Dr. Stillman Uncensored

If you are winded after a single flight of stairs, coughing all day, and quietly wondering if this is just how the rest of your life is going to feel, this episode is for you.In this case study, I walk through a woman in her 70s with an autoimmune lung diagnosis, spending most of her time in Florida and traveling regularly. When she came to us, she had a constant cough her family could hear over the phone, could only manage one flight of stairs, took an hour to fall asleep, had 10 out of 10 hot flashes, and was tripping repeatedly when she walked. Her question was simple and heartbreaking: “Can I get any of my function back, or is this just going to keep getting worse?”Using her story, I show you how I actually think about complex lung and autoimmune cases in practice. We talk about how I frame diagnoses like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, the first questions I ask about environment and travel (“Are you better on vacation?”), how to track progress when symptoms go up and down, and why hidden triggers in your air, food, or lifestyle (including something as simple as an artificial sweetener) can make the difference between getting worse every year and steadily regaining function. I also share practical ways you can track your own symptoms so you don’t get lost in the day‑to‑day ups and downs.This is the same repair‑deficit framework I lay out in my book The End of Autoimmunity, now available on Amazon or here.Do you have a question for me?Submit them here and I will answer them as I am able.As always, this is education, not medical advice. See our disclaimers here.Until next time, be well,Dr. StillmanHere’s exactly what we cover00:00 – Six‑month outcome: cough 99% better, now climbing two flights of stairs, falling asleep in under 30 minutes, hot flashes down from 10/10 to 1/1000:15 – Live intro, why Dr. Stillman’s voice sounds different today, and today’s topic: “Why You’re Huffing, Puffing, and Coughing Constantly”00:40 – Case overview: woman in her 70s, mostly in Florida, traveling frequently, diagnosed with autoimmune lung disease and wondering if any function can be regained01:05 – What idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and similar autoimmune lung diseases look like in textbooks: progressive, severe, often ending in suffocation over 5–7 years01:36 – Early warning signs patients notice: getting winded on stairs, struggling with yard work, and what a standard workup (heart, lungs, blood, imaging) usually includes02:30 – The deeper question patients bring: “I’m in my golden years and can’t play with my grandkids or do the things I love. Can anything actually improve?”03:18 – Her starting point: constant cough everyone heard on the phone, one flight of stairs max, medication side effects, one hour to fall asleep, 10/10 hot flashes, tripping when walking03:45 – Six‑month re‑check: cough almost gone, more stamina on stairs, faster sleep onset, dramatically better hot flashes, and why this degree of change matters in lung disease04:01 – How Dr. Stillman thinks through cases like this: the first question, “Are your symptoms better when you’re on vacation?”04:20 – What changes on vacation: air, water, food, activity, how and where you spend your time, and why this history is not a cookie‑cutter protocol04:48 – Example: symptoms disappearing on a cruise to the Galapagos vs staying the same on a mountain trip in the same state, and what that implies about environment and allergens05:26 – Possible environmental culprits: sweeteners, pantry staples, pollen, pet dander, indoor mold, leaf mold, and why this list can feel overwhelming without a process05:54 – How to make the search for triggers manageable and simple enough for real people to work through if they’re willing to put in the effort06:24 – When symptoms don’t change on vacation: asking whether the environment has actually changed enough to give you a real test06:52 – Comparing places like Olympia, Washington and Taos, New Mexico vs truly different environments (like remote high‑desert Arizona) when you’re evaluating lung symptoms07:08 – Second big question: how to track success in complex autoimmune and inflammatory cases so you don’t get lost in daily ups and downs07:32 – Why memory is unreliable for symptom tracking and how inconsistent self‑reports (“I’m 90% better” vs “I’m 20% better” two weeks later) confuse care08:01 – Using practical markers: flights of stairs, walking around the block, and other concrete activities as proxies for energy and shortness of breath08:45 – Why Dr. Stillman insists on objective or semi‑objective markers in high‑stakes cases (life‑shortening autoimmune diseases)09:12 – Assigning her daily “walk around the block” with notes on cough and shortness of breath, and how the 99% cough improvement became a clear success indicator09:54 – Third big question: could symptoms be triggered by environment, diet, or lifestyle, even in autoimmune and inflammatory diagnoses?10:05 – Why many doctors dismiss environmental and dietary triggers (hard to prove, no single “smoking gun”) and why that leaves patients feeling like they don’t fit neat boxes10:44 – When medications and labels (eczema, rhinitis, chronic cough) don’t solve the problem and patients start saying, “I can’t live like this; I’ve tried everything.”11:02 – What Dr. Stillman’s deep‑dive histories revealed in this case: a very