Texas County Memorial Hospital is proud to share the inspiring health journey of Kathryn Parsons of Mountain Grove, who found life-changing answers and renewed hope with the help of Lynsey Sullivan, a family nurse practitioner at TCMH who integrates functional medicine principles into her practice.
Parsons explained that her health took a dramatic turn after experiencing COVID-19 multiple times.
“I went from having no allergies—not even seasonal, no health issues and two healthy pregnancies — to having two miscarriages and an onset of tachycardia, digestive issues, interstitial cystitis, joint pain, and chronic brain fog including short-term memory issues,” she recalled.
Over several years, Parsons saw different providers who suggested long-COVID as the likely cause of her symptoms but had little to offer for treatment. In May, she decided to see Lynsey Sullivan.
“Lynsey’s approach was to get to the root cause and not just mask symptoms,” Parsons said. “She listened to everything I was experiencing and immediately suspected an alpha-gal and wheat/gluten allergy, histamine intolerance and mast cell activation syndrome.”
Though skeptical at first, Parsons underwent extensive blood work and allergy testing. The results confirmed Lynsey’s suspicions, along with several additional food allergies. “Lynsey told me she had seen so many people develop similar issues after COVID and encouraged me that these conditions could be improved with time and treatment,” Parsons explained.
Additionally, Parsons shared that she was familiar with SAAT (Soliman Auricular Allergy Treatment) acupuncture, as some of her friends with alpha-gal syndrome had undergone this treatment.
“I asked Lynsey’s opinion on the SAAT acupuncture, and she confirmed and recommended that it would be a good option for me to try,” Parsons said.
Shortly afterward, Parson’s daughter, Grace, was also diagnosed with alpha-gal. Both began treatment with SAAT acupuncture and a low-histamine diet.
“After just four weeks of acupuncture, both my daughter and I were free of all our food allergies!” Parsons said. “That included my egg yolk, wheat, dairy and alpha-gal allergies, and Grace’s alpha-gal and egg white allergy.”
Today, both are still in active treatment for histamine intolerance and mast cell activation syndrome, and Parsons continues to manage long-COVID. They are scheduled for follow-up testing in September and are hopeful of continued success. “I fully believe the treatment is working because the symptoms I had for years have either dramatically decreased or completely disappeared,” Parsons said. “My daughter has already been eating normally again for weeks with no issues, and I can’t wait to enjoy a cheeseburger again when my reintroduction period ends!”
Parsons shared her story in hopes of helping others who may be struggling with similar post-COVID health challenges.
“To say Lynsey is incredible is a huge understatement,” Parsons said. “I’ve never seen a more genuinely caring, intuitive and attentive healthcare provider than her.”
Appointments with Lynsey Sullivan are available in Mountain Grove at 417-926-1770 or in Houston at 417-967-5435.
I suffered from several symptoms of Long Covid, also having multiple providers agree that was probably the root of some of my issues. When I first saw Lynsey, she agreed but said the the magic words I had been waiting to hear: “let’s see what we can do to fix that.” Highly recommend seeing her if you have a long covid diagnosis or symptoms!