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🎒 Back-to-school season brings changing routines, new exposures, and added demands on the whole family. Support your family’s health this season with Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine’s Back-to-School 2026 resources.Back-to-School 2026:https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/lp/back-to-school-2026/In this deeply personal episode of Made for Health, Dr. Aaron Hartman sits down with Dr. Efrat “Dr. E” LaMandre, a family nurse practitioner, PhD in Integrative Medicine, host of the Medical Disruptor podcast, and a leading voice on medical gaslighting.What begins as a conversation about why patients feel dismissed when their tests come back “normal” becomes something much more personal. Dr. E shares that she was recently diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer after months of back pain that she repeatedly minimized herself. The experience transformed her from a clinician who teaches patient advocacy into a patient navigating the healthcare system firsthand. Pasted textTogether, Dr. Hartman and Dr. E explore a rarely discussed side of medical gaslighting: the ways patients can begin gaslighting themselves. We may apologize for taking a clinician’s time, downplay symptoms, assume normal tests mean nothing is wrong, or ignore the internal sense that something has changed.Their message is not to reject conventional medicine. It is to understand what each clinician can and cannot provide, continue investigating when symptoms persist, and build a healthcare team capable of looking at the whole picture.Key Topics CoveredWhat medical gaslighting actually meansWhy normal laboratory results do not automatically mean a patient feels wellWhy patients may feel dismissed even by well-intentioned cliniciansPopulations most affected by medical gaslightingWhy women may be especially likely to minimize their symptomsFatigue, migrating pain, unusual sensations, and GI complaints that can be difficult to fit into conventional diagnostic categoriesThe habit of “pre-apologizing” before describing symptomsHow patients learn to become “good patients”Why people sometimes trust test results more than their own bodily experienceIntuition as a form of pattern recognitionThe importance of knowing when something is different from your normalWhy self-advocacy does not mean rejecting doctorsUnderstanding the limitations of individual medical specialtiesWhy conventional testing still mattersHow to build a multidisciplinary healthcare teamChoosing clinicians and researchers over unqualified health adviceAvoiding overwhelm when facing a complex diagnosisWhy healing plans may need to be implemented graduallyThe emotional and mental challenges of serious and chronic illnessHope, family, purpose, and continuing to move forwardIn This Episode, You Will Learn✅ What medical gaslighting can look like even when the clinician has good intentions✅ Why being told “your tests are normal” should not automatically end the conversation when symptoms persist✅ How patients can unknowingly participate in their own medical gaslighting by dismissing or minimizing what they feel✅ Why Dr. E now tells patients to get concerning symptoms checked instead of talking themselves out of evaluation✅ Why self-advocacy is not the same as being confrontational or distrustful of medicine✅ How intuition can reflect years of subconscious pattern recognition✅ Why every specialist has a particular role—and why complex health problems may require an entire team✅ How to decide whose medical advice deserves your attention when everyone around you has an opinion✅ Why you do not have to make every lifestyle or treatment change at once✅ What becoming a patient taught Dr. E about exhaustion, uncertainty, hope, and the emotional burden of illnessConnect With Dr. Efrat LaMandre🌐 Website:https://www.drefratlamandre.com/🎙️ Medical Disruptor Podcast:https://www.drefratlamandre.com/e-podcastsDr. E shares additional education and updates under Dr. Efrat LaMandre across her social platforms. Her official website describes the Medical Disruptor podcast as a show featuring credentialed clinicians who examine the limits of conventional care while exploring integrative solutions. Dr E.Resources & Links:🌐 Dr. Aaron Hartman – Richmond Functional Medicine: richmondfunctionalmedicine.com🌐 LinkedIn – Dr. Aaron Hartman: Connect Here📺 YouTube – Richmond Functional Medicine: Watch Here🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School BundleMentioned in this episode:25% Off Back to School Support for ParentsBack to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School SaleBack to School Support for Parents25% Off Back to School Support for ParentsBack to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School SaleBack to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season brings changing routines, new exposures, and added demands on the whole family. Support your family’s health this season with Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine’s Back-to-School 2026 resources.Back-to-School 2026:https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/lp/back-to-school-2026/In this Made for Health minisode, Dr. Aaron Hartman continues exploring an important question: Why are you still sick? Why