strong reaction to an artificial sweetener used every morning, and why something that small can matter so much11:48 – How systematic changes to diet, lifestyle, and environment, combined with tracking, helped uncover her triggers and contributed to the dramatic improvement in cough, stamina, sleep, and hot flashesDon’t forget to share this episode with someone who needs to hear it!This podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.Additional Resources:For Dr. Stillman’s latest article visit here.Want to take your health to the next level? Here are a few ways to deepen your knowledge and take action on your health:Dr. Stillman’s 14 Day Reset.Work with Dr. Stillman – Ready to optimize your health with a functional and integrative approach? Book your evaluation here.Stay Informed & Inspired – Subscribe to Dr. Stillman’s newsletter for exclusive health insights, podcast updates, and expert guidance on living a vibrant life. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drstillmanuncensored.com/subscribe

If you or someone you love lives with anxiety, racing thoughts, “borderline” panic attacks, and a nervous system stuck in “on” mode, then this episode is for you. In this case study, I walk through a new patient in our practice: a 26‑year‑old lawyer in Scottsdale preparing for the bar exam. He’s got a bright, promising life ahead of him, but his baseline anxiety is 2–3 out of 10 with spikes into near‑panic, plus abdominal pain, bloating, constant sighing, racing thoughts, poor sleep, chest tightness, and nausea when the anxiety flares. Some supplements take the edge off, but he’s still groggy and stuck. He came to us after reading another case where a young man’s OCD improved alongside large aluminum and copper elimination, wanting to know: what am I missing?In this episode, I show you how I actually think about anxiety in practice. We cover dysfunctional breathing mechanics and CO₂, why some people feel calmer under pressure and anxious when nothing is happening, how under‑eating and low protein diets leave high-performers depleted, and the forgotten mineral (potassium) that can make or break your well-being. I also share simple, practical questions you can ask yourself to see which of these patterns might be driving your own symptoms.This is the same repair‑deficit framework I lay out in my book The End of Autoimmunity, now available on Amazon or here.Do you have a question for me?Submit them here and I will answer them as I am able.Here’s exactly what we coverDon’t forget to share this episode with someone who needs to hear it!This podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.Additional Resources:For Dr. Stillman’s latest article visit here.Want to take your health to the next level? Here are a few ways to deepen your knowledge and take action on your health:Dr. Stillman’s 14 Day Reset.Work with Dr. Stillman – Ready to optimize your health with a functional and integrative approach? Book your evaluation here.Stay Informed & Inspired – Subscribe to Dr. Stillman’s newsletter for exclusive health insights, podcast updates, and expert guidance on living a vibrant life. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drstillmanuncensored.com/subscribe

If you are exhausted, foggy, wired but tired at night, and wondering if you’re “going crazy,” this episode is for you.Today we’re covering a real case from our practice - what we did and how they improved - and a question from a member of our audience.Today’s case: a 36‑year‑old mom of multiple kids who works in her church as a musician and exercise instructor. After a severe neurological illness (Guillain‑Barré) and a stay in the ICU, she fought her way back to walking and breathing on her own… but months later was still stuck at “4 out of 10” energy with brain fog, poor sleep, and allergies that would not settle down.We cover why serious illness and ICU stays strip minerals and nutrients out of the body, why going back to a standard diet almost never rebuilds those reserves, and how targeted mineral repletion, toxin removal (including mercury and aluminum), and hormone support (especially progesterone) can turn the lights back on in someone who feels like they’re running on fumes. I also explain why many popular “biohacks” like hyperbaric oxygen, red light therapy, and vitamin C infusions don’t work when deeper foundations are missing, and how I use blood and hair mineral testing to see what’s really going on under fatigue, anxiety, and hormone chaos.This is the same repair‑deficit framework I lay out in my book The End of Autoimmunity, now available on Amazon or here.Do you have a question for me?Submit them here and I will answer them as I am able.As always, this is education, not medical advice. See our disclaimers here.Until next time, be well,Dr. StillmanHere’s exactly what we cover00:00 – New format: why Dr. Stillman is shifting from pure Q&A to anonymized case studies from the practice, and how this helps you see the full journey from first visit to follow‑ups00:26 – Today’s topic: why you’re tired, anxious, and your hormones aren’t working, and how one case can illustrate the bigger pattern01:27 – Case 1: a 36‑year‑old mom of multiple kids, church staff, musician, and exercise instructor who developed a severe neurological illness (Guillain‑Barré), landed in the ICU, and nearly needed intubation01:46 – Her starting point: if “0” was in the