners and their patients. His latest book explores his path to healing, arguing that learning to heal requires us to desire and value healing as an essential possibility.

In addition to being an author, Ed Cohen is a Professor at Rutgers University and maintains a therapeutic practice for people interested in healing. Learn more at healingcounsel.com.

Share this link with family and friends: www.UnderstandingAutoimmune.com/EdCohen-2023

This show is not intended to diagnose, prevent, or treat autoimmune diseases or other illnesses. The information presented within cannot substitute for the advice of your physician or other trained healthcare professionals. The information provided on UnderstandingAutoimmune.com, Life Interrupted Radio.com, and The Autoimmune Hour are for educational purposes only.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-autoimmune-hour--2935987/support.

Finding love and companionship is difficult enough; add an autoimmune, chronic disease, or disability to the mix, and it can make dating downright disappointing. That’s why, when I heard about the new app Dateability and the ‘brains-behind-it,’ I got them on the show immediately!

The ‘brains’ are the amazing entrepreneurial duo (and sisters) Jacqueline and Alexa Child. These two inspiring women have turned Jacqueline’s sour experiences of finding companionship while dealing with disability and chronic illness into a new dating app called Dateability. It is designed for the disabled and chronically ill communities to have a safe and accepting space to develop meaningful connections.

Even after years of discouraging ableist experiences on mainstream dating apps, I know you will find Jacqueline and Alexa as uplifting as I do. Join us as we chat about navigating friendship, love, and the entrepreneurial life, including their story of why this is their passion project, literally and figuratively.

Just some of what they share is
• The importance of staying positive and surrounding yourself with positive people

• How to advocate for yourself and others from a place of empathy and strength,

• How new tools can create significant opportunities for connection, community, friendship, love, and much more...

More About Our Guests: Alexa Child, co-founder of Dateability, graduated from Georgetown Law in 2015 and currently works as a public interest attorney. Through witnessing her sister’s experience with disability, Alexa has become an advocate and ally for the disability community. She is passionate about social justice, enjoys TV and film, and loves all things Halloween.

Jacqueline Child, co-founder of Dateability, has turned her experience with disability and chronic illness into a new venture. She created Dateability with her sister after years of discouraging ableist experiences on mainstream dating apps. Jacqueline enjoys playing the guitar, reading, and volunteering at the local animal shelter when she isn’t managing her health. Learn more at https://info.dateabilityapp.com/

Share this link with family and friends: https://understandingautoimmune.com/Dating

This show is not intended to diagnose, prevent, or treat autoimmune diseases or other illnesses. The information presented within cannot substitute for the advice of your physician or other trained healthcare professionals. The information provided on UnderstandingAutoimmune.com, Life Interrupted Radio.com, and The Autoimmune Hour are for educational purposes only.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-autoimmune-hour--2935987/support.

Sleep problems are not exclusive to those of us experiencing autoimmune. It’s estimated that around 70 million people in the US alone suffer from sleep disorders. So I don’t have to tell you that lack of sleep affects our overall well-being, including clear thinking, work performance, weight gain, and the part little to no sleep play in the development of many disorders and disease.

In this episode, Dr. Jenny Tufenkian, a Naturopathic Physician and Functional Medicine Educator who teaches patients, students, and physicians to increase their understanding of complex chronic diseases, shares surprising causes of why we can’t sleep and how to solve them. For example:

• What to do if you’re great at falling asleep but can’t stay asleep,
• How lack of sleep creates havoc in the brain, including brain inflammation,
• How what you do when you first wake up will impact that night’s sleep
• Ways to create simple, ‘sweet’ sleep routines that start way before bedtime, such as when you eat, light exposure, and overseeing your circadian rhythm.
• We even talk about latent viruses, including c*vid, and how they can affect our sleep, plus so much more…

More About Our Guest: Dr. Jenny Tufenkian knows autoimmune; she has struggled with chronic fatigue syndrome – it’s taken her down twice, 17 years apart. She shares, “though it was miserable at the time, I now see it as a blessing, both for the insights those experiences gave me and for my transition to a completely healthy life. She has been a practicing naturopathic doctor for over 20 years, focusing on helping the chronically ill return to total health. Dr. Jenny, as we lovingly call her, taught at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine and now owns a naturopathic clinic where she serves as its head doctor. Learn more at https://enjoyfullhealth.com/ and https://drjennytufenkian.com/

Share this link with family and friends: https://understandingautoimmune.com/sleep-2022

This show is not intended to diagnose, prevent, or treat autoimmune diseases or other illnesses. The information presented within cannot substitute for the advice of your physician or other trained healthcare professionals. The information provided on UnderstandingAutoimmune.com, Life Interrupted Radio.com, and The Autoimmune Hour are for educational purposes only.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-autoimmune-hour--2935987/support.

In my healing journey, I’ve discovered that it wasn’t just one thing that got me to my diagnosis, and it’s not one thing that will get me out. If your previous attempts at healing have only partially succeeded, or worse, failed, this week’s guest, Jessica Jimison, Functional Medicine Nurse Practitioner and Co-Founder of Origins Collaborative Care PLLC, shares with us some reasons why. In our time together, which isn’t nearly enough, we talk about:

• Could your body’s neural pathways to calmness, safety, and connection be dysregulated?
• Are your Mast Cells reeling from unknown stressors part of the problem?
• Tips for rewiring your nervous system and ways to keep the autonomic_nervous_system calm(er,)
• How to make peace with your body in its current state and ways to improve, and so much more...

