Michael Ruscio, D.C

Dr. Ruscio and his staff may have helped many patients but beware if you have a complicated illness with many seemingly «unrelated» symptoms. I’m actually being generous giving him the 2^nd star while most urged me to give him a 1 or a 0! I give the 2^nd because I knew the the intention was there and his staff truly tried to help me (doing his job). What’s worse? He charged me a lot to stumble around. My health was horrible and I was in so much random pain. Functional medicine doctors claim to «heal the cause» of illnesses and not treat the symptoms like most MDs but this one is like an MD under a different mask. He fixated on some of my symptoms just like a typical conventional medicine doctor and ignored my concerns with possibly having Borreliosis or Lyme Disease despite my suspicions, similar symptoms AND having been bitten by ticks. I recall he said «Lets not go down the Lyme hole» just like a conventional medicine doctor. He assured me that my symptoms were just based on my dysfunctional gut and can present like Lyme and other neurological conditions. How convenient of him. So, thousands of dollars and months later, I didn’t find relief and turns out I had Lyme Disease all along! SIBO and many gut issues are actually a cause of a bigger problem and in my case, Lyme Disease. The first thing the infectious disease attacks in the gi system. I was so misled and I wasted MORE time than I needed to. It takes a great detective and an open mind to look at ALL the possibilities that could be ailing a person-​someone who «specializes» and fixates on specific systems like the gut and hormones is limited by bias. The 2^nd star is also for the fact that they «found» something. I have SIBO and some parasites, after over $ 600 in lab tests but they were just causes of a more serious condition, one that could have debilitated me more than it has already if I didn’t take it under my responsibility to find myself. I’m sorry for this, I gave it months of thought but the truth hasn’t changed so I must share this story. He hasn’t done much to «save» us money and he absolutely didn’t provide personal support and care the way I thought functional medicine doctors were supposed to provide. He’s overrated, overpriced and far too inattentive. He wasn’t personable or was, I felt, rather cold. I didn’t feel a connection and hoped that it would emerge and it never did. My very attentive Lyme Literate MD was more affordable than him! Either way, I’m glad I found my answers and a doctor who is fit for my needs and healing journey.

Dr. Ruscio is very passionate and highly recommended in the functional medicine field. Patients will recognize the different experience in working with him for their symptoms compared to other conventional medicine doctors. He specializes in focusing on the presenting symptoms and offers his patients the most efficient and effective ways of treating them. He is wonderful to work with and is incredibly understanding of his patient’s symptoms and issues with their gut health, which makes him incredibly personable and truly passionate about the work he does. I highly recommend patients to work with Dr. Ruscio because of his expertise and passion in gut health.

For far too many years, I’ve experienced symptoms and debilitating physical problems that have limited my life. I frequented health professionals only to consistently hear the same dismissive phrase: «Everything seems normal.» Yet, daily I was dealing with various digestive problems, migraines, weight gain and depression that were adversely affecting my life that I was powerless to solve. I had resigned myself to a life of less than the best state of health when Dr. Ruscio was recommended to me. I had pretty much given up the possibility that there was any medical professional willing to look past «conventional» medical testing and evaluation to help me. From our very first appointment, Dr. Ruscio showed me compassion and seriously considered my symptoms and physical problems – he actually LISTENED to what I had to say and worked hard to find solutions for me. I can attest now after almost a year under his care, I’m feeling better than I have in years, and many of my problems are solved or greatly mitigated. I cannot recommend Dr. Ruscio and his practice enough. He is well worth the investment for your health and wellbeing. I am very thankful that he is out there and available to help people get well.

Patients beware!!! For those of you desiring a Functional Medicine Dr, you better think twice about trusting your well being to this one. We were impressed by Dr Ruscio’s web site and thought it would be worth the 3 month wait for an appointment! I called 3 days before the appt to drop off paperwork and was told our appt was cancelled! No one called us before canceling this very desired appt. We were told the reason was because our paperwork wasn’t sent in! All we were offered was an apology. The next appt available is in 6 weeks! I don’t know how many of you want to pay out of pocket for this kind of care. I say thanks but no thanks. And Dr Ruscio, if you earnestly care about the health of others take a good hard look at the fact that you are in way over your head! People’s health matters… and this is a serious disservice you’re doing!