does your body seem unable to get back into a healing state?This time, he focuses on dysautonomia and POTS—Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome—conditions involving dysfunction in the autonomic nervous system, which helps regulate processes such as heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, digestion, sleep, and the body's response to stress. Pasted textFor some people, the signs are dramatic. For others, they can be subtle: feeling lightheaded when standing, experiencing a racing or pounding heart seemingly out of nowhere, waking suddenly at night, struggling with brain fog, cold hands and feet, unusual skin color changes, temperature intolerance, or simply feeling significantly better after fluids, electrolytes, compression, or time spent calming the nervous system. Pasted textDr. Hartman explains why dysautonomia can easily become one more overlooked layer in complex chronic illness—and why identifying what originally disrupted the nervous system may be just as important as identifying POTS itself.Key Topics CoveredWhat dysautonomia meansWhat POTS is and how it relates to dysautonomiaThe sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systemsLightheadedness and dizziness after standingHeart racing and unexplained palpitationsBrain fog and difficulty thinkingWaking at night with a racing heartCold hands and feetChanges in skin color and circulationProblems regulating body temperatureSleep, mood, hormonal, and gastrointestinal symptomsWhy mild dysautonomia may be overlookedFluids and electrolytesCompression garmentsNervous-system regulationDysautonomia after concussion or head injuryLong COVID and post-infectious dysautonomiaLyme disease and nervous-system dysfunctionHypermobility and POTSMast Cell Activation SyndromeAutoimmune and gastrointestinal overlapWhy the patient's history can guide treatmentThe NASA Lean TestPhysical examination findings Dr. Hartman considersWhy treating the underlying trigger mattersIn This Episode, You Will Learn✅ Why POTS is only one form within the broader category of dysautonomia✅ How autonomic nervous-system dysfunction can affect much more than heart rate and blood pressure✅ Why symptoms may sometimes resemble anxiety or panic✅ Why someone can have significant autonomic symptoms without fitting a textbook presentation✅ How POTS and dysautonomia may overlap with hypermobility, mast-cell activation, mold illness, Lyme disease, autoimmune issues, gut problems, and post-infectious conditions✅ Why Dr. Hartman asks when the symptoms started and what happened around that time✅ How concussion, illness, trauma, infection, or other physiological stressors may become part of the clinical timeline✅ Why fluids, electrolytes, compression, strengthening, and nervous-system regulation may become part of an individualized approach✅ How the NASA Lean Test can help collect heart-rate and blood-pressure information over timeResources & Links:🌐 Dr. Aaron Hartman – Richmond Functional Medicine: richmondfunctionalmedicine.com🌐 LinkedIn – Dr. Aaron Hartman: Connect Here📺 YouTube – Richmond Functional Medicine: Watch Here🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School BundleMentioned in this episode:25% Off Back to School Support for ParentsBack to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School SaleBack to School Support for Parents25% Off Back to School Support for ParentsBack to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School SaleBack to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season brings changing routines, new exposures, and added demands on the whole family. Support your family’s health this season with Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine’s Back-to-School 2026 resources.Back-to-School 2026:https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/lp/back-to-school-2026/In this special episode of Made for Health, Dr. Aaron Hartman shares the deeply personal story behind his journey from conventional family medicine into integrative and functional medicine—and why Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine exists today.The turning point began with his daughter, Anna.When Dr. Hartman and his wife began caring for Anna, who had cerebral palsy and significant medical needs, they quickly found themselves questioning recommendations from specialists. One of the earliest moments involved a recommendation for a feeding tube because Anna was considered extremely small on a standard growth chart. Dr. Hartman and his wife declined, believing there might be another path. Months later, they discovered a growth chart specifically for children with cerebral palsy—and Anna was right in the middle of the expected range. Pasted textThat experience fundamentally changed how Dr. Hartman viewed expertise, medical decision-making, and the importance of looking at the right frame of reference for the individual patient.From there, his family continued exploring alternatives when standard medicine seemed to offer only procedures, medications, or surgery. Their search took them into nutrition, genetics, advanced gut testing, functional neurology, rehabilitation technologies, neuromodulation, and other approaches that were often being used elsewhere long before they became familiar in mainstream American medicine. Pasted