30. 3 Strategies for Medical Anxiety That Actually Work with Dr. Mark Su

30. 3 Strategies for Medical Anxiety That Actually Work with Dr. Mark Su

If your stomach drops every time your doctor's office calls, or you find yourself spiraling into worst-case scenarios before a test result comes back, you're not broken and you're not overreacting. Medical anxiety is real, and it's especially common for people who've spent years navigating chronic illness, uncertain diagnoses, or being told their labs are "normal" when they know something is wrong. Why this episode matters Most anxiety advice tells you to "just breathe" or "stop worrying." That's not helpful when your nervous system has been shaped by years of appointments, imaging, and being dismissed. In this episode, Dr. Su shares three strategies he uses himself, and has learned from over a decade working with his own therapist and from countless conversations with patients, to actually work with medical anxiety instead of just pushing through it. What you'll learn * Why confronting the anxiety directly, rather than avoiding or running from it, is the hardest but most effective first step * How to flip the "what if" spiral in the opposite direction, and why grounding yourself in the feeling of good news matters as much as the logic of it * The "so what" game, a simple but revealing exercise for uncovering the real root cause underneath your medical anxiety * Why the fear you're carrying into an appointment is often about something deeper than the appointment itself Dr. Su's perspective Dr. Su doesn't position himself as a therapist, and he's clear about that in the episode. What he offers instead is the perspective of someone who has walked this road personally and who has sat across from hundreds of patients carrying the same dread. These are the strategies he's seen actually move the needle, not textbook talking points. Connect with Dr. Su and RootSeek Health: Download the free Lab Results Guide: If your labs keep coming back "normal" while you keep feeling anything but, this guide will help you understand what might be getting missed. Download at https://labsoptin.rootseekhealth.com/labs/ [https://labsoptin.rootseekhealth.com/labs/] Have a question for Dr. Su? Once a month, Dr. Su opens one hour to five people only. Real questions, real answers, real direction. Book your spot: https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark [https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark] rootseekhealth.com | @rootseekhealth | @drmarksu Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

29. Lyme Disease Treatment Isn't Working? Mold Might Be Why. With Joia Mattheson MS, CNS

You did everything right. You pushed for testing when your doctors wanted to wait. You found a Lyme-literate practitioner. You went through the antibiotics, got through the rough stretch of feeling worse before better, and slowly started to climb back toward yourself. Months later, you're about 80% recovered. And then you stalled. If that sounds familiar, this episode is worth your full attention. Joia Mattheson is a functional nutritionist, a licensed dietitian, and a former civil engineer who brought both analytical precision and hard-earned personal experience to this conversation. She came to Dr. Su with a genuinely complex picture: Lyme disease, Bartonella, reactivated Epstein-Barr virus, multiple coinfections, a hemochromatosis carrier gene, and a clotting factor variant. She had seen urgent care, primary care, an integrative rheumatologist, a naturopath, and a Lyme-literate doctor. She had done more research than most practitioners ever will. And nobody had seriously looked at her home yet. Her ERMI environmental test came back with a HERTSMI-2 score of 38. The highest Dr. Su had seen in two years. What you'll hear in this episode: In this real, unscripted consultation, Dr. Su walks through Joia's full case live, including labs she uploaded the morning of the recording. You'll hear him explain his three-category framework for organizing complex chronic illness, bugs and toxins, self, and interfaces, and how he uses that structure to figure out what to address first when five or more root causes are all present at the same time. He explains why mold related illness so often becomes the missing piece for patients who have already done significant Lyme treatment, why mycotoxins can suppress the immune system in ways that make every other infection harder to clear, and why removing yourself from a toxic environment can sometimes be the fastest single move you can make toward getting the rest of the way well. You'll also hear an honest conversation about what it feels like to be a knowledgeable patient navigating a system that still doesn't agree on how to interpret a Western blot, what it means when your cholesterol suddenly spikes during a mold exposure, and why fatigue and brain fog are almost always the very last symptoms to resolve, no matter how well the rest of treatment is going. This is what root-cause medicine actually looks like. A real patient, real labs, real clinical reasoning, and no scripts. Key moments in this episode: * Why a positive Western blot got called a false positive, and what that cost Joia in time and treatment * Dr. Su's three-category framework for complex chronic illness and how to use it to find your sequence * What a HERTSMI-2 score of 38 means and why it shifted the entire conversation * The "two for one" argument for addressing mold before continuing Lyme treatment * Why fatigue and brain fog are predictably the last things to improve, and what that means for your expectations * Mycotoxin binders: the options Dr. Su actually uses, from prescription cholestyramine to CellCore and beyond * Treating fungus inside the body: the antifungal regimen Dr. Su reaches for most often * Reactivated Epstein-Barr virus as a long-term sequencing consideration, not a front-end priority * Hemochromatosis carrier status and iron overload as a quiet background player in chronic illness About Joia Mattheson MS, CNS, LDN Joia Mattheson is a Certified Nutrition Specialist and Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist with a background in civil engineering and a deep personal history with complex chronic illness. She runs her own functional nutrition practice, Joia Health, where she works one-to-one with clients navigating their own root-cause healing journeys. She is now accepting new patients. Website: joiahealth.co [https://www.joiahealth.co/] Instagram: @joiahealth Email: hello@joiahealth.co [hello@joiahealth.co] Connect with Dr. Su and RootSeek Health: Download the free Lab Results Guide: If your labs keep coming back "normal" while you keep feeling anything but, this guide will help you understand what might be getting missed. Download at https://labsoptin.rootseekhealth.com/labs/ [https://labsoptin.rootseekhealth.com/labs/] Have a question for Dr. Su? Once a month, Dr. Su opens one hour to five people only. Real questions, real answers, real direction. Book your spot: https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark [https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark] rootseekhealth.com | @rootseekhealth Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

