Functional Medicine for Chronic Illness
Get Holistic Treatment and Relief for Chronic Conditions
You've tried everything for your chronic illness, but you don't feel better.
You’ve tried everything to fix your chronic health issues, like different meds, diet, exercise, therapy, and more.
You struggle with medication side effects, diets don't seem to help, and your healthcare providers say just learn to manage it, try different meds, or get surgery.
Sometimes when treating chronic illness, we reach the limits of traditional healthcare, and the treatments don't work well for some patients.
At DOTS Wellness in Frisco, Texas, we take a different approach to chronic illness. We use the proprietary DOTS Method™ to treat root cause of chronic health issues by integrating functional medicine & psychotherapy.
How Functional Medicine Helps Chronic Illness and Chronic Conditions
Functional medicine is a patient-centered approach that answers the question, why do your chronic conditions persist and what are the underlying causes? Functional medicine uncovers the root causes of chronic illness conditions, like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PCOS/PMOS), and more.
Typically, chronic conditions are multifactorial, meaning there is not just one single root cause, but rather multiple root causes.
By investigating the root causes, functional medicine looks beneath the symptoms of chronic health issues to see what is underlying and contributing to them.
Functional medicine often complements traditional healthcare. At DOTS Wellness, we collaborate with your current providers to coordinate care and improve your outcome.
Curious which root cause lurks beneath your chronic condition?
Take the DOTS Method Quiz to gain insight about your root causes.
What Chronic Health Issues Can Be Treated with Functional Medicine?
At our functional medicine clinic, we treat chronic conditions, like:
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High blood pressure (hypertension), high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease
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Obesity and long-term weight issues
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Fatty liver disease (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease — MASLD, formerly NAFLD)
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Metabolic syndrome
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Insulin resistance
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Type 2 diabetes
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Polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), formerly polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
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Lyme disease
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Autoimmune diseases
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Chronic health issues due to mold and mycotoxins
How Does Functional Medicine Define Chronic Illness?
Functional medicine views chronic illness not as a static, isolated disease label, but as a dynamic systems-biology imbalance rooted in interactions between a person's genetics, environment, lifestyle, physiology, and psychology (National Institute of Health).
What Are Functional Medicine Principles for Chronic Illness?
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Ask why, not just what. The question isn’t only which diagnosis a person has or how to quiet the symptoms. It’s what set the problem in motion and what is keeping it going.
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Illness comes from strained body systems. Chronic illness tends to develop when core systems lose their ability to cope. Examples include the gut, inflammation, the immune system, hormones, detoxification, and cellular energy production.
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Diagnosis is the late stage. A disease label is often where a long-running shift in function finally becomes visible. The earlier changes can often be spotted and addressed before they harden into lasting damage.
What Does Functional Medicine Say Drives Chronic Illness?
Functional medicine views chronic illness as driven by a complex interplay of genetic predispositions, environmental exposures, lifestyle factors, chronic stress, infections, and disruptions in physiological function. These factors can interact over time, contributing to inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, hormonal imbalances, and other disturbances that may trigger, worsen, or perpetuate chronic symptoms.
How Does Functional Medicine Treat Chronic Illness?
Functional medicine treats chronic illness by evaluating the patient's antecedents, triggers and mediators. Functional medicine asks, what predisposed the patient to the illness? What events or exposures may have initiated symptoms? What factors may be maintaining or worsening the condition? Then, functional medicine uses personalized interventions, like lifestyle changes, nervous system regulation, and targeted nutrition, to treat the chronic condition.
What If My Labs Look Normal But I Feel Terrible?
A "normal" result means your numbers fell inside a pre-defined reference range on the day you were tested. It does not mean that your symptoms aren't real. Some health conditions may not be detected by routine lab tests, particularly in their early stages. That's not a reason to doubt your symptoms. It's a reason to look at them differently. For more on this, read my blog post, I Feel Sick But All My Tests Are Normal: What Labs Miss.
I personally battled chronic disease & that's why I created the DOTS Method™.
Hi! I'm Christine Boudreau, LPC, AFMCP, functional medicine practitioner and licensed therapist. I'm also former chronic illness sufferer. Like you, I battled chronic health problems for years.
My search for answers led me to a functional medicine root cause investigation. The results were drastic and undeniable.
Now I'm on a mission to share my method and treat chronic illness so no one else has to suffer unnecessarily.
The DOTS Method™ works best for complex, chronic health issues.
The DOTS Method™ will help you understand what's really causing your symptoms and help you to take control of your health.
"My health improved."
"I had a long list of symptoms from fatigue and aches to tingling in my legs to bloating to mood swings to brain fog and on and on. I can't believe the cause was because mycotoxins. I had lived in a moldy dorm for years so it made sense. There was mold growing on the ceiling. Thankfully Christine assessed me and quickly figured it out. It took time but my health improved and I feel a lot better."
