I had such an unfortunately terrible experience with Lauren. I was feeling exhausted and depleted by the stomach issues I was having, lack of answers from doctors/specialists, and bills from each of them piling up. I wanted to feel better and thought she was my answer! First encounter/appointments were wonderful and so promising! We started off on a month long diet and a handful of various herbs and supplements. Between the specifics on food & supplements I spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars, but was more than happy to do so in order to get results. After the first month, I was actually feeling worse. With that in mind, Lauren advised me to stop the herbs and supplements (I still have all of them unused and likely expired now) and tweaked my diet for another month. Again, no changes at the end of month two, so she suggested that I take a specific test that looks at various parasites and bacteria that could be in my gut. It was called a GI Map & it was an additional $350.
When the results came back they were a little challenging for someone not in this field to read and understand (like myself) so we scheduled a zoom to discuss! She reviewed them with me and informed me that I had a specific type of parasite and bacteria that we needed to treat! I was THRILLED - I HAD ANSWERS! On that same call we discussed next steps - She informed me that my copay for each of our scheduled Zoom appointments needed to be increased! In addition we went over another new daily regime of various herbs and supplements that cost hundreds of dollars on a WEEKLY basis. Despite the expenses, I was ready to start the treatment plan. A few days later I happened to go to my primary care doctor for a general check up and I spoke with him about the exciting results that Lauren found. My primary asked to look at the paperwork and told me that the paperwork (which again, was hard for me to comprehend the numbers without having knowledge of this industry) did NOT say I was positive for that specific parasite OR bacteria. My primary said the exact opposite, that the numbers were a normal range and I had neither. Not understanding why she would misinform me, I had my primary doctor test me for both, just to be safe. Days later, both tests came back negative.
When I approached the conversation with Lauren in a non confrontational way (in an attempt to understand better) she became very defensive, avoidant, passive, and unprofessional. Immediately afterward she blocked me out of the online portal which is where we communicated, refused to jump on a call with me directly, and declined my request for back pay.
So, overall - I thought I was in great hands but ended up being lied to and misinformed with the attempt to make me spend more money on weekly sessions and a significant amount more on a lengthy list of weekly herbs and supplements. Don't let the sweet persona and visually appealing marketing tactics fool you. She's unprofessional, dishonest, and not trust worthy. I'm writing this with the hopes of preventing others from going through the upsetting, discouraging, and pricey process I had with Lauren Papanos at Functional Fueling Nutrition. read more