28. Why Your Probiotic Probably Isn't Working, And What to Take Instead

Ready to stop guessing and finally get a clear plan? Join Dr. Su for the Ask Dr. Mark Clinical Q&A Call, a small-group call limited to about five people each month where you can bring your real questions and get real direction. Book your spot: https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark [https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark] If you've ever taken a probiotic for weeks, felt nothing, and quietly concluded they just don't work for you, this episode is for you. You are not wrong that something isn't working. You may just have never been told that the probiotic on the shelf and the probiotic in the research paper are often not the same thing at all. Why this episode matters The microbiome is one of the fastest-moving areas in all of health research, and most patients are either taking nothing, taking the wrong thing, or being sold on claims that have no clinical backing. Dr. Mark Su sits down with Ben Myers, an educator and representative for Microbiome Labs, for a conversation that cuts through the noise. Ben brings years of deep education in probiotic science, strain-specific research, and the expanding connections between gut health, mental health, and women's health. This is not a product pitch. It is a conversation between two people who want you to understand what is actually happening in your gut, and why that matters for the rest of your body. What you will learn The difference between dead-strain, live-culture, and spore-based probiotics, and why the category you are taking changes everything about your results. Why strain specificity is the single most important and most overlooked factor in probiotic selection, and how the same species name on two different bottles can mean completely different outcomes. The science behind psychobiotics, including how one specific strain has been shown in peer-reviewed human clinical trials to regulate cortisol, shift tryptophan metabolism toward serotonin and melatonin, and change brainwave patterns in people under stress. How the vaginal microbiome works, why recurring bacterial vaginosis and yeast infections keep coming back after antibiotics, and what precision probiotic therapy is starting to offer as an alternative. Why fixing the gut first is still the foundation, and how that foundational work connects to skin health, sinus health, mental health, and far more than most people expect. A moment worth noting One of the most honest exchanges in this conversation happens early. Dr. Su acknowledges how hard it is for patients to know who to trust in the supplement space, especially when practitioners themselves sometimes have financial incentives tied to what they recommend. It is a rare moment of transparency, and it sets the tone for everything that follows. Dr. Su's perspective The goal was never to overwhelm you with strain names and research codes. The goal is to give you enough of the picture that you can stop throwing things at the wall and start asking better questions. The research on the gut is not slowing down. And while we do not have every answer yet, we have more than enough to take meaningful, targeted action. Links and resources Microbiome Labs: microbiomelabs.com [https://microbiomelabs.com/home/] About Ben Myers Ben Myers is an educator and representative for Microbiome Labs with years of experience working alongside functional medicine practitioners. He came to this work through his own health journey and a deep passion for making complex science accessible. This was his first podcast appearance. It will not be his last. Ready to stop guessing and finally get a clear plan? Join Dr. Su for the Ask Dr. Mark Clinical Q&A Call, a small-group call limited to about five people each month where you can bring your real questions and get real direction. Book your spot: https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark [https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark] Or download the free Lab Results Guide if you have ever been told your labs are normal while still feeling terrible:  https://labsoptin.rootseekhealth.com/labs/ [https://labsoptin.rootseekhealth.com/labs/] Connect with Dr. Su rootseekhealth.com | @rootseekhealth Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

