Are
— chronic pain
— exhaustion and
— misery
keeping you down?
If you’re looking for a Solution that will get you up
and living again,
I happen to have one.
Do chronic pain, exhaustion and misery have you down?
Looking for a Solution that will get you up
and living again?
I have one.
Are you ready to feel better?
Of course you are.
While it can sound unbelievable, I have got dozens, maybe even hundreds of answers for all the things that ail you.
Of course, there are the big stones that are most important and then there are little stones for refinements.
The reason:
I live and breathe addressing chronic illness.
It took me 27 to heal myself and my overriding mission is to make sure it never takes my clients that long to get back to mostly well.
How long it takes depends on how long you’ve been ill, but between six months and 18 months is not impossible if you’ve got it in you to commit, follow-through and believe it’s possible. Read on.
Chronic pain.
Exhaustion.
Misery.
Solve the mystery behind your continuing illness — and rebuild both your health & your life.
Check out
The Mystery Illness Solution
Chronic pain.
Exhaustion.
Misery.
Want to solve the
mystery behind your continuing illness?
Check out
The Mystery Illness Solution
Want Want to
Want to solve the mystery behind your continuing illness?
Chronic pain.
Exhaustion.
Misery?
They could be reduced or gone.
Check out
The Mystery Illness Solution
While it can sound unbelievable, I have got dozens, maybe even hundreds of answers for all the things that ail you.
Of course, there are the big stones that are most important and then there are little stones for refinements.
The reason:
I live and breathe addressing chronic illness.
It took me 27 to heal myself and my overriding missionis to make sure it never takes my clients that long to get back to mostly well.
How long it takes depends on how long you’ve been ill, but between six months and 18 months is not impossible if you’ve got it in you to commit, follow-through and believe it’s possible. Read on.
Do you struggle with
chronic pain, exhaustion & general misery —
even after seeing a lot practitioners?
I may know why…
First let’s recap the path I think you are likely on. It’s for sure the one I was on.
In the beginning, you tried to get more sleep, took OTC pain solutions, exercised more. Then exercised less.
Read lots of articles in magazines, social media, and YouTube. Bought a multi vitamin and started to stay home more to conserve energy for the most important things like work and sleep.
You ran the gauntlet from family doctor to internist. The good news was your bloodwork was good but -- unfortunately you weren’t. Good that is.
Then came all of the specialists they referred you to:
gastroenterologists
infectious disease docs
endocrinologists
pulmonologists
cardiologists
Then all of the other practitioners your friends and acquaintances recommended like:
massage therapists,
physical therapists,
acupuncturists, and
chiropractors
Lately, you can say you haven’t given up, but you don’t know what to do next… More of what you are doing isn’t likely to help, is it?
I’m Ellen Nicholas, a functional health and wellness practitioner.
I am a board-certified Holistic Health Practitioner (AADP) and trained as an FDN-P (Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner).
My work focuses on people dealing with complex, long-standing chronic illness where symptoms are layered, confusing, and often poorly addressed by conventional approaches.
I take a systems-based approach that looks at how the body’s major systems interact, and develop a coherent strategy to support and rebalance those systems, with the goal of restoring stability and rebuilding capacity over time.
Later on this page, I share more about how I arrived at this work and the philosophy that guides it.
So what do I think the problem is?
First, I don’t think it’s you.
I think you were mostly consistent.
You certainly wanted to get better.
You did a most or all of what was recommended by your practitioners.
And there isn’t ANY chance they didn’t want you to get better.
So why do I think you may not have gotten better yet?
Because you still don’t have all — or at least enough, of the pieces to the puzzle that is YOU.
Specifically, the unique, bio-individual combination of medical, genetic, microbial and other relevant issues and factors that shape your physiology.
A few specific thoughts on why you may not have gotten better:
1. Insufficient attention was paid to ALL the symptoms you had. Possibly you weren’t even aware of some things as being relevant and didn’t bring them up. Or you weren’t asked.
2. Insufficient testing or surveying of the physiology, or better stated: the function of the various operating systems of your body. That testing is not covered by insurance and therefore, are not an option with traditional medicine practices.
3. Inattention to how the various body systems interact and what should be taken into account.
4. A lack of coordination and sequencing of strategies and protocols to address all of the factors that in combination are the root cause of your complex illness. They cannot be done at the same time in the name of speedy healing nor can they be done out of order.
5. If you’ve been sick for more than six months to years, the problem isn’t that you haven’t been trying. The problem is that when you are on the traditional medicine track, every doctor is responsible only for their area of expertise.