Thank you for providing far more than the standard of care.
I heard of Dr. Ruscio while listening to Robb Wolfe’s podcast, and he was later recommended to me by a coach at NorCal Strength and Conditioning in Chico, CA. My issues were: cold intolerance, dry skin, hair falling out, slow weight loss, irregular period, foggy thinking, memory lapses, inability to focus. Even though I was already leading a Paleo lifestyle, practicing nutrient timing, lifting heavy weights, and getting 8 or more hours of sleep each night, a few pesky adverse health issues persisted, and I needed help to eliminate them.
Although I did not have any gastrointestinal complaints, Dr. Ruscio still suspected gut dysbiosis as an underlying factor for my symptoms. He tested me for such, and then treated with various supplements, and nutraceuticals to adjust my gut flora. It ended up, that I also had to follow a strict low FODMAP diet protocol in order to finally clean up the small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.
In addition, he highly recommended that I take up the practice of meditation to reduce my overall stress.
As suspected, the gut non-​symptomatic gut dysbiosis and the high stress lifestyle were the likely offender for my health issues. In the end, the only health issue remaining that was not helped by my treatment is the irregular periods. Dr. Ruscio has kindly referred me to an anti-​aging practitioner who he believes can assist with this last problem. Dr. Ruscio is now in the process of lowering my supplements to the minimum quantity necessary to maintain my current health status.
My insurance covered basically none of the testing, and absolutely none of the treatment. So yes, the total spent on this treatment was expensive. However, the treatment most certainly worked, and I am healthier than when I started. I am of the opinion that «curing» one’s self of chronic disease in the present, while expensive (hundreds of dollars) and not covered by standard insurance, will save me thousands of dollars in my later years. As I age (I am currently 46), I will be healthy and medication-​free, while my contemporaries are slugging along paying for medications, doctors visits, and hospital stays.
I don’t trust doctors, and I have found that most of them are far less educated and intelligent that I am. As someone who has taught various science courses to medical students, I find that I often know far more than most MD and other practitioners. Sadly, medical professionals are swamped with patients and bureaucracy, and have precious little time to study and keep up with the latest research. Thus, they often cannot provide the best treatment options. I researched Dr. Ruscio extensively before procuring his services. During treatment, I asked lots of questions and made sure that he was acting on the cutting edge of knowledge. He never let me down. I appreciate very much the time he sets aside for himself to conduct his own research and publish and speak to groups in his area of expertise. This is the way medical science should be conducted — a combination of research, learning, and clinical application.
Oh, and he is really nice too!

Sorry for the 2 stars but you’re over-​rated. I believe in holistic approach so I’m all for it but after spending thousands of dollars on your theories (despite my western medicine doctor’s warnings btw…), the results did not improve. I could get the same amount of knowledge from
. No doubt, you did improve my awareness. I changed my lifestyle for better health regardless of your input, however. Your prescriptions and labs that I spent on (thousands) did not serve any value. I still have the same health issues.
I still believe some people may greatly value of your theories. I didn’t. Another reason you’ve got two stars is because you’re more interested in getting your book (s) published, push supplements in a cookie cutter approach than paying attention to your patients.

Dr Ruscio has discovered what could be the cause of my diabetes type 1.5! My blood sugar levels are almost normal. He put me on the Paleo diet and a lot of vitamins and protein and tested for bacteria and viruses. He is looking for the cause! If you have some odd problem that regular doctors just want to give you drugs for, check out Dr Ruscio and his informative website and you will see the results a lot of his patients including me have had!

