An Introduction to Our Practice

Well ;) my name is Dr. Stephen Michael Nenninger N.M.D., aka Steve. I went out West to study Naturopathic Medicine in 1991 when I was 28 years old. Naturopathic Medicaly school was pretty hard because of how sick I was. Since ago about 22, I had a very boring, painful, torturous, annoying and embarrassing condition called ulcerative colitis. On my worst days I ended up going to the bath room day and night dozens of times, it was exhausting.

I went to conventional doctors to try and get better at first. Their drugs made me really sick and did not help at all. Then the last conventional doctor I went to was in a fancy Park Avenue office with a mahogany dest and leather bound volumes on the wall, and told me that the only solution was to cut out my colon and put me on a life of drugs, or I would die.

Neither option sounded good to me. And I was a little brave or a little stupid. As I turned around and walked out of his office he yelled down the hall, “You’ll be dead in six months”. Well…Instead of dying or getting my colon cut out I went to a naturopathic doctor. He didn’t do very much to help me…except for one absolutley amazing thing…he believed in my ability to heal. The first doctor that did.

After 18 months of working with him and not getting much better I decided to go to naturopathic medical school. I had no money but I figured if I died it wouldn’t matter and if I didn’t the student loans would be worthwhile. It was a great experience and I can’t say enough about my amazing professors and classmates, but I still had colitis when I finished! Ugh. However I began to practice in New York and soon had a full practice. And my patients began to teach me. And I helped and cure many, many cases of colitis and Crohn’s and still was not better myself! What??!!. I was not worst and was incrementally better, but come on!

So I was in practice for 20 years. To manage my symptom, not cure mind you, just manage, I had to be gluten, egg, dairy, nightshade, salicilate, fodmap, fructose free. I could eat very little without symptoms. Does this sound like health? It did not feel like it to me. And my kids who were now in their teens seemed as reactive as I was, in spite of a very naturopathic upbringing. In short, it sucked.

But apparently the univverse was not done with me, and it got worse. My 17year old son got mononucleosis, and developed liver inflamation and pancreatic inflammation, and within a few months was diagnosed with primary biliary colangitis, a horrible autoimmune disease with a horrible prognosis. And all the tools that I had used for similary conditions either did not work or made him worse. Does this sound fun? Remember this was after 20 years of a full practice working with and curing the worse autoimmune conditions. So for a year I read everything I could. Eventually, after reading every research paper on autoimmune diseasem I stumbeled across a paper that discussed how the highest concentration of helmiths and worms in ancient stool was found in Nordic and Viking people. WHAT?

How could the people that were admired for their strength and vitality by both the persians and the Romans be riddled with draining, depleting, life sucking parasites?? It did not make sense. So this began the helminth, helminthic therapy, and practice dedication to therapeutic helminths. Within a few months of working with a researcher we had our first batch of therapeutic helminths ready for application, and I took them. Well… I felt amazing. Within a few months I gave my son a dose and within a few months his laboratory results were NORMAL for the first time in years. And they have continued normal since. Lots of amazing hookworm helminthic therapy stories…

This is in no way a standard naturopathic medical practice but I think there may be a harmonic way to practice. Even in natural and alternative approaches there are still some common practices that I am not fond of, and we have decided not to do in spite of the fact they would be profitable. Basically for me it is anything that boxes me in to a way I have to practice tomorrow if I change my mind today. For example, I don’t like treatment “programs” sometimes presented in video programs, I don’t like pre-set numbers of required visits (often paid in advance), likewise requiring pre-set tests that all patients have to do, and I especially don’t like private and custom labeled medicines because they are just that much harder to stop using i you don’t like the results. It is hard being a naturopathic doctor and these programs are pushed by practice business coaches that teach doctors how to streamline their practice and make it more efficient.

Unfortunately it is the inefficient practice that is most successful a lot of times. I mean, it your friend your friend because they are most efficient in their time with you? Do you love your sweetheart, kids, family or parents because they are most efficient during their time with you. For better or worse the more you streamline your practice the more information you loose about the patient. Is 12X1 equal to 1x12? Simple answer is yes. But are 12 one day vacations the same as 1 twelve day vacation? I don’t think so.

