How My Journey Began...
If you’ve made it this far, you probably already know I’m a 46 year old wife, momma to girl/boy twins, online fitness/nutrition coach and Ob/Gyn turned functional medicine doc. I have turned my passion of holistic living into a career and passion- so cool, right? But maybe you don’t know about the path that lead me here, and it’s my favorite story to tell!
About a decade ago I was living what I thought was my dream life… extremely busy Ob/Gyn, married to a doc, with toddler twins. We just moved to the country in Upstate NY from suburbia CT. Part of the appeal in moving to upstate New York was to finally own my own horse and I was so excited when it finally happened!
I should point out, despite my best efforts, my horse and I never really connected. And on one rainy, windy day in May 2012, I fell off of him during a riding lesson. Little did I know: in that moment…
Everything Changed…
The fall landed me in the hospital with a broken back and broken spirit. As I laid in that hospital bed, I really didn’t know what my future was going to look like. All I knew was the pain and sudden limitations due to the extent of my injuries. Overnight I went from fit and active to confined to the bed in pain. I lived on pain meds to function.
It was 6 months before I weaned off the pain medications and could even consider working again, even part time. Little did I know that my work in the Ob/Gyn practice was over, or at least in the traditional sense. The back pain was to severe and my body was screaming at me to take it slow. I desperately hope you’ve never lived with such severe ongoing pain. It affects your mood and happiness more than I ever realized.
Every day, I grew more and more unhappy and unmotivated. I had trouble getting out of bed in the morning. I was afraid to exercise, even though that had always been a part of my life. I found myself relying on caffeine and a diet laden with sugar to get me through the day. I really had no energy to play with my young kids. I found myself resting on the couch most days, fatigued from even the simplest of activities. I lacked focus and couldn’t think clearly. My doc diagnosed me with depression, but surprisingly, my symptoms did not improve after trying two different antidepressants.
I still had hope…
On one fateful day, two years after my back injury, I was put in contact with a doctor who was an “anti-aging” practitioner (A.K.A. functional medicine). Functional medicine is a type of medicine that looks at each person individually and gets to the root of the underlying symptoms. And, before you know it, I not only got the correct medical diagnosis for the symptoms that had been plaguing me for so long but I discovered my newest passion.
What was this mystery diagnosis? My adrenals were so out of balance from years of physical and emotional stress! So my lack of energy, motivation, poor diet and worsening back pain wasn’t depression after all!
It was pretty amazing what happened after targeted supplementation (no prescription meds) and some lifestyle changes. I become more energetic, I was more motivated, my outlook on life completely changed and I wanted to make better food choices!
The work I did through the functional medicine doctor even allowed me to add exercise back into my life!
It was truly a miracle…
Immediately I knew I wanted to do a fellowship in functional medicine, to share this incredible gift with others! I accepted an offer to start up a private medical practice in my area.
I completed my fellowship through the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (now called Metabolic Medical Institute) and my practice opened in September 2014!
Along the way I continued to get stronger and healthier through my knowledge in the functional medicine field and my home workouts with nutrition. Again I knew I couldn’t keep my knowledge to myself so I added online health and fitness coaching to my resume! I continued to help people and change lives but in a totally new way!
Though my medical practice closed its doors for financial reasons I knew that I could still make a difference in the world.
It took me over a year to figure out how to continue to live out my passion for holistic living but I finally did it! In August 2019, I started Kaspira Elite Health Consulting, LLC.
As a board certified Ob/Gyn and Functional Medicine Specialist, I combine my knowledge of conventional and alternative medical practices to deliver personalized Elite 1:1 functional medicine consulting.
I help busy professional women take their health, fitness and lives to the next level! I provide the step by step framework to transform their health and wellness and provide accountability, support and follow up to be sure they succeed at their goals.
My clients not only improve their health but are very clear as to the reason why they are doing what they’re doing to feel better. It’s not a quick fix but it’s definitely a long-term lifestyle!
Once they know what it’s like to feel AMAZING, they’ll never go back to feeling they did before!
What Clients Are Saying
I was facing huge life changes, raising (3) children, recently widowed due to a cancer diagnosis and although I myself was working in healthcare, I knew the stress and changing hormones needed to be addressed.
Dr. Renee was so warm and eagerly shared her own health ups and downs never once making judgements but always being open and genuine.
Functional Medicine allowed proper supplementation to be addressed based on testing done by labs and saliva ... an important piece to be done by physicians specifically trained in examining your results.
Thankfully, over the course of a couple appointments I began to feel much better. Functional Medicine is a great start to a personalized journey to better health.. body, mind and spirit ! I would highly recommend Dr Renee Wellenstein and Functional Medicine!
— Susan C.
A few years ago, I knew something was wrong with my body. I wasn't sleeping, my anxiety was through the roof and I felt awful day in and day out. Worried about what was wrong with me, I reached out to my primary doctor and my OBGYN. Giving birth to a baby 7 months prior, my OB told me that it must be late onset postpartum depression and to find someone to talk to while my primary doctor knew it was something hormonal but couldn't quite figure it out. {Then} I was lucky enough at the time to connect with Dr. Renee Wellenstein.
She ran tests on me and not even one month later I had my explanation as to why my body was so off. I had a hormonal imbalance, adrenal fatigue and nutritional deficiencies. Within 2 months I felt so much better, I was sleeping again and my anxiety was subsiding. I had a long road ahead of me to maintain my new lifestyle of supplements along with follow ups. Without Dr. Renee I would have probably ended up on sleeping pills and antidepressants and not be living the healthy lifestyle i lead now. I am so thankful to you Dr. Renee!”
— Felicia R.
I was struggling with not feeling well after having seen many “conventional medicine” docs who kept assuring me it was in my head, even though I knew I wasn’t feeling my best. A colleague referred me to Dr. Renee and I immediately liked her. She didn’t doubt any of my symptoms and got to work right away on finding the cause.
After some very thorough bloodwork and a follow up consultation, she began slowly adding a regime of natural products and supplements to try before even dis using any medications. After a few weeks on some of them I started to feel better and had more energy that I had in while. I would recommend anyone (especially women in the Peri-menopause range) to call Dr. Renee and get some answers !!!
— Tracy M.