textToday, Anna continues to make progress far beyond what her family was originally told to expect. Dr. Hartman shares how that experience shaped not only his life as a father but also his identity as a physician, researcher, and lifelong student of medicine. Pasted textKey Topics CoveredHow Dr. Hartman originally entered medicineThe difference between learning medicine and truly learning how to healHow adopting Anna changed his personal and professional lifeRaising a child with cerebral palsy and significant medical needsWhy his family began questioning specialist recommendationsAnna’s feeding-tube recommendation and the importance of the correct clinical reference pointWhy medical experts can sometimes be wrongMedical gaslighting and families with special-needs childrenLooking beyond one-size-fits-all treatmentWhy function mattered more than appearance in Anna’s careExploring nutrition, genetics, gut health, and functional neurologyTechnologies and therapies used in neurological rehabilitationWhy Dr. Hartman became increasingly interested in root-cause medicineHis transition from traditional family medicine into functional medicineThe role of clinical research in shaping his thinkingIFM, integrative medicine, functional medicine, and advanced trainingLearning about mold, CIRS, mast-cell activation, and hypermobilityHow his understanding of chronic illness evolved over timeWhy short conventional appointments were not enough for complex patientsThe creation of Richmond Integrative & Functional MedicineWhy complex patients need time, curiosity, and individualized careMoving the practice to a fully functional-medicine modelThe role of faith, family, persistence, and continuing educationDr. Hartman’s vision for the future of personalized medicineIn This Episode, You Will Learn✅ Why caring for his daughter became the biggest turning point in Dr. Hartman’s medical career✅ How using the wrong clinical reference point almost led Anna toward an unnecessary feeding tube✅ Why Dr. Hartman began questioning the idea that specialists always have the complete answer✅ How parenting children with complex health needs pushed him to investigate nutrition, genetics, neurology, and rehabilitation more deeply✅ Why functional medicine appealed to him as a way of asking “Why?” rather than only treating the diagnosis✅ How research helped him recognize that many “new” therapies are often built on decades of previous science✅ Why conditions such as mold illness, mast-cell activation, hypermobility, and complex chronic illness required him to keep expanding his training✅ Why he eventually realized complex patients needed much more than a 10- or 12-minute appointment✅ How Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine grew from a personal family journey into a practice serving patients with complex chronic conditionsResources & Links:🌐 Dr. Aaron Hartman – Richmond Functional Medicine: richmondfunctionalmedicine.com🌐 LinkedIn – Dr. Aaron Hartman: Connect Here📺 YouTube – Richmond Functional Medicine: Watch Here🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School BundleMentioned in this episode:25% Off Back to School Support for ParentsBack to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School SaleBack to School Support for Parents25% Off Back to School Support for ParentsBack to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School SaleBack to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season brings changing routines, new exposures, and added demands on the whole family. Support your family’s health this season with Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine’s Back-to-School 2026 resources.Back-to-School 2026:https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/lp/back-to-school-2026/In this Made for Health minisode, Dr. Aaron Hartman continues exploring the question at the center of this series: Why are you still sick? Why does your body seem stuck even after addressing so many other pieces?This time, he turns to something that connects nearly every structure in the body but often receives far less attention: fascia and connective tissue.Dr. Hartman explains that fascia helps support organs, tissues, joints, nerves, and other structures throughout the body. For people with hypermobility, those tissues may be more lax or stretchy, which he believes can influence everything from joint stability and pain to nervous-system activation and complex chronic illness. Pasted textAnd hypermobility doesn't always mean someone can still perform obvious “double-jointed” tricks. Dr. Hartman explains that people who were very flexible when younger may become increasingly tight and painful as they age because the surrounding fascia can stiffen and develop areas of restriction—even while certain joints remain hypermobile. Pasted textKey Topics CoveredWhy fascia and connective tissue may be an overlooked part of chronic illnessWhat hypermobility actually meansWhy hypermobility is more than being “double-jointed”The relationship between fascia and the nervous systemWhy loose connective tissue may increase sensory input to the brainHypermobility as both a potential strength and vulnerabilityWhy hypermobile people may become tighter with ageFascia, pain, and nervous-system activationEhlers-Danlos syndrome versus the broader