More About Our Guest: Jessica Jimison, Functional Medicine Nurse Practitioner and Co-Founder of Origins Collaborative Care PLLC, loves the blending of science and education that is being a nurse practitioner, working with individuals and families, meeting people where they are, and empowering them to understand and improve their health.

This mission started after an exciting summer on a fish-processing boat in Alaska at age 19 was ended with a closed head injury, and the lengthy recovery set Jessica in motion to enter the health field. After ten years as a Primary Care provider, she found Functional Medicine, became an IFMCP (Institute for Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner) in 2018, and found her passion in complex, chronic inflammatory illness.

In 2021, she and Micaela Giles co-founded Origins Collaborative Care PLLC (OCC), primarily focused on identifying and addressing causes of imbalance rather than the effects and less on diagnoses. Their goal is physical healing, so OCC is taking a bold (r)Evolutionary leap by incorporating regulation of the Autonomic Nervous System into every treatment plan. Learn more at https://www.originscollaborativecare.com/

Share this link with family and friends: www.UnderstandingAutoimmune.com/Jessica-2022

This show is not intended to diagnose, prevent, or treat autoimmune diseases or other illnesses. The information presented within cannot substitute for the advice of your physician or other trained healthcare professionals. The information provided on UnderstandingAutoimmune.com, Life Interrupted Radio.com, and The Autoimmune Hour are for educational purposes only.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-autoimmune-hour--2935987/support.

Today, we discover how to let go of what's no longer working and create the life we want with the help of Pamela Sylvan - The Mojomaker. Pamela is a multi-faceted entrepreneur, executive mentor, TV show host, and recent convert to the weekend nomad lifestyle. 


Pamela is the master of reinvention; from moving through the unknown: rejection, fear, near bankruptcy, and loneliness, Pamela has uncovered life-altering wisdom that made all the difference in her ability to thrive against the odds. She has turned her hard-earned wisdom into a prosperous business dedicated to helping women make their lives meaningful, engaged, and empowering regardless of where they start.

Just some of what we share in our chat is
• How to live from your core values and trust your inner voice,
• Ways to strengthen your resilience, including during times of renewal, 
• Why it's important to celebrate your magnificence within,
• Simple guidelines to develop your inner and outer adventurer and much more…

More About Our Guest: Pamela Sylvan has long had a sense of adventure, and when 'it' calls, she answers, including recently embracing the weekender van lifestyle. 


Pamela says, “resiliency, high confidence, presence, and charisma CAN be learned with practice and practical wisdom.” She knows what she's talking about...in her fifties, she packed a bag, moved across the country, and reinvented herself. Now, she helps others find their reinvention by bringing neuroscience and personal development skills together with decades of teaching personal branding, corporate training and development, and one-to-one courage and confidence mentoring to help others change their lives. Learn more at www.PamelaSylvan.com, where she has a no-cost e-book for you to 'move past stuck' too.


Share this link with family and friends:
www.UnderstandingAutoimmune.com/Mojo-2022


This show is not intended to diagnose, prevent, or treat autoimmune diseases or other illnesses. The information presented within cannot substitute for the advice of your physician or other trained healthcare professionals. The information provided on UnderstandingAutoimmune.com, Life Interrupted Radio.com, and The Autoimmune Hour are for educational purposes only.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-autoimmune-hour--2935987/support.

Join us for a heartfelt, raw, authentic account of a family’s eight-month-long nightmare that resulted in a mother’s unfortunate death from ovarian cancer. In this episode, you’ll meet Melissa Mullamphy, a self-described “insufferable a**hole” when she wants to get things done... She is now a woman on a mission to help people navigate a convoluted and complicated healthcare system.

When I was introduced to Melissa, her journey intrigued me. She shared, “During my mother’s cancer diagnosis and treatment, I saw first-hand the failures of a broken medical system—a system full of good people working in a critically deficient framework.” I could relate.

During our chat, she passionately shares from her memoir, ‘Not in Vain, a Promise Kept,’ an unflinching chronicle of loss and a real-life look at her family’s medical torment; just some of what she shares is:
• Practical, actionable advice for patients, families, and loved ones to get the care they deserve,
• How to facilitate communication and cooperation at all healthcare levels,
• Simple ways to advance person-centered care for everyone facing a severe illness, whether they are the patient or caregiver, and much more...

More About Our Guest: Melissa Mullamphy is a clinical psychologist, healthcare advocate, and critically acclaimed author of ‘Not in Vain: A Promise Kept.’ After her mother’s passing, Melissa made it her mission to educate others on patients’ rights to quality, timely information, including understanding their healthcare rights.

After earning a degree in counseling psychology, she worked in a psychiatric emergency room. She headed up various non-profit events and organizations before turning to the corporate world and working as Domestic Operations Manager for one of Warren Buffet’s companies for nearly two decades. Putting it all on hold to help her mother during her cancer diagnosis and treatment, she saw first-hand the failures of a broken medical system. She has since turned her advocacy to authorship, including hundreds of articles discussing ways to improve healthcare systems and patient care and her memoir, ‘Not in Vain: A Promise Kept.’ More about Melissa Mullamphy can be found at www.melissamullamphy.com.

Share this link with family and friends:
www.UnderstandingAutoimmune.com/Melissa-2022

This show is not intended to diagnose, prevent, or treat autoimmune diseases or other illnesses. The information presented within cannot substitute for the advice of your physician or other trained healthcare professionals. The information provided on UnderstandingAutoimmune.com, Life Interrupted Radio.com, and The Autoimmune Hour are for educational purposes only.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-autoimmune-hour--2935987/support.