Patuxent Integrated Wellness Center

02/19/2026

Let’s talk about something that almost no one tests for… but so many people are silently dealing with.

Leaky gut.

Not the trendy wellness phrase — true intestinal permeability that shows up in real symptoms and measurable lab findings.

If you’re experiencing:

• Bloating that worsens throughout the day
• Food sensitivities that seem to keep expanding
• Brain fog or poor focus
• Joint aches with “normal” labs
• Skin issues like acne, eczema, or rosacea
• Autoimmune diagnosis or inflammatory symptoms
• Constipation, diarrhea, or unpredictable digestion
• Chronic fatigue that sleep doesn’t fix
• Anxiety that feels physical, not emotional

Your gut barrier may be involved.

What leaky gut actually means:

Your intestinal lining is designed to be selectively permeable. It allows nutrients in while keeping bacteria, toxins, and partially digested food particles out.

When inflammation, stress, infections, medications, or microbiome imbalance disrupt that lining, the tight junctions loosen.

Now particles that should stay inside the gut enter circulation.

Your immune system reacts.
Inflammation increases.
And symptoms start showing up in places that don’t seem connected to digestion.

Over time, this can contribute to:

• Systemic inflammation
• Hormone imbalance
• Metabolic resistance
• Autoimmune activation
• Skin disorders
• Mood instability
• Persistent GI distress

Common contributors we see clinically:

• Chronic stress and elevated cortisol
• Dysbiosis (microbiome imbalance)
• Candida overgrowth
• Parasites
• H. pylori
• Food intolerances
• Frequent NSAID use
• Antibiotic history
• Highly processed diet
• Alcohol excess

Here’s the part that matters:

You cannot accurately diagnose this by symptoms alone.

This is where GI Mapping becomes powerful.

GI Mapping is an advanced stool analysis that evaluates:

• Bacterial balance
• Opportunistic pathogens
• Parasites
• Yeast overgrowth
• H. pylori virulence factors
• Inflammatory markers
• Secretory IgA (immune response)
• Zonulin (associated with intestinal permeability)
• Digestive enzyme function

It provides clarity instead of assumptions.

Instead of random supplements.
Instead of elimination diets without direction.
Instead of chasing symptoms.

We identify what is driving inflammation and create a targeted plan to:

• Repair the gut lining
• Remove pathogens
• Restore microbiome balance
• Support digestion
• Calm immune activation
• Rebuild tolerance

Many patients struggling with hormone imbalance, weight loss resistance, fatigue, and autoimmune symptoms discover the gut was the missing piece.

You cannot optimize hormones in an inflamed system.
You cannot expect metabolic flexibility when immune activation is ongoing.

The foundation matters.

If your symptoms feel persistent, systemic, or unexplained — it may be time to stop guessing and start testing.

If you’re ready to investigate the root cause instead of managing surface symptoms, schedule a Functional Medicine Consultation to determine if GI Mapping is appropriate for you.

Comment GUT below or send us a direct message and our team will guide you through next steps.

Your gut influences your immune system, metabolism, hormones, mood, and long-term resilience.

Start where the healing actually begins.

At Patuxent Integrated Wellness Center, we are dedicated to providing comprehensive, patient-centered care that focuses on your overall well-being. Led by

02/17/2026

Perimenopause isn’t “just stress.”

It’s not “just getting older.”
And it’s definitely not “all in your head.”

If you’re 35–50 and noticing weight gain despite doing everything right, disrupted sleep, anxiety out of nowhere, brain fog, joint pain, low libido, or feeling like a stranger in your own body… let’s talk.

Hormones shift years before menopause. The problem? Most women are told they’re “fine” because labs fall in a wide reference range.

At Patuxent Integrated Wellness Center, we don’t guess — we test. And we look at the full picture: hormones, thyroid, cortisol patterns, metabolic function, inflammation, gut health.

What symptom caught you off guard the most during this season? 👇

02/16/2026

Ask us how to get your own results! Comment

This case study highlights a patient with bloating, distension, and discomfort within 30 minutes of eating. Over time, they've narrowed their diet down to "safe" foods, yet symptoms still persist.

02/16/2026

High-Functioning. High-Capacity. Low Energy?

You’re the one everyone relies on.

