Raquel & Doug: More Energy, Less Brain Fog, Healthier Together

What led you to our practice? A friend referred me. Funny story, we had a girls' night out. She goes, "I couldn't let her sleep because I was snoring so loud." Turns out she was snoring, too. So, we decided we're getting old, we got to figure something else out. So, she told me that she's been coming over here and that she's had some good results from it. So, here we are. And you just you said, "Let's go, too." Well, yeah, she said, "You're coming with me." It's a good way good way to do it. And what at what point, I know you said you were a friend referred you, but at what point did you say, "I want to seek out another option." Just the snoring or were there other Well, this I mean there's been other things. I just don't seem to clear answer from a regular doctor. In and out, medications not resolving so figuring functional medicine will be a best option, something outside circle. That was what got me here, just just looking for some another option. And were there symptoms you were experiencing that were hindering or impacting Well, tiredness, foggy memory, unable to lose weight or I did struggle with kidney stones. So, I was getting a lot of antibiotics not really that was my energy level, but it just seemed like I was struggling for a long time. My doctor never really checked for see you my levels of vitamins or iron or anything like that. So, when I came down here, they checked for all that and I've seen some improvement, you know, as far as my energy level is up. I'm not as foggy. I feel like I can't remember things that I felt before like What did you say 10 seconds ago? You know, that type of thing. So, that is has improved. That definitely has improved. My weight doesn't really still struggling to lose weight. However, I'm gaining muscle. That's a plus. I don't I want to feel strong. I don't want losing weight. And so this is a good thing for me. And what about you? Yeah, like what symptoms were you experiencing before that were impacting your day-to-day life? And what brought you here? Well, I'm diabetes. I you know, I've got my glucose been out of control. It's caused vision problems now because of it. So I've been trying to reverse it. Trying to lose a few pounds. Trying to get some energy back so I can feel like exercising. And you know, feeling human again cuz I was I was in a slump myself. She said I probably need be the guy I used to be and so she brought me here. And do you feel you're closer to that? Yeah, definitely. Yeah, my glucose coming down a little bit and you know, my weight not going up which is good and maybe down a little bit. I still have a lot of work to do. My energy levels up, you know, definitely. You know, I get up earlier and work I work a lot. I work a lot. I work long days and and you know, I'm coming home feeling okay which is a good good start for me. It's incredible. It's also incredible that you guys are doing this together. You know, you're going through this journey of two like better wellness together. Yeah. Can you speak on that a little bit? Well, we focus a lot in our marriage. So we want to make sure that we can grow old together. So we're trying to do everything possible to have golden years a little healthier than the average people. And you know, just trying to give it a best shot that we can so we don't have to take care of each other in the bed. We want to be actually out and about and and be a little healthier than the cuz it seems like a lot of things these days jeopardize your health. So we're just trying to work together. So, I think it's been good for us physically and mentally. So, let's talk about I guess why your first experience at the practice or with the practice. Well, honestly, I didn't know what to expect. I just completely kind of lost type of thing. It was just kind of a friend of mine who said she's it's been good for her and her husband. We were just like, "Oh, let's give it a shot." You know, it's it's just looking for something new to try to improve to see if if it work. And so far we've it's been a slow process for us. But, I think a lot of it has to be on us, too. We are under a lot of stress. Run, run, run. And I think that does delay our process. But, it's it's been an improvement for sure. Our energy level's been up. I'm one that you have to drag with a crane out of bed. That's the truth. And but I don't feel like that anymore. You know, once I'm up, I'm up, I'm go all day. So. It's incredible to hear. Surely to have that much of a difference the second you wake up. Well, usually I used to have like 2:00 3:00 in the afternoon, I used to hit the slump where I just wanted to be in bed. That's not the case. That's that's been huge, actually. Where I can still mentally aware and I'm awake. It used to be like I had during that time, I just like it was enough for me for the day. And it was rough because it also made me very moody. And it's hard to be around people when