Ditch The Labcoat

In this episode of Ditch the Labcoat, Dr. Mark Bonta does something different. For the first time on the podcast, he speaks with a former patient. Nora Rabah Rodden joins the show not as a clinician, but as someone who lived for years with debilitating symptoms that medicine couldn't explain or fix. Despite normal tests and repeated reassurance, her pain, GI symptoms, fatigue, and nervous system distress persisted. What she encountered instead was a gap in care. Not a lack of effort, but a lack of framework. Nora shares how learning about neuroplasticity and nervous system patterning finally gave her symptoms context. Not imagined. Not psychological. Learned, reinforced, and reversible. That experience became the foundation for why she later co-founded Nervana. Together, they explore why so many patients are dismissed once serious disease is ruled out, how threat signaling and conditioned responses can keep the body stuck in symptoms, and why telling patients “nothing is wrong” is often the most harmful message of all. The conversation breaks down the science of neuroplastic recovery in plain language, while staying honest about its limits and responsibilities. This episode is about what happens when medicine runs out of explanations, and what becomes possible when we stop treating unexplained symptoms as a dead end and start treating the nervous system as something that can learn, adapt, and heal. Nora's Link : https://www.trynervana.com/ Episode Takeaways 1. Patient Experience Matters: Normal tests do not equal normal lives. Symptoms can persist even when disease is ruled out.2. Neuroplastic Symptoms Are Real: Learned nervous system patterns can drive pain, GI distress, fatigue, and insomnia without structural damage.3. “Nothing Is Wrong” Is Harmful: Reassurance without explanation often deepens fear, confusion, and isolation.4. Symptoms Can Be Learned and Unlearned: The brain adapts quickly, for better or worse, and those patterns are reversible.5. This Is Not Psychosomatic: Neuroplastic recovery is grounded in neuroscience, not imagination or positive thinking.6. Awareness Changes Identity: When patients stop identifying with symptoms, recovery often begins.7. Recovery Is Gradual, Not Dramatic: Progress usually looks subtle, steady, and cumulative rather than sudden.8. Lived Experience Can Build Better Care: Nora’s recovery is why Nervana exists, to close the gap medicine often leaves behind. Episode Timestamps04:18 – Why This Episode Is Different: The First Patient Voice08:36 – When Tests Are Normal but Symptoms Are Not13:09 – The Gap Between Disease and Dysfunction18:52 – Neuroplasticity Explained Without the Jargon24:35 – Why “Nothing Is Wrong” Can Be Harmful30:13 – How the Nervous System Learns Symptoms36:56 – What Recovery Actually Looks Like in Practice43:14 – Turning Lived Experience Into a Care Framework DISCLAMER >>>>>>    The Ditch Lab Coat podcast serves solely for general informational purposes and does not serve as a substitute for professional medical services such as medicine or nursing. It does not establish a doctor/patient relationship, and the use of information from the podcast or linked materials is at the user's own risk. The content does not aim to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and users should promptly seek guidance from healthcare professionals for any medical conditions.    >>>>>> The expressed opinions belong solely to the hosts and guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Hospitals, Clinics, Universities, or any other organization associated with the host or guests.     Disclosures: Ditch The Lab Coat podcast is produced by (soundsdebatable.com) and is independent of Dr. Bonta's teaching and research roles at McMaster University, Temerty Faculty of Medicine and Queens University.