You show up.
You perform.
You handle it.
You produce results.

From the outside? You’re running on all cylinders.
Behind the scenes? You’re tired in a way sleep doesn’t fix.

This is high-functioning fatigue.

It sounds like this:

• “I can push through it… but I’m running on fumes.”
• “My labs are normal, but I don’t feel optimal.”
• “I’m productive, but I’m not sharp like I used to be.”
• “By 3 PM I need caffeine or willpower.”
• “I can’t afford to crash.”

High performers rarely fall apart.
They compensate.

They override early warning signs with discipline, caffeine, intense workouts, and sheer drive.

But underneath that momentum, we often find:

• Subclinical hormone shifts
• Cortisol dysregulation (wired + tired patterns)
• Blood sugar instability masked by performance
• Early thyroid signaling changes
• Low-grade inflammation
• Gut dysfunction affecting clarity and energy

You don’t have to be “sick” to be suboptimal.
And you don’t have to wait for burnout to justify testing.

At Patuxent Integrated Wellness Center, we provide integrative insight for high-capacity individuals who want clarity before collapse.

Evidence-based care by Maryland’s premier wellness provider.

If this resonates, comment with:

BOOST – if you feel like you’re functioning but not thriving
FOCUS – if brain clarity isn’t what it used to be
RESET – if you know your body needs recalibration

We’ll message you with the first step we’d recommend based on your goal.

02/10/2026

Cortisol: when chronic stress drives weight, hormones, and gut dysfunction

Cortisol is your body’s primary stress hormone. It’s meant to protect you in short bursts. The issue isn’t cortisol itself—it’s when stress becomes constant and the body never fully powers down.

Modern stress doesn’t look like danger.
It looks like poor sleep, over-exercising, under-eating, hormonal shifts, inflammation, gut dysfunction, emotional load, and living in survival mode for years.

When cortisol stays elevated or becomes dysregulated, the body shifts into protection mode. And in protection mode, healing, digestion, and weight loss are not priorities.

Here’s how chronically elevated cortisol often shows up:

• Weight gain that doesn’t respond to calorie cuts or harder workouts, especially through the midsection
• Exhausted all day but wired at night
• Anxiety, irritability, or feeling constantly on edge
• Brain fog, low motivation, poor focus
• Blood sugar crashes and intense cravings
• Exercise intolerance—doing more makes you feel worse, not better

Now the part that’s often overlooked: the gut.

Chronic cortisol elevation suppresses digestion. Blood flow is diverted away from the GI tract, stomach acid and digestive enzymes decline, and the gut lining becomes more vulnerable. Over time, this contributes to bloating, reflux, constipation, microbiome disruption, inflammation, food sensitivities, and stress-driven blood sugar instability.

This creates a self-perpetuating cycle: stress elevates cortisol, cortisol disrupts the gut, gut inflammation signals danger to the nervous system, and the nervous system produces more cortisol.

This is why calorie restriction, probiotics alone, or “trying harder” so often fall short. When cortisol is driving physiology, willpower isn’t the fix.

At Patuxent Integrated Wellness Center, we assess cortisol patterns, gut integrity, metabolic signaling, hormone balance, inflammation, and nervous system regulation together—because the body does not work in silos.

Your body isn’t broken. It’s adapting.

And once we understand why it’s adapting, we can shift it out of survival mode and back into repair.

Drop a letter below 👇
A. Exhausted but can’t sleep
B. Stubborn weight despite doing everything “right”
C. Bloating, reflux, constipation, or food sensitivities
D. Anxiety or brain fog that feels gut-driven
E. All of the above

Here’s what we’ll do next:
If you comment, we’ll message you with the first step we recommend based on your selection—what to test, what to look at, and how we’d approach it.

We are dedicated to providing patient-centered care focused on your overall well-being. We specialize in medical weight loss and Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), tailored to help you achieve your health goals and maintain a balanced, vibrant life.

02/02/2026

At Patuxent Integrated Wellness Center, we see women and men every day who are doing everything right:
• Eating well
• Exercising consistently
• Keeping up with annual physicals and routine preventive care

Yet they’re still dealing with fatigue, weight gain, brain fog, hormone symptoms, mood changes, poor sleep, low motivation, or changes in body composition.