I found Dr. Ruscio about 1.5 years ago. I had digestive issues and bloated stomach and extreme fatigue. My face broke out in cystic acne and weird skin rash appeared on my whole body.
I live very healthy lifestyle, grow my own fruits and veggies, have 3 chickens (who give me 3 fresh eggs per day) and never eat any junk foods, soda’s or pizza. I have been juicing for 2 years and work out regularly. So what’s going on???
For few years I have been going to regular doctors and they would never tell me what’s wrong. I went to see Dr. Bhat with extreme pain in my stomach for 4 weeks. He gave me sulfa antibiotics and sent me home. After 4 days of taking it I realized I was having allergic reaction and stopped. Dr. Bhat did H. Pylori test (breath and stool) and it came back negative. I didn’t trust this doctor anymore so I went to see real gastroenterologist and he did an endoscopy (which even with insurance it cost me over $ 4000) and he found 4 ulcers in my stomach and did a biopsy for H. Pylori which came back negative again. He gave me acid blocking pills and sent me home. I have started experiencing stomach pain in February 2012 and saw Dr. Bhat in March 2012. I had endoscopy in June 2012 and was on pills till September 2012. I had stomach pain all the way till December 2012 when I went to another doctor. He ran tests and told me there is nothing to worry about. Everything came up great. He said there is nothing he can do for me and told me to find a holistic doctor. I was so frustrated… but kept looking.
I found Dr. Ruscio in March 2013. I told him all my problems and he said I may have bacteria and leaky gut syndrome and we started testing. He gave me 6 month plan but said it may take little longer to heal my intestines. It turned out I had H. Pylori bacteria in my stomach still causing ulcers, un-​known parasite in my GI track causing lot’s of damage, iron + B6 deficiency, my thyroid stopped functioning and I had rare gene mutation (not absorbing Folic Acid). I was shocked. At first I was so frustrated with doctors I wanted to see results immediately but than I realized this will take time to fix and I need to be patient. One of the symptoms was I lost my patience. I would be honking at cars, quick with people, point out their mistakes… etc.
I was put on holistic treatment for about 2 months by Dr. Ruscio to kill the bacteria and parasite. It was hard because I was eating many pills (60+ pills) many times a day (6x per day). We were in the process of healing my GI track. Dr. Ruscio recommended GAPS diet for next 2 – 4 weeks to heal the damaged gut. I believe I got the parasite on my trip to Mexico in 2011. I came back with severe stomach pain and wasn’t able to keep food down for 2 months. I didn’t go see a doctor then — BIG mistake!
I’m was happy I found Dr. Ruscio and wanted to give a holistic doctor try. He charged me $ 135 per visit plus $ 600-​$ 1000 for supplements every few months! He put me on a holistic treatment for H. Pylori for 2 – 3 months. Than we had to re-​test again. Unfortunately the treatment didn’t work! I was still positive for H. Pylori. Dr. Ruscio sent me to his friend — a real doctor to get antibiotics. Dr Ruscio can’t prescribe antibiotics because he’s not a doctor :-(
After being on the antibiotic for 2 weeks I finally felt better. But after 3 months I was back to feeling bad again. At that point I gave Dr. Ruscio almost 2 years and no results. My energy level was low and I corrected it myself with 5000 mg of B12 daily. The problem was I was swallowing B12 but not absorbing it through my damaged intestines. I was still experiencing severe acne which I later found out I had hormonal imbalance with high DHT (form of testosterone) and need androgen blocker. My new doctor said my DHT levels were the highest he’s ever seen in a woman.
I finally (after almost 2 years) stopped going to Dr Ruscio. He seemed lost and couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. I went to another holistic doctor and she did SIBO test. I was positive. I was hugely disappointed in Dr. Ruscio. He has many videos on YouTube about SIBO yet he missed it with me. I was treated 2x for SIBO and finally started to recover. Dr. Ruscio refused to look at my hormones till my gut is healed but I didn’t want to wait few more years.
He has knowledge about intestinal track and I would trust him to find more problems than regular doctors because he uses good tests but he can’t treat everything. He found my bacteria and parasite but couldn’t treat me. He missed SIBO and didn’t want to look at my hormones. Overall I feel like I wasted 2 years and over $ 10k!
At the end I needed good hormonal doctor to fix my hormonal imbalance and give me good thyroid medication (my thyroid was sluggish), I needed good gastroenterologist who could fix H. Pylori, parasites, ulcers and SIBO (small intestines bacterial overgrowth) and good holistic detox doctor.
Healthcare shouldn’t be about making money but about helping people to get better!

Dr. Ruscio is an authority on hormones, diabetes, and thyroid issues. He’s the man I call when I have questions. –Dr. Jesse Saenz

I highly recommend Dr Ruscio’s Clinic.
I have been a patient of his for a couple years now and have had an amazing recovery. Dr. Ruscio started treating me for hormonal imbalance and then uncovered a fungal overgrowth in my intestinal track.
After Dr. Ruscio treated me for this he put me on a maintenance plan that has allowed me to stay healthy going on 2 years now.