The family for practitioner is for diagnosing and treating illnesses they can easily identify and can address but then refer you out for everything else.
The cardiologist for your heart.
The gastroenterologist for your digestive tract.
The pulmonologist for your lungs.
The endocrinologist for your hormones and thyroid
The gynecologist for sex hormones.
And they certainly aren’t coordinating with your alternative practitioners.
6. Even when good information is gathered and individual pieces are addressed, without a unifying strategy, it’s difficult to know what to prioritize, what to do next, or how all of the pieces fit together.
For the first time in years, you can stop spinning and simply focus on getting better.
Many people living with complex chronic illness eventually reach a point of decision fatigue. Every day can involve dozens of questions — what to try next, what to stop, what matters, and what doesn’t. The constant researching, experimenting, and second-guessing can become exhausting.
Inside the Mystery Illness Solution, you step into a structured container where decisions are made thoughtfully and deliberately. For a while, you can rest while I hold the thinking, evaluating options and recommending next steps — always subject to your approval.
You remain in charge of your care. If something doesn’t feel right to you, we pause, reconsider, and choose a different direction together. The goal is steady progress without overwhelming your nervous system.
How I Got Here
For many years, I was the person searching for answers.
I lived with chronic pain and bone-deep exhaustion for nearly three decades and saw dozens of practitioners along the way. All were well-intentioned, but no one was putting the pieces together.
Part of the difficulty was timing. When my very first symptoms began in the 1980’s, the medical understanding of tick-borne illness and other complex chronic conditions was still extremely limited.
I bring decades of lived experience with complex chronic illness so I understand what it feels like to keep searching for answers when nothing seems to explain why you still feel unwell.
Eventually I encountered a systems-based approach to understanding health that enabled me to stabilize my health, meaningfully reduce symptoms, and begin rebuilding my foundations and capacity.
That experience led me to pursue professional training and eventually build the structured process that became the Mystery Illness Solution, so that others would not have to spend decades searching for the same answers.
4. Establish Priorities
Not everything needs to be addressed at once.
1. Take Inventory
We begin by mapping your symptoms and history through the Roots & Wings Systems & Symptom Assessment.
3. Identify Possible Drivers
We look for stressors that may be contributing to symptoms.
6. Support Recovery Over Time
The goal is steady improvement and rebuilding resilience.
HowXXXXXXXXXXX This Work Begins
2. Look at the Whole System
We evaluate how your body’s major systems are functioning together.
5. Sequence the Work Carefully
We introduce changes in a thoughtful order so your system is not overwhelmed.
The Mystery Illness Solution
The Clinical Process
My signature program, The Mystery Illness Solution, has been deliberately designed for those living with complex chronic illness.
My work begins by gathering a full picture of your physiology and history, then building a coherent strategy to support and rebalance the core body health systems involved in your health.
Comprehensive History & Intake
We begin with a thorough intake
including health history, systems and symptom screeners, and relevant functional lab testing to establish a clear baseline for our work.
Systems
We then assess your physiology and the body systems that influence one another, identifying patterns that may be driving your symptoms.
Clinical Strategy
Once we understand your landscape, we develop protocols that will help you stabilize, and reduce the symptoms that brought you here.
Monthly Reassessments
At regular intervals, we step back to assess what’s improving, what is not,
and mark meaningful progress as we determine the next steps.
Adaptive Process
The work proceeds in a structured
way, adding, tweaking and adjusting
the protocols as we monitor how your body responds, both in terms of tolerance and progress.
Six-Month Program
The program is structured as a six-month process, allowing enough time for meaningful and lasting physiological change to occur.
There is a natural progression to this work. As your system begins to stabilize, you will move through different phases of recovery and rebuilding.
You don’t have to figure out each step on your own. A central part of this process is taking the pressure off you to constantly decide what to try next.
Instead, we move through a structured, thoughtful process together — one that adapts based on how your body responds and how its needs change as we move through the program.
Section 8 A
What This Work Is — and What It Isn’t
This work is designed for people who are ready to slow down, look carefully at what their body is showing them, and work through a thoughtful process of rebuilding health.
It is not a quick protocol or a one-size-fits-all solution.
Instead, it is a structured container where we observe, prioritize, and make decisions carefully so your physiology has the best chance to respond.
Some people will find this approach deeply relieving because it replaces constant trial-and-error with a clearer path forward.
Others may prefer faster or more aggressive interventions, and that is completely understandable.
My work is best suited for those who value clarity, careful sequencing, and steady progress over time.