Here’s the reality:
“Normal” doesn’t always mean optimal.

Functional medicine looks at how systems interact — hormones, metabolism, insulin response, inflammation, gut health, and stress physiology — instead of isolating one lab value at a time.

We don’t guess.
We test, assess patterns, and build individualized plans based on your physiology, not averages.

Our approach may include:
• Comprehensive hormone evaluation for women and men
• Metabolic and weight management support
• Advanced lab testing
• Root-cause strategies for fatigue, weight resistance, and hormonal imbalance

This isn’t about quick fixes or one-size-fits-all protocols.
It’s about understanding why your body is responding the way it is — and addressing that intentionally.

👉 Book a discovery call or text ANSWERS to 301-450-4044 to start the conversation.

We are dedicated to providing patient-centered care focused on your overall well-being. We specialize in medical weight loss and Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), tailored to help you achieve your health goals and maintain a balanced, vibrant life.

01/30/2026

Many people ask to have their thyroid tested — and for good reason.

The thyroid plays a central role in energy, metabolism, brain function, mood, weight regulation, heart rate, and hormone balance. When symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, mood changes, cold intolerance, or weight resistance show up, the thyroid is often suspected as the root cause.

But here’s where things get confusing.

Thyroid testing is not one number.

There are multiple thyroid markers, each reflecting a different part of the thyroid signaling pathway:
• TSH – the brain’s signal to the thyroid
• Free T4 – inactive hormone production
• Free T3 – active hormone available to cells
• Reverse T3 – a stress-related blocker of thyroid activity
• Thyroid antibodies – markers of autoimmune thyroid disease

It is entirely possible for one value to be “normal” while others are not — and symptoms may persist despite being told everything looks fine.

So what happens if your thyroid labs are normal?

When comprehensive thyroid testing does not explain symptoms, we look deeper. Persistent fatigue, brain fog, palpitations, mood changes, or weight challenges are often influenced by:
• Hormone imbalance (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone)
• Adrenal and stress physiology
• Iron, B12, vitamin D, or magnesium deficiencies
• Insulin resistance or metabolic dysfunction
• Inflammation or immune activation

This is why a single lab result rarely tells the whole story.

At our practice, we take a comprehensive, systems-based approach. We evaluate the full thyroid cascade and, when needed, investigate the other physiologic systems that influence how thyroid hormone is produced, converted, and utilized at the cellular level.

If you’ve been wondering whether your thyroid is the issue — or you’ve been told your labs are normal but your symptoms say otherwise — answers are possible.

Schedule a consultation or message us to learn how a comprehensive evaluation can help clarify what’s really driving your symptoms.

01/26/2026

Stomach acid is a critical part of the body's defense against parasites.

01/26/2026

WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT

People don’t come to us because they haven’t tried hard enough.
They come because they’re tired of guessing.

At Patuxent Integrated Wellness Center, we practice functional, root-cause medicine — which means we look deeper, connect the dots, and treat the whole person, not just symptoms.

Here’s how we’re different:

• We test before we treat
“Normal” labs don’t always mean optimal. We use comprehensive testing to understand hormones, metabolism, insulin response, inflammation, and gut health — so care is based on data, not assumptions.

• We individualize every plan
No templates. No one-size-fits-all protocols. Your history, symptoms, labs, and goals drive your treatment — not trends.

• We address the real barriers
Weight loss resistance, fatigue, brain fog, hormone symptoms, and inflammation are signals. We identify why they’re happening and build a plan to correct the underlying imbalance.

• We integrate advanced tools when appropriate
From metabolic testing (PNOĒ) and GI Mapping to hormone optimization, peptides, and medically supervised weight loss programs — including GLP-1 therapy — everything is used strategically, not routinely.

• We practice medicine, not quick fixes
Our goal isn’t short-term results. It’s sustainable health, longevity, and quality of life — with ongoing support and medical oversight.

If you’ve felt dismissed, rushed, or told “everything looks fine” while you still don’t feel like yourself — this is exactly where functional medicine shines.

👉 Ready to understand your body instead of fighting it?
Book a consultation and let’s identify what’s actually holding you back.

01/26/2026

Eating less.
Moving more.
Still not losing weight?