hypermobility spectrumThe Pentad Super Syndrome discussed by Dr. HartmanHypermobility and Mast Cell Activation SyndromeHypermobility and POTS/dysautonomiaGastrointestinal issues and connective tissueAutoimmune conditions and hypermobilityAssociations with ADHD, autism, OCD, and other neuropsychiatric conditions discussed in the episodeBruising, bleeding, joint instability, and sports injuriesNutrition and connective-tissue repairProtein and collagenVitamin C and collagen productionTrace minerals and connective-tissue healthBone broth, organ meats, and mineral-rich foodsWhy childhood flexibility history may matter in adultsThe Beighton score as a screening toolIn This Episode, You Will Learn✅ Why connective tissue may deserve more attention when chronic symptoms aren't improving✅ Why hypermobility affects more than just joints✅ How Dr. Hartman connects fascia with sensory signaling and nervous-system activation✅ Why someone can be hypermobile and still feel extremely stiff as an adult✅ How hypermobility may overlap with POTS, dysautonomia, mast-cell activation, gastrointestinal problems, and autoimmune issues✅ Why childhood flexibility can provide important clues even if you are no longer flexible today✅ Why hypermobile athletes may sometimes experience repeated injuries despite being strong and highly trained✅ Why Dr. Hartman pays particular attention to protein, collagen, vitamin C, and mineral status in hypermobile patients✅ How the Beighton score can help identify physical signs associated with hypermobilityResources & Links:🌐 Dr. Aaron Hartman – Richmond Functional Medicine: richmondfunctionalmedicine.com🌐 LinkedIn – Dr. Aaron Hartman: Connect Here📺 YouTube – Richmond Functional Medicine: Watch Here🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School BundleMentioned in this episode:25% Off Back to School Support for ParentsBack to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School SaleBack to School Support for Parents25% Off Back to School Support for ParentsBack to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School SaleBack to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season brings new routines, new exposures, and new challenges for the whole family. Support your family this school year with targeted nutritional support designed with whole-person health in mind. Get 25% Off the Back-to-School Bundle In this episode of Made for Health, Dr. Aaron Hartman sits down with Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge, a leading psychologist, author, and educator, to discuss how parents and teachers can better support neurodivergent children.They explore the challenges these kids often face in traditional education systems—and why character, curiosity, and passion can matter more than grades. Dr. Capanna-Hodge highlights the value of hands-on learning, vocational training, and individualized education plans (IEPs) for fostering success.With warmth and expertise, she offers practical strategies for helping children regulate emotions, build resilience, and thrive despite stigma or misunderstanding. Through personal stories and evidence-based insights, this conversation encourages a shift toward inclusive, flexible, and strength-based approaches to learning.✅ Show Highlights:Why traditional education can overlook neurodivergent kids’ strengthsThe role of character, curiosity, and passion in lifelong successHow vocational and hands-on learning opens doors for all learnersPractical emotional regulation strategies for childrenThe importance of early intervention and individualized education plans (IEPs)How stigma affects children’s confidence and opportunitiesBuilding inclusive environments at home and school🎯 Some Questions We Explore:How can parents advocate for their neurodivergent child in school?What educational changes make the biggest difference for these students?How do emotional regulation skills support academic and social success?Why should we value vocational skills and creativity as much as grades?What can be done to reduce stigma in educational settings?💡 In This Episode, You Will Learn:How to recognize and nurture a neurodivergent child’s unique strengthsActionable strategies to support focus, learning, and emotional well-beingWhy flexibility in teaching benefits all students—not just those with diagnosesHow to partner with schools to create effective IEPs and supportsResources to help parents and educators stay informed and empowered🌐 Resources & Links:Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge – Official Website: drroseann.comDr. Aaron Hartman – Richmond Functional Medicine: richmondfunctionalmedicine.comYouTube – Richmond Functional Medicine: Watch HereLinkedIn – Dr. Aaron Hartman: Connect Here🎧 Closing Call to Action:👉 Whether you’re a parent, teacher, or advocate, this episode will help you see and support neurodivergent children in a new light. Subscribe to Made for Health and share this episode to spread awareness and foster more inclusive communities.Mentioned in this episode:25% Off Back to School Support for ParentsBack to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School SaleBack to School Support for Parents25% Off Back to School Support for ParentsBack to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School SaleBack to School Support for Parents