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What if the chronic illness your doctors keep missing has been living in your walls the whole time? In this episode, Ashley sits down with Dr. Eric Dorninger, naturopathic doctor, acupuncturist, and CIRS specialist at Roots and Branches in Boulder, Colorado, who has spent over two decades helping patients with complex, mystery illnesses find the underlying causes that conventional medicine keeps overlooking. Dr. D brings something rare to this conversation: he is not just a clinician who treats CIRS. He is a patient who nearly lost everything to it, and his family's six-month remediation, biblical living conditions and all, is one of the most grounding and honest accounts of what this illness actually costs.
Together Ashley and Dr. D walk through the full arc of what CIRS is, how it is properly diagnosed using validated biomarkers rather than urinary mycotoxin tests, what the Shoemaker Protocol actually involves and why so many people think they have done it without ever truly doing it, and why clean building plus proper binder is still the irreplaceable one-two punch that nothing else replaces. They also get into the naturopathic therapeutic order, why effort does not equal outcome in chronic illness, and the real cost of CIRS in America when you follow the dollars all the way to memory care.
Dr. D also shares what he is building right now, quite literally, the healthiest home in America, a stick frame build redesigned from the ground up with CIRS patients in mind, and what he has learned the hard way about construction loans, lumber quality, builder integrity, and why having an owner's rep on your project is not optional when your health is on the line. If you are navigating chronic illness, trying to understand CIRS, or building a home for a sensitive body, this episode is essential listening.
THINGS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Episode 08 of The Vitality Hour Podcast on YouTube
- CirsX Conference, OMNI Ft Lauderdale Hotel, June 25 to 28, 2026. Register HERE
Discount code for SirsX streaming: ASHLEY26 - Visual Contrast Sensitivity (VCS) test
- Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker and the Shoemaker Protocol
- Mold Warriors and Surviving Mold by Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker
- IICRC S520 remediation guidelines
- Lab Corp (for Alpha MSH)
- National Jewish Hospital (for C4A)
- Brian Tinker of Tinker Homes
- Bill Weber (construction defect expert)
- Christine Cimabue (new build remediation course)
- Foundation Training by Eric Goodman
- Roots and Branches clinic, Boulder, Colorado
CONNECT WITH ASHLEY
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Ashley helps you renovate and build healthier homes to prevent future health issues from arising from your environment. Whether you’re searching for a new home, assessing concerns with your current one, or embarking on a renovation or new build, Awakening Spaces can guide you every step of the way.
Ashley brings her background in Building Biology and Building Science and years of hands-on experience helping families build and renovate homes to prevent mold, chemical exposure, and EMFs in their living spaces. If you’re looking to build or renovate a new home, Ashley has courses to empower and one on one offerings to guide you through the whole process so you can avoid costly mistakes and enjoy the process again!
Curious about how we can help with your project? Explore our offerings here.
CONNECT WITH GUEST
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Dr. Dorninger graduated pre-med from University of Colorado, Boulder in 1997. He then volunteered for Porter Care Hospice, shadowing renowned herbalist Brigette Mars and earned his EMT. This dual exposure of medical perspectives laid the foundation for an integrated approach to diagnosis, treatment and healing. After serving as an EMT , Dr. D completed his Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine and Masters of Science in Acupuncture at Bastyr in 2003. He then completed a 2 year residency in Boulder.
In 2005, Dr. Dorninger founded Roots and Branches Integrative Health Care, a clinic dedicated to “Mystery Illness” where he focuses on elucidating the underlying causes of unrelenting chronic Illness. In addition to private practice, Dr. D is Shoemaker certified doctor, co-founder of CIRSx.com a conference dedicated to eradicating mystery / chronic inflammatory illness. He also teaches functional medicine weekends for Apex Energetics, serves as Director of Research and Development for Blue Sky CBD and the Chief Medical Officer of Medviro, a remediation company dedicated to "medical grade" remediation.
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