Let’s clear something up 👇
Weight loss is not just calories.

If it were, you wouldn’t be stuck.

What we commonly see:
• Insulin resistance keeps the body in storage mode
• Hormone imbalances slow metabolism and increase fat retention
• Inflammation signals the body to protect, not burn
• Gut dysfunction interferes with hormones, nutrients, and metabolism
• A mismatched metabolism means you’re fueling your body incorrectly

So even when you’re “doing everything right,” biology may be working against you.

That’s why at Patuxent Integrated Wellness Center we don’t guess—we assess.

Depending on the individual, we may use tools like:
• PNOĒ metabolic testing to understand how your body actually burns fuel
• GI Mapping to identify gut-related barriers
• Advanced labs to assess hormones, insulin response, and inflammation
• A medically supervised weight loss program, including GLP-1 therapy when appropriate, to support appetite regulation, metabolic health, and sustainable fat loss

This isn’t about trying harder.
It’s about choosing the right strategy for your physiology.

👉 Complete a no obligation intake to identify your personal barrier and create a plan that works with your body—not against it. Text INTAKE to 301-450-4044 or comment below.

01/21/2026

Mental clarity isn’t a luxury — it’s a performance requirement.

Mental clarity isn’t a luxury — it’s a performance requirement.

If you’re high-functioning, high-producing, and still noticing brain fog, slower recall, or mental fatigue creeping in, it’s not a motivation issue. It’s biochemistry.

NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is a cornerstone molecule for cellular energy, mitochondrial efficiency, and neurotransmitter signaling. When NAD levels decline — from chronic stress, long workdays, poor sleep, or simply aging — cognitive performance is often the first thing to suffer. Focus wanes. Processing speed slows. Mental stamina drops.

Optimizing NAD supports:
• Sustained focus and sharper recall
• Improved cognitive endurance and decision-making
• Reduced mental fatigue and burnout
• More efficient brain energy production

We offer NAD in formats designed for busy professionals who value results and convenience:
• IV NAD for deeper cellular and cognitive optimization
• Subcutaneous (SQ) NAD for consistent, ongoing support
• At-home delivery options so treatment fits seamlessly into your schedule

Consistency is key. Your brain consumes NAD continuously — which means replenishment over time can make a meaningful difference in how you think, perform, and recover.

If you’re already doing “all the right things” but still feel mentally taxed, this is often the missing layer.

Message us to discuss the most strategic NAD option for your goals — in-clinic or delivered to your door.
Because peak performance starts at the cellular level.

01/21/2026

Most people think cholesterol and hormones are two separate conversations.
They’re not.

They’re deeply connected—and that connection matters for heart health and longevity in both women and men.

A common story I hear:
“My cholesterol was always fine… until it suddenly wasn’t.”

For many people, nothing dramatic changed.
Diet stayed the same. Exercise stayed the same. Weight didn’t shift much.

What changed was biology.

As hormones shift over time, the way cholesterol behaves changes too.

LDL (the cholesterol carrier) isn’t inherently “bad,” but when LDL particles become smaller and denser, they’re more likely to enter artery walls, trigger inflammation, and contribute to plaque—even when total LDL numbers look normal.

HDL plays a protective role by helping clear cholesterol and reduce inflammation, but function matters just as much as the number itself.

As this cascade unfolds, we often see:
• More atherogenic LDL
• Less protective HDL
• Rising triglycerides
• Increased vascular inflammation
• Stiffer blood vessels

So what does this mean for you?

It means you can feel fine and still have cardiovascular risk building quietly.
It means “normal” labs don’t always tell the whole story.
And it means prevention starts long before a diagnosis.

Genetics matter too. Lipoprotein(a) is a largely inherited risk marker that can raise lifetime heart risk in both men and women—even with healthy habits.

Longevity medicine doesn’t chase one number.
It looks at the whole picture: hormones, lipids, inflammation, metabolism, genetics, and symptoms.

Cardiovascular protection isn’t reactive.
It’s proactive.

If you’ve ever been told your labs are “normal” but your body says otherwise, you’re asking the right questions.

Comment HEART or LONGEVITY if you want to learn which labs actually matter—and why.

Your heart deserves more than a cholesterol number.
It deserves a plan.

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