ICU and “10” was where she wanted to be, she was at “4 out of 10” when she joined the practice, months after leaving the hospital02:30 – What we did: personalized supplements based on labs, standard Stillman protocols for diet, lifestyle, and exercise, and careful follow‑up02:30–02:48 – Her progress after a few months: 7/10 energy, 8/10 mental clarity, better sleep, clothes fitting differently, and improving allergies02:50 – Why she was still so exhausted months after ICU: how acute illness and stress deplete minerals, why a normal diet can’t easily rebuild them, and why minerals are the “spark plugs of life” for energy, sleep, and mental clarity03:35 – Why nutrition still has to be the foundation, but why food alone often isn’t enough to fix months or years of depletion04:05 – What happens when you introduce the right doses of supplemental nutrients into a depleted system, and why results can sometimes show up in days to weeks04:54 – Why things like nutrient patches, red light therapy, hyperbaric oxygen, and vitamin C often don’t “work” for people in this situation05:23 – Stress‑based therapies: how hyperbaric and similar tools are controlled forms of stress, why you need mineral and nutrient reserves to respond to them, and what it means when one session helps and the next makes you worse06:17 – The pattern we see: patients coming in as the 4th or 5th practice after “trying everything,” and why something more fundamental is usually missing06:21 – Foundation first: minerals, vitamins, light environment, simple movement (like three 10‑minute walks), then stacking higher‑level therapies on top07:20 – How fatigue and brain fog show up on blood and hair mineral testing: low zinc, low magnesium, copper high or low, and patterns of minerals high or low in the hair08:15 – Hair interpretation: what it means when minerals are high (loss of control, “credit card debt” analogy) versus low (no supply or no energy to use them)09:00 – Heavy metals: aluminum, mercury, and others on hair tests, and how they interfere with the minerals your brain and nerves need to work09:32 – Fatigue as a nervous‑system problem: why “I’m tired” is often “my brain and nerves are exhausted,” and what that implies for treatment09:59 – Medications as gas pedals: why stimulants and antidepressants can’t work without “gas in the tank,” and the pattern of rising doses with falling benefit10:55 – Mercury and fatigue/brain fog: why Dr. Stillman routinely looks for mercury, how common meaningful elevations really are, and why they’re under‑tested12:16 – Source control: high‑mercury fish, dental amalgams, and basic water and food strategies to reduce incoming metals before deeper detox13:53 – The hormone women need to calm down and sleep: progesterone, how modern light and lifestyle deplete it, and why mid‑30s is such a vulnerable window14:44 – The symptom spiral of low progesterone: racing thoughts, anxiety, poor sleep, low productivity, more anxiety, and how bioidentical progesterone can sometimes “reset” the system so deeper work can happenDon’t forget to share this episode with someone who needs to hear it!This podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.Additional Resources:For Dr. Stillman’s latest article visit here.Want to take your health to the next level? Here are a few ways to deepen your knowledge and take action on your health:Dr. Stillman’s 14 Day Reset.Work with Dr. Stillman – Ready to optimize your health with a functional and integrative approach? Book your evaluation here. Stay Informed & Inspired – Subscribe to Dr. Stillman’s newsletter for exclusive health insights, podcast updates, and expert guidance on living a vibrant life. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drstillmanuncensored.com/subscribe

If your gut has been struggling for years and it feels like everything you try only makes things worse, this episode is for you.In this live Q&A, I answer a question from a young man in Norway whose fatigue and gut problems began more than a decade ago after taking antibiotics for acne. Since then, he has tried antifungals, probiotics, keto, carnivore, mineral balancing, and numerous other approaches, and now reacts to a long list of foods and can tolerate only one supplement.We use his story to explore a bigger question: what do you do when the things that are supposed to help your gut seem to make it worse? I explain why he starts with the fundamentals, why you have to look beyond diet and supplements, how environmental exposures can keep someone sick, and why a normal colonoscopy or biopsy does not necessarily explain away someone's symptoms.We also talk about the effects medications can have on the microbiome and immune system, why he views organ disease as part of a bigger picture, why vitamins and minerals are foundational, and when more advanced approaches such as high-dose vitamin D or off-label medications may enter the conversation.This is the same repair-deficit framework I lay out in The End of Autoimmunity.Do you have a question for me?Submit them here and I will answer them as I am able.As always, this is education, not medical advice. See our disclaimers here.Until next time, be well,Dr. StillmanHere’s exactly what we cover00:00 – Opening question: “How do I start healing when my body can’t tolerate the very things that are supposed to help it?”00:24 – Today’s case: a young man in Norway whose fatigue and