It’s much easier to let go of ten bottles of a product you have tried then one hundered bottles of a supplement that you have custom labeled with your name for your practice and to sell to your patients.

Mostly I don’t like this approach because I don’t think it works. I mean really if we are going to do all of these pre-formatted processes we are moving much closer to a conventional, modern western version of practice and further away from the individualization that naturopathic doctors have traditionally prided themselves on.

What I think works is individualization. To try and understand exactly what a person needs to affect their health in a positive way and exactly how to give it to them in the safest and most efficient way possible.

Also, I don’t think that the conventional approach really yields great results for chronic illnesses either. Too much focus on the what works for most people most of the time does not really matter when it does not work for you and what your going through this time.

I don’t spend a lot of time criticizing modern medicine, it has advantages that we are all aware of and it also has known disadvantages. The main problem with modern pharmaceutical medicines is that they are based on a lot of science, mathematics, and averages. The problem is that the body is not based on these things. An example is that when they were first developing seats for fighter pilots they used averages to design the spacing of the instruments and not one single pilot could reach all of the controls properly. In my experience humans are the same, not only does the average medicine not work for everybody... but the average medicine doesn’t work for anybody. So we treat everyone as an individual. Because it works better.

Difficult and disadvantageous parts about coming to see us:

1) We are not covered by insurance and don’t take any insurance because if you do it really limits what you can do and the tools you can use the help resolve the issues.

Good parts:1) We only take people we think we might be able to help.2) We only take people we will enjoy working with and that will enjoy working with us.3) We are good at solving the problems that people come in with.

Differences in our practice compared to most other practices.1) There is no “plan” pricing. It just seems ridiculous, to me, all of these programs. If I can see you once and give you an answer then why do you need 20 more visits?

We charge for an initial visit and then return visits as needed. Just normal human charging.2) We don’t sell or make money on supplements or testing. That is just a way for natural practitioners and honestly all doctor to profit off of you in most cases. You are the test, you come in, tell us how you feel, that is the test. The most sensitive diagnostic instument is the human brain. If we need external information then there is a very good testing company called LabCorp and their prices are pretty good. You can use the Labcorp app and order the test for yourself and not pay for thousands of dollars of questionable testing.3) No “custom” or “private label” bulk supplements. Many “natural practitioners” are told by marketing experts to boost their profits by selling “custom label” supplements. They charge you multiple times what they are worth. I never did this in practice for one simple reason. If I try a product and don’t like the effect in a person it is a lot easier to throw out a case of supplements then ten cases. And to get private labeling you need to order ten cases. I had ordered bunch of cases from this one company that I was told (sold) was good. I later found out they had citric acid (aka mold) in their supplements and I just tossed out six cases. This would be a lot harder with 60 cases. Plus it all goes bad, etc, etc.4) There is a reason a person’s time is expensive. Time spent doing one thing cannot be spent doing another thing. However it is also the real thing of value in my eyes, not testing, not supplements, etc...but sitting down and understanding the story of the person and the condition. I have 30 years of practice with thousands of people and that is the only thing that works in my opinion.

January 18th, 2025Dear Steve,

What a thrill to be present at your most informative as well as impressive talk this morning! Thank you for all your efforts on behalf of all who rely on you and your infinite research/knowledge - it's a treasure trove.

You certainly accurately captured the mood of the last 4 years while providing sound counsel.

Can't wait to be able to consult very soon and perhaps receive more worms. While you provided so much I found it curious that helminths provide stem cells!? Wow.

Thanks again for your enduring dedication, research and commitment to our wellbeing. You evidence health and vitality as you look great, I was also very happy to see your father. Bravi!!!!!!!!

2025 Blessings to you and yours as you continue to generate positive in all your followers!

See you soon.

PaulaJanuary 19th, 2025Thank you Paula.... it is not easy. As you know the need to find an alternative to the conventional approaches was thrust opon me at 25 years old when I was give the option of complete removal of my colon or told I would die in 6 months from my ulcerative colitis.