Emma W., 24, Mycotoxin and Mold Root Cause
What Can I Expect When I Work with DOTS Wellness?
DOTS Wellness is different from your traditional healthcare provider. Here's how the DOTS Method™ process works and what you can expect when you work with us:
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Discover. We start with a comprehensive investigation into your health history. In our first session, we go through your symptoms, timeline, prior labs and tests, treatments you've tried, and what your doctors have recommended.
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Organize. We connect the DOTS by looking for patterns across your symptoms and systems. Sometimes we order functional labs to learn more. We make sense of the chaos, prioritize what matters most, and determine best next steps.
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Treat. You get a customized treatment plan with clear priorities, which may include nutrition changes, targeted supplements, lifestyle changes, and support for stress and emotional health.
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Simplify. We fine-tune and make adjustments so we simplify the chaos, and you know exactly how to manage and optimize your health.
Have questions? Book a 15-minute DOTS Method Intro Call to talk to our health coordinator to answer your questions and see if we're a good fit.
Chronic Health Conditions Signal Deeper Issues
Chronic health conditions might be signals that deeper issues exist. They provide clues about your health. Chronic health conditions may indicate that a deeper issue has inflamed, depleted, or dysregulated your body.
Typically, it's because these conditions are not isolated problems but rather systemic responses.
Sometimes our healthcare system is unable to investigate chronic health issues in a 15-minute visit because it doesn't allow time to explore all of the factors that might be contributing to your chronic health issues.
The DOTS Method™ investigates root cause at a deeper, systemic level in order to understand what's driving your symptoms.
When you treat those underlying systemic factors, your body typically sends fewer signals.
How Functional Medicine Investigates Your Chronic Illness & Chronic Conditions
Our proprietary blend of functional medicine and therapy, the DOTS Method™, connects the DOTS from symptoms to solutions and offers holistic mind-body treatment, including:
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If the case calls for it, we might run functional lab tests like GI MAP, DUTCH, OAT, P88, NutrEval, and others.
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Investigating nutrient imbalances, gut dysfunction, and inflammation.
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Supporting brain chemistry with targeted nutrition and supplementation.
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Working through unprocessed emotions, stress, and trauma because the body may store these feelings.
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Treating your whole system, not just your symptoms.
Chronic illness relief comes from understanding how your mind and body talk to each other and restoring that connection.
Your type 2 diabetes isn't your tombstone.
Your obesity isn't laziness.
Your Lyme disease isn't a personality flaw.
Your chronic health issues have root causes in biochemical, nutritional, mitochondrial, and other imbalances.
Work with a functional medicine practitioner and get answers and solutions for your chronic health challenges.
Is Functional Medicine Right for Me and My Chronic Condition?
Our integrative blend of functional medicine and therapy is designed for people with persistent, complex symptoms that often span more than one part of the body, and who haven't received answers from conventional care.
We may be a good fit for you if:
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You've been told your tests are normal, but you still don't feel well.
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You have several symptoms that seem connected, like gut problems, fatigue, brain fog, pain, or anxiety.
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You want to understand what's going on, not just manage it.
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You're willing to make changes and be an active partner in your care.
We may not be a good fit for you if:
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You're looking for a quick fix or a medication.
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You're mainly looking for traditional weekly talk therapy.
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You have a medical emergency or symptoms that need urgent care. If so, please call your doctor or 911.
"I feel like a new woman."
"I struggled with weight issues, painful periods, and embarrassing hair growth on my face for many years. Doctor after doctor said I had PMS and some doctors made me feel like I was too lazy to lose weight. Christine was the first person to believe me and my symptoms. She was the one who figured out I have PCOS. With her recommendations, I changed what I ate and took some supplements and exercised differently, I feel like a new woman."
Jill Y., 30, PCOS/PMOS Treated with Functional Medicine
Why Clients Trust Christine for Chronic Health Issues
Integrative Functional Medicine Specialist. Christine is a licensed professional counselor (LPC), functional medicine practitioner, and triple-certified coach. She specializes in treating chronic illness, unresolved symptoms, and cases where the patient feels sick but labs are normal.
Transformation Catalyst. As a licensed therapist, Christine is a catalyst for personal growth & transformation. She helps you break patterns that block your success and self-sabotage your healing.
Collaborative Partner. Your healing journey is a collaborative partnership. You're an active participant, guided by customized strategies & clear, actionable steps. You'll feel continuously supported, informed, & empowered throughout your transformation.
Book your DOTS Method Discovery Session and start your healing journey today.
"I feel better today than I have in a long time."
"Working with Christine to help put my type 2 diabetes in remission was one of the best choices I've made in quite some time. Christine is knowledgeable and quick to point out the areas that I had to work on. Having a smart, solid plan to follow that was not overwhelming helped me stay on track. I feel better today than I have in a long time."
Lance B., 53, Type 2 Diabetes in Remission