gut problems began more than a decade ago after antibiotics for acne00:40 – The long list of things he has tried: antifungals, probiotics, keto, carnivore, mineral balancing, and more01:16 – Starting from the beginning: what happened, what has been tried, what worked, what failed, and what made things worse01:43 – Why Dr. Stillman starts with the fundamentals before moving into more advanced approaches02:14 – Occupational exposure and hidden environmental hazards: how an overlooked pollutant, poison, irritant, or allergen can keep someone sick03:15 – When testing reveals a food or food additive someone reacts to and removing it can dramatically change symptoms03:46 – Why you cannot overlook major exposures, dysfunctional lifestyle patterns, or toxin hazards when someone's physiology is already fragile04:18 – Why healing has to go beyond diet and supplements and include the person's environment, daily routine, and habits04:34 – How changing someone's environment can change their light exposure, food, and other signals their body receives05:00 – Moving beyond the fundamentals and considering more advanced approaches05:14 – Vitamin D: why Dr. Stillman became an advocate for high-dose vitamin D therapy and how he uses it in practice06:21 – Why high-dose vitamin D requires physician supervision, laboratory monitoring, and attention to calcium06:44 – Why “I’ve tried everything” may really mean you’ve tried everything commonly discussed, while other options may require prescription or careful monitoring07:38 – What antibiotics can do to the gut microbiome and how the microbiome interacts with the immune system08:23 – The connection between the microbiome, gut health, circadian rhythms, environment, and light08:45 – How medications can have underreported effects on other organ systems, including the immune system09:01 – Drug-induced autoimmunity, including drug-induced lupus, arthritis, and autoimmune skin conditions09:24 – Why Dr. Stillman screens medications to see whether something could be contributing to a patient's illness09:57 – Why getting out of a medication-related problem can require ongoing changes to diet and lifestyle and serial lab testing10:02 – Why one event can seem to completely disrupt an already-fragile gut and how allergies or sensitivities may fit into the picture10:47 – What lasting symptoms after an intervention may tell you about the underlying system11:16 – How to think about normal colonoscopy and biopsy results when someone still has significant symptoms11:49 – Why the habits that promote long-term health are also important for maintaining a balanced and stable immune system12:08 – What to do when testing is normal but symptoms remain: start with the essentials, hazards, and principles12:38 – The new 90-day plan being piloted for evaluation patients and how it identifies exposures and risk factors13:06 – When to move beyond the fundamentals and consider more advanced treatments based on the patient's individual case13:23 – Why Dr. Stillman views disease and symptoms holistically rather than treating individual organs in isolation14:03 – Why antifungals, probiotics, and special diets may fail to provide lasting relief when something fundamental has been missed14:38 – How vitamins and minerals can be personalized around someone's labs, biochemical context, history, and sensitivities15:06 – Why Dr. Stillman generally starts with vitamins and minerals before antifungals, probiotics, or special diets15:36 – The 14 Day Reset and how Dr. Stillman uses a simple dietary approach alongside minerals to support nutrition and vitality15:53 – Why treatments can fail when an environmental exposure, sensitivity, allergy, occupational hazard, or other problem has not been addressed16:19 – Why finding the right treatment may require testing to identify what is actually missing or contributing to the problem16:28 – How the full framework comes together across the essentials, hazards, principles, and more advanced approachesYou can purchase my book available now!Additional resources:For Dr. Stillman’s latest article visit hereWant to take your health to the next level? Here are a few ways to deepen your knowledge and take action on your health:Work with Dr. Stillman – Ready to optimize your health with a functional and integrative approach? Book your evaluation here.Stay Informed & Inspired – Subscribe to Dr. Stillman’s newsletter for exclusive health insights, podcast updates, and expert guidance on living a vibrant life.Don’t forget to share this episode with someone who needs to hear it! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drstillmanuncensored.com/subscribe