I did not know where I was going when I walked out of the doctor’s office, but I knew those were not the right answers for me. This was before internet and computers, but I was able to stumble onto an article about naturopathic doctors. They go to a four year medical school but learn alternatives also.

I went to naturopathic doctors and then to naturopathic medical school myself. It was four long years of many long days of school and clinic. But it was when I graduated that my patients started teaching me. Now it has been 30 years with many thousand of patients. They are still teaching me and I am still learning.

I take the cases that have already tried and failed conventional approaches, or cases that are not even given conventional treatment options.

The best I can do is take my experience in what has worked for similar cases. If they were easy cases...they would not be coming to see me.

No matter what I say to others and myself, to temper expectations, and my own expectations... they want help, and if I didn’t want to help them I wouldn’t be doing this.

And honesty, if I decide to take a case...It is only because I am hoping and believing in a cure for them... and I have to give it my one hundred percent if that is going to happen.

If I don’t think there is a chance I could help... then I would not take the case. Why would I? Failure is a frustration I do not enjoy.

I warn everyone there is no guarantee...but after that...I have to believe in them and myself...and not second guess every choice.

When it works it is wonderful...and when it doesn't it is so frustrating. Hopefully I will keep getting better, and more people will get better.

I have been lucky enough to have been successful in the vast majority of cases, and to have others appreciate the efforts in the case even if we don’t get the results we are hoping for.

Very rarely when we don’t succeed, the conventional side, or rarely the person that did not improve, or those in their sphere, sometime point fingers at my ineffectiveness in the case or focus on my personal shortcommings.

It is a hard thing when you put your heart and soul into a case and come up short, to fail, or to be ineffective. It is such a vulnerable position to do your best and not have it be enough.

It is not something I experience often, thank God. But in the darkness of those times I will receive a letter like yours, and it will be a bright and warming light for my heart.

And it encourages me to keep offering my experience to those who really don’t seem to have another options and seem to be directed to me by a higher purpose.

Fondly - Steve

Introduction to our practice: We understand how frustrating it is to have chronic symptoms.

It is bad enough if the conventional approaches don’t work, but even more frustrating if alternative approaches don’t work.

Dr. Nenninger was not always a doctor. In his twenties he became quite ill with symptoms variously diagnosed as inflamatory bowel disease, colitis, and Chron’s disease. Conventional medicine only offered toxic drugs therapy or destructive surgery. The drugs made him very sick and he rejected the surgical options becase of its life altering damage. He rejected the surgery even though he was told that he would more than likely die without it.

It took attending naturopathic medical school for four years, and then practicing for years with many patients for him to start understanding and at times, successfully treating cases that even the old time natural doctors would call the “chronic incurables”. Including himself.

Dr. Alanna has a similar path. After working for ten years for the hospital system with disabled patients as a doctor of occupational therapy (OTD) she became sick herself. Diagnosed with mononucleosis for months she had severe symptoms, getting worse in spite of going to many doctors. She could not drive herself to work, could not clean or cook and it was difficult for her to even feed herself.

Over the months she became more and more disabled by her symptoms and finally ended up in the emergency room.

At the emergency room she was diagnosed with severe swelling of the liver and the spleen, and her bloodwork was horrible. Again she was told there was nothing they could do for her. She was told to go home and rest in spite of her dangerously swollen organs, severe pain, and progressive and progressing disability.

Not too long after that emergency room visit...she showed up at Dr. Nenninger’s office and they began to work on her case. Alanna was able to fully recover. Dr. Nenninger also found in working with Alanna (Dr. Pisani) that her insights on cases using her hospital experience with many patients plus her intuition were an invaluable addition to the practice.

The are never any guarantees in life for anything, including in this practice. What we do have is the ability to offer a different approach if the conventional approach has not worked. Because when a person who has not been successful with pharmaceuticals or surgery we have to come with other approaches to try and correct the imblances that are creating symptoms.

In conventional practice, it tends to be that the more people you see, the less individualized care you can give each person. We focus on a practice that is very individualized, very focused, very careful, and at our best, very effective.