About Dr. Maegan Stanga, DC
Why Functional Medicine?
I’m Dr. Maegan Stanga DC, a board-certified chiropractor. For the first several years of my practice, I incorporated a holistic approach to chiropractic care that included nutrition education and health seminars for my patients. But circumstances that arose after the birth of my second child sharpened my focus, gave me a new purpose, and put me on the path toward functional medicine.
I was under an incredible amount of stress. My busy practice was physically taxing, and pregnancy had been a triggering event for my immune system. These two circumstances came together as the perfect storm and caused severe illness.
I began to experience brain fog, chronic fatigue, regular headaches, neck pain, liver pain, and more. Frustration mounted as the source of these symptoms could not be found while weeks and months passed, and the effects became unmanageable. At one point, I told my husband I felt like I might be dying from stress.
Eventually, my undiagnosed illness became so severe that I could not work. I loved my job and was incredibly saddened to hire another doctor to take over my practice temporarily. Before this, I had never even taken a sick day, but my health was my priority, and it was clear that I needed to put all of my limited energy into finding a diagnosis and getting well. I was at one of the lowest points of my life, but it eventually led to a high point. My desperation led me down the path of functional medicine, and everything changed.
I contacted a colleague who was in functional medicine, and she pointed me in the right direction. I decided I was all-in, so I tried everything I was learning; adjusting my diet, detoxing, taking supplements, focusing on my gut health, and other standard functional medicine methods. While these things helped bring me back to about 50% of my previous capacity, the symptoms remained, and if I strayed from my intense diet regimen or forgot to take my supplements, I found myself right back where I started.
Because functional medicine was the first thing that made any difference, I decided to take it a step further and become educated. As part of my education, I attended a seminar at the Institute of Functional Medicine while I hoped and prayed for answers. And my answer came in the form of an antiviral supplement that I discovered at the seminar. All my symptoms began to disappear, and I quickly became aware that I was dealing with a virus.
As I continued to improve, but still not 100%, I kept seeking answers, and some resources concerning the Epstein-Barr virus stood out. I had contracted mono as a teen, which Epstein-Barr causes, so I began researching “reactivated Epstein-Barr.” Testing confirmed my suspicions that this virus was reactivated from my childhood and was the reason for my chronic symptoms.
Further research led me to the treatment that finally worked, which I now use on my patients: low-dose immune therapy. Essentially, it rebuilds the immune system to fight against the problem-causing pathogen. Once I completed this therapy, my health was completely restored.
It was a long road back to health, but this experience has resulted in more understanding and compassion for my patients and clarity in the direction of my practice. My mission now is to help patients find the root cause of their chronic symptoms and fix them at the source.
Dr. Stanga's Healing from Chronic Illness
Listen to the entire journey from being bed ridden to helping thousands of patients heal their chronic illness in Episode 1 of the Functional Medicine Unfiltered Podcast