27. ADHD - Myths, Misconceptions & a Life Changing Diagnosis with MaryJo Anderson

You've said it before. Maybe quietly, maybe to a close friend, maybe just in your own head. "I think I might have ADHD." And then nothing happened. There was nobody to follow up. Nobody to sit down with you and actually explored it. So you kept going, kept functioning, kept wondering. This episode is for you. Why This Episode Matters Adult ADHD, especially in women, is one of the most underdiagnosed conditions in medicine right now. Not because it is rare. Because it looks different than the textbook picture. It does not always look like a kid bouncing off the walls. In adults, and especially in women, it looks like a brain that never really quiets down. It looks like being brilliant in a flow state and completely scattered the rest of the time. It looks like anxiety that nobody can quite explain. It looks like years of wondering why you can be so capable in some moments and so frustratingly inconsistent in others. Dr. Mark Su and co-host Mary Jo Anderson sit down for the kind of conversation most people have never had with a doctor, honest, unhurried, and grounded in real clinical experience. What You'll Learn in This Episode What ADD and ADHD actually are in adults, and why the distinction between the two matters more than most people realize. Why women are far more likely to have the inattentive type, the one that flies under the radar for decades because it does not look like classic hyperactivity. What the hyperfocus and flow state experience really means, why it feels like euphoria, and why it is not a contradiction of the diagnosis. Why ADHD and anxiety so often travel together, and what actually happens to the anxiety when the underlying ADHD is addressed. How diagnosis actually works, no blood test, no imaging, just a thorough clinical picture and a validated assessment that can be done from home. Why getting evaluated is not about adding a label. It is about unlocking the potential that has always been there. Key Moments in This Episode Dr. Su explains why people with ADHD can hyperfocus for hours on something they love but cannot hold onto a grocery list for three aisles. Mary Jo shares what it felt like to finally have someone explain her own experience back to her, including the creativity, the noise, the inconsistency, and the years of wondering. Dr. Su shares a patient story about a junior in high school pulling D's who, after finally getting clarity and support, landed a competitive leadership position at a major national company. Two long-term patients in their forties, evaluated and treated as adults, both said something Dr. Su says he will carry for the rest of his career. For the first time in my life, I feel comfortable in my own skin. Dr. Su's Perspective This is not about pharma versus non-pharma. It is not about conforming to a label or a system. It is about one thing: helping you get the most out of the life you want to live. When the noise quiets down, when the anxiety starts to lift, when you stop dropping the balls and start trusting yourself again, that is not a small thing. That is your life opening up. If you have spent years functioning below what you know you are capable of, this conversation is worth your time. Take a Next Step Have a question for Dr. Su? Once a month, Dr. Su opens one hour to five people only. Real questions, real answers, real direction.  Book your spot: rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark [https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark] Get your free Lab Results Guide:  Download at rootseekhealth.com/labs/ [https://labsoptin.rootseekhealth.com/labs/] Connect with Dr. Su: rootseekhealth.com | @drmarksu @rootseekhealth Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

26. Chronic Illness, Mold & Relationships: What Helps, What Hurts, and What Nobody Talks About

If chronic illness has made you feel like a burden to the people you love, you are not alone, and you are not imagining how hard this is. Illness does not stay contained to the body. It moves through a household. It strains marriages, tests friendships, and quietly reshapes who you are in relationship to everyone around you. The fear that runs alongside it, the hypervigilance, the late-night symptom spirals, the feeling that you are asking too much, those things are just as real as any lab result. And most practitioners never make space to talk about them. In this episode, Dr. Mark Su sits down with Michael Schrantz, IEP, for one of the most personal conversations this show has produced. Mike is a certified indoor environmental professional who has worked with thousands of clients on mold and environmental illness, and he is someone who went through it himself. He knows what it feels like to be in that dark place, to watch your partner carry weight you wish you could take back, and to wonder whether you will ever feel like yourself again. This conversation covers the ground that most appointments never do. What you will hear in this episode: Mike talks about the moment he looked in the mirror and decided he was done living in fear, not denial of his illness, but a choice to stop letting fear run his days. He talks about his wife Jennifer, a flight instructor and realtor who held the household together when he could not, and what he learned about showing up for her even when he had very little left to give. He and Dr. Su get into what partners and caregivers tend to get wrong, including the way we dismiss ten concerns because eight of them seem emotional, when two of them are pointing at something important. And they talk about purpose, about why having something to get out of bed for matters in ways that go beyond motivation. If you are a partner or caregiver listening to this, Mike has something specific to say to you too. Key themes from this conversation: * How mold illness and chronic illness reshape relationships in predictable, understandable ways * What actually helps when someone you love is overwhelmed and scared, and what tends to make it worse * Why fear-driven thinking keeps patients stuck and what the path forward looks like * How Mike regulated his nervous system and found his footing during his own recovery * The role of purpose, faith, community, and presence in healing, the things that do not show up on a lab panel but matter enormously This is not a clinical episode. It is an honest one, and it may be exactly what someone in your life needs to hear. About Michael Schrantz, IEP Michael Schrantz is a certified indoor environmental professional (IEP) and the founder of Environmental Analytics. He has worked with thousands of clients navigating mold-related illness and environmentally complex cases, and he hosts the IEP Radio podcast. Michael is a recurring guest on the Functional Medicine Reality Podcast and brings the perspective of both a seasoned environmental professional and someone who has personally walked through chronic illness and come out the other side. Website: environmentalanalytics.net [https://environmentalanalytics.net/]  Podcast: IEPradio.com [https://iepradio.com/] Ready to stop guessing and finally get a clear plan? Join Dr. Su for the Ask Dr. Mark Clinical Q&A Call, a small-group call limited to about five people each month where you can bring your real questions and get real direction. Book your spot: https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark [https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark] Or download the free Lab Results Guide if you have ever been told your labs are normal while still feeling terrible:  https://labsoptin.rootseekhealth.com/labs/ [https://labsoptin.rootseekhealth.com/labs/] Connect with Dr. Su: IG | @rootseekhealth Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.