If your daughter hasn’t had a real period in years and you do not want the “just go on the Pill” answer, this episode is for you.In this live Q&A, I answer a question from a 62‑year‑old kindergarten aide in New Jersey. She and her husband are Christian, deeply distrustful of the medical system, and worried about their daughter in her mid‑twenties: a former high school and college athlete who didn’t get her first cycle until 20, worked hard to bring it back, and then lost it again. They want to know how to help her restore a normal cycle naturally without compromising her future fertility.We use their story to explore a bigger question: why a missing or irregular period is never “just a hormone problem.” I explain why hormones behave like light switches, what fertility is actually “listening” to in the environment, and how diet, light, stress, and even the news you consume signal either abundance and safety… or scarcity and danger. We talk about female athletes, under‑eating, artificial light at night, beans and folate, and how I think about work‑ups when I see this pattern in practice, especially in women who may also have undiagnosed autoimmunity.This is the same repair‑deficit framework I lay out in my book The End of Autoimmunity, which is now available on Amazon. If you’ve started reading and it’s been helpful, your honest review there makes a real difference in who finds it.Do you have a question for me?Submit them here and I will answer them as I am able.As always, this is education, not medical advice. See our disclaimers here.Until next time, be well,Dr. StillmanHere’s exactly what we cover00:00 – Opening question: “Why is a missing or irregular period never just a hormone problem? What is it telling us about the whole body?”00:03 – Hormones as light switches: estrogen, progesterone, DHEA, testosterone as signals, not root causes, and why fertility is about the signals your body is getting from the environment00:14 – Welcome to the live public Q&A, how to join Wednesdays at 9 a.m. Central, and where this is streaming (Facebook, YouTube, Rumble, X)00:55 – Today’s case: a 62‑year‑old aide from New Jersey asks about her daughter in her mid‑twenties, a former high school and college athlete whose first real period was at 20, came back with effort, and is now gone again01:23 – Christian family, distrustful of doctors, looking for natural answers; why we see this story so often in our practice and how it connects to autoimmunity01:37 – How irregular, absent, light, or very heavy cycles often ride alongside autoimmune disease, either already diagnosed or quietly missed for years02:05 – Returning to God’s design: fertility as the ability to conceive and carry offspring to term, and how, in nature, fertility always tracks with abundance of resources02:41 – When cycles are off (irregular, anovulatory, trouble conceiving or carrying), the first question: what in this woman’s diet, lifestyle, environment, mind, and spirit could be signaling scarcity or danger?03:20 – Why human reproduction is normally robust and resilient, and how extreme our modern environment must be to shut it down in otherwise healthy young women03:59 – Thought experiment: imagine you are the glands and organs in a woman’s body trying to decide if it’s safe to have a baby with only the signals you receive (light, food, danger, love, stress)04:48 – How news, fear, and global crises translate into simple “fear, scarcity, lack” chemistry inside the body, and why the brain cannot distinguish between war on a screen and danger in your own town05:37 – Artificial light at night as a distorted “endless summer” signal: what chronic bright light at night tells the brain, and why we are not polar bears designed to cycle in and out of obesity and diabetes safely06:54 – Polar bears, diabetes, and hibernation: what they do right (and reverse) that humans are trying to live in year‑round, and why that breaks metabolism and hormones07:59 – Perpetual summer in a cubicle: how 16 hours of LED and screen light daily keeps the brain in “work hard or die” mode until the body simply runs out of resources08:52 – Bringing it back to fertility: why your body wants to see safety, abundance, appropriate light, and enough time to prepare before it will consistently ovulate and bleed09:47 – Seasonal fertility patterns in Scandinavia, why there’s a slight spring birth peak, and what nine‑month gestation tells us about light, warmth, and resource timing10:47 – The big question: how do we send consistent signals of safety and abundance to a woman’s body so it’s willing to cycle and conceive?11:09 – Diet specifics: macronutrient ratios, abundant protein, slow‑release carbs, why I strongly encourage folate‑rich foods, and why I often recommend beans and lentils for women (if their gut tolerates them)11:54 – Folate and fertility: why most women cannot get enough natural folate from greens alone, and how one cup of lentils compares to “rabbit‑level” greenery12:29 – Beans, lentils, “lectins,” and context: when I do and do not recommend them, and how they fit into a fertility‑supportive diet in an otherwise healthy gut13:04 – How the presence of fruits, legumes, greens, and long light periods in nature coincides with times of warmth and food abundance, and how the female body reads those cues13:40+ – Where labs, autoimmune work‑ups, and deeper testing may fit for women with long‑standing amenorrhea, and how I fold this into the larger repair‑deficit framework from The End of AutoimmunityYou can purchase my book available now!Additional resources:For Dr. Stillman’s latest article visit hereWant to take your health to the next level? Here are a few ways to deepen your knowledge and take action on your health:Work with Dr. Stillman – Ready to optimize your health with a functional and integrative approach? Book your evaluation here.Stay Informed & Inspired – Subscribe to Dr. Stillman’s newsletter for exclusive health insights, podcast updates, and expert guidance on living a vibrant life.Don’t forget to share this episode with someone who needs to hear it! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drstillmanuncensored.com/subscribe