The Vision for Our Work Together
This is not about managing decline.
We are creating the conditions for your body — and your life — to expand again.
We are working toward something. Because if we’re not aiming for something specific, there’s no way to build meaningful change.
I am here to help you get better.
Not overnight. Not by throwing random things at your body.
But by working carefully and strategically so your system can actually change.
Everything we do has a purpose.
We are not just reacting to symptoms. We are working to improve how your body functions — because that’s what changes what your life looks and feels like.
If you are exhausted, we rebuild your energy — and then we make sure you know how to use it so it’s there for the parts of your life that matter — to you.
If your body has become reactive, we calm it down and stabilize it so you’re not constantly getting knocked off course. We move slowly.
We sequence things carefully, so you don’t trigger reactions that set you back weeks or months.
That matters.
If your life has gotten smaller, then yes — part of this work is expanding it again with rehabilitative type work.
But we do it in a way your body can support, so you’re not constantly pushed forward and pulled back.
One of the first things I will ask you to do is make a list of the things you want to be able to do again.
Not someday.
Not theoretically.
Your life.
Lets see how many of those we cna help you get back.
This work has direction.
It builds.
And it requires participation.
I take this seriously.
And I work best with people who are willing to take it seriously too.
Our work is guided by a very clear intention.
Not a promise, and not a guarantee — but a direction I take seriously.
Because if we don’t aim for something specific, there’s no way to build meaningful change.
So when I work with someone, I am not only thinking about symptoms.
I am thinking about your life — and what becomes possible as your system begins to stabilize.
If you are exhausted, my goal is that your days become predictable and manageable — and that you regain steadiness and energy to participate in your life again.
If you are living with ongoing pain or discomfort, my goal is that your body becomes less reactive and more stable — and that symptoms no longer dominate your day in the way they have.
If your life has gradually become smaller, my goal is that we begin to expand it again — carefully at first, and the more fully as your system is able to support it.
Section 10 Who it’s for not for
Section 11 Ways to Work together
Section 12 Invitation Contact
This is for you if you:
If you have had chronic complex illness characterized by
This is probably not for you if…
You could feel better than you have in years… after the Mystery Illness Solution.
Imagine being able to go to the ocean again.
Playing with your grandchildren.
Getting back to work and losing your fears around income.
My program, The Mystery Illness Solution, has been deliberately designed for those with complex chronic illness. It will be utilized as a tool:
to take inventory of all your symptoms;
assess your physiology and body systems
and essentially coordinate over a minimum of six months a clinical response that will address all of your symptoms/issues in a sequenced manner that will:
first stabilize what you have going on
AND then work to remediate and balance your physiology and systems
And systematically work to rebuild your health foundations so you can enjoy as robust a life as you can. The end result for each individual will vary based on your body’s renewed capacity.
Explore Our Packages
Explore our range of services designed to help you move forward with confidence, wherever you're headed next.
Vacation
✳︎
Able to Return to Work
✳︎
Go to a Concert in the Park
✳︎
Go to the Beach
✳︎
Play with the Kids *
Vacation ✳︎ Able to Return to Work ✳︎ Go to a Concert in the Park ✳︎ Go to the Beach ✳︎ Play with the Kids *
“Life becomes very narrow when you are chronically ill. I know this firsthand. For years, I worried about everything and did very little outside my home. I lost confidence in my body — in what I needed it to do — and in my ability to live a normal life.
It’s undeniable.
Chronic complex illness does change a life.
But life can change again…for the better.
It’s unlikely that life will look the way it once did.
But that’s not to say it can’t still be great in some ways.
Once pain, exhaustion, and misery begin to lift — or even disappear, you are free to create a life filled with things you can plan — and actually do.
A life, like any other, where there can be joy again.
4. Establish Priorities
Not everything needs to be addressed at once.
1. Take Inventory
We begin by mapping your symptoms and history through the Roots & Wings Systems & Symptom Assessment.
3. Identify Possible Drivers
We look for stressors that may be contributing to symptoms.
6. Support Recovery Over Time
The goal is steady improvement and rebuilding resilience.
HowXXXXXXXXXXX This Work Begins
2. Look at the Whole System
We evaluate how your body’s major systems are functioning together.
5. Sequence the Work Carefully
We introduce changes in a thoughtful order so your system is not overwhelmed.
Get In Touch
If you're interested in working with me, complete the form with a few details about your situation. I'll get back to you within 48 hours. Feel free to leave me some times that work for you and I’ll try to work with that.