My story..

Following the surgery, I experienced a myriad of whole-body, neurological symptoms from head to toe, relentless for many years. I was bedridden more often than not, struggling to move even short distances or manage the most basic daily tasks. My vision, balance, speech, coordination, circulation, whole-body functioning was affected, significantly.

The doctors and specialists all agreed it was likely Multiple sclerosis, a chronic autoimmune disease affecting the central nervous system, the brain and spinal cord, where the immune system attacks the protective covering of the nerves. It was recommended that I have a lumbar puncture, this was before MRI’s were routinely available back in the 1990s.

I was terrified. 

From when I was young, my mother had shared her experience of having a lumbar puncture as feeling like her head had “blown up to the size of an elephant!”. The pain was unlike anything else she had experienced.

I simply couldn’t go through with it.

Prior to this, I had lived with significant digestive health issues for many years, yet I still pushed boundaries and embraced life as fully as possible despite the considerable impact of these chronic conditions. I lived and travelled overseas, spent time playing violin in various bands, and experienced some extraordinary sights around the world.

At one point in England, I unexpectedly found myself living with a Lord and Lady, gaining a glimpse into how the other half lived — a striking contrast to the backpacking lifestyle I spent most of my time enjoying on a shoestring budget.

I returned to Australia with a growing interest in all things health-related. Deep down, I knew I needed to make changes for myself, and learning about the body and how to create health felt like the right path forward.

I commenced a five-year double degree in Applied Science (Human Biology and Chinese Medicine), learning to understand the body through two lenses - both Eastern and Western medicine. What I was learning began to make sense of what I had been experiencing, and for the first time, it gave me hope.

I began to truly listen to my body. I noticed distinct, alternating patterns I could no longer ignore - intensely debilitating gut issues followed by severe, whole-body neurological symptoms. While these patterns carried little weight within the conventional medical model, to me they were deeply significant. They revealed a recurring pattern - something that offered a clue, an insight I could begin to work with in the hope of improving my health.

That realisation became a turning point. It gave me a sense that perhaps, by understanding and working with these patterns, I could begin to create change - meaningful change for the better.

I set out to find my own answers to heal my body — and that is what I have continued to do, both for myself and for every patient I work with.

I immersed myself in researching everything I could about healing the body, with a particular focus on the science behind Chinese herbal medicine. I witnessed firsthand how profoundly these medicines can influence the body across a wide range of symptoms and conditions.

That journey ignited a deep passion within me — one that continues to inspire and drive everything I do today.

`The knowledge I used to restore my own health has became the foundation of how I now work with my patients’

My approach is grounded not only in modern clinical understanding, but also in thousands of years of continuous observation and practice drawn from the wisdom of Chinese medicine. I completed training in functional medicine with the pioneers in Australia in the early 2000s, including Professor Avni Sali and Professor Ian Brighthope, as well as further study with Alessio Fasano, a paediatric gastroenterologist and researcher from the United States and Michael Ash from the UK.

I was fortunate to learn from these leading thinkers and researchers how modern living can disrupt the body, particularly the small bowel, and the important role functional medicine can play in contemporary healthcare practice.

From there, I developed a deep interest in integrating both streams of medicine - Chinese medicine and functional medicine. I set out on a path to integrate the two, working exclusively with patients with chronic disease and complex immune disorders, and, in doing so, inadvertently developed a method for how to bring these approaches together. This became the Neurobiome Method.

Years later, I had an MRI with contrast dye (gadolinium), confirming what both I and my doctors had long suspected: a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, a severe and debilitating neurological condition, with 13 lesions on the brain and spine, visible on imaging. Importantly, there were no active lesions, indicating that the disease process had begun many years earlier, when the neurological symptoms first appeared.

This gave me the confirmation I needed, that the approach I had developed over many years, now known as the Neurobiome Method, had played a significant role in restoring my health and helping me reclaim my life.

The body has an extraordinary capacity to heal, and so does yours. It is always working toward balance and restoration. When we learn to truly listen, we begin to understand its language and decode its signals. Only then can we work with the body in a way that supports genuine healing.

`Where there is change, there is hope - and where there is hope, there is possibility’.

Dr. Meredith O’Loughlan