you're not feeling well. You just don't feel any energy or anything like that. So, being able to function through the whole day has been magnificent. I can imagine, yeah. Do you have anything to add about your experience? I didn't know what I was getting into when I came here, I'll be honest. And this you may find this funny, but my sister has a medical spa in South Florida. Oh, really? For many years and she's been on me to make some changes and sometimes I listen, but I usually don't. So, I didn't know what I was getting into when I came here, honestly, but it seems to be making some improvements in my life, so I'll continue. All right. You just have to be told 1 million times and by a few people, right? Um that's usually that's how life operates, too, sometimes. Um so, what about your experience with their team? Like coming in, meeting our team. Oh, they've been because um it's been great. It's great experience, very welcoming. Um yeah, just from the moment you walk in, there is a warm feeling. Everybody just go out of the way to say hi and it's very welcoming. It's and it's I've never felt uncomfortable here. Honestly, when we were talking this morning, we we live over 100 miles north and yeah, we take a day off to come down here to do this. We said how weird that we, you know, look forward to our medical appointments so we can get a day off and it's south and low stress. So, this is a good excuse to get out of work for the day. Well, I mean, I feel very happy that we're part of that day for you. So, what about um the initial lab panel that you've done along with the inbody scan? Like how how is that process of doing that? Especially for the first time. I didn't know what that inbody scan thing was. Like to me, I'm like, this is some kind of weird science, but honestly, now that I've done it three times and I'm starting to see the different measurements as I go, how great it is to see, you know, things about my body I didn't know. Uh you know, muscle mass though in different parts of your body, that's great to know. I mean, I don't know if the information will help me, but at least gives me a a good idea of my my makeup of my body so I can know a little bit more it and things I can work on and improve and and to see the things that have changed. Some things slid backwards last time and this time they've improved again. So, I got a good target, you know, and by looking at that screen and say, "Okay. All right, I can work on that. I can fix that. I can make that better." So, that that's in track. I like the in body. Yeah, the in body scan is it is neat because it also gives you that printout. So, you know what you're doing. So, what's causing the difference? So, it help you visualize and actually see, okay, I need where normally you go to the doctors and tell you, "Okay, well, you gain weight. Well, you got to do something about that." Or, you know, get on the diet. But, being able to visualize, okay, where you're doing better cuz I gain weight. Okay, I personally gain weight, but it was muscle mass. The doctor would never tell me that. They just say, you know, you gain weight. So, here I am. I'm feeling like a slob. So, this is actually helps me understand, okay, I gain weight, but it's muscle mass. So, I'm it's actually a good thing. I see it as a good thing. So, to me visually and mentally that to see that report is good because it helped me identify what's good and what isn't. So, First initial visit with your provider, could you walk me through that experience? That was the Zoom call that we had. He was great. Do you see Colin? Oh, yeah. So, yeah, that first going through your labs and that experience of expressing like going through your history, expressing your goals, expressing our concerns. His responsiveness, what I was experiencing. He was great. I think he was very informative. He cleared a lot of things. He set some goals for us as well. He's also a very understanding, you know, like that our lifestyle may sometime not be as easy to accomplish certain things. So, he looked for all our options. So, he was realistic. He wasn't just like, "Here is your goal and go for it." Um I felt like he was very um informative of what he was giving us. Cuz he gave us a list of things that we can work on or not. What can we improve? Made some suggestions. I'm not highly into a lot of medications and he understood that. You know, he he didn't kind of condemn me for that. He just said, "Well, we'll work on something else." So, I thought that was great. You know, he just open-minded about it, too. How's your experience? Um I like Colin. Um he's given me some good good advice. I mean, nothing I didn't know already about myself already, but you know, he gave me some good goals to work on. Just small goals, achievable goals, you know. Normally, I I know myself very well. If I get you give me 10 things to do, I'll probably do none of them. But if you give me two things to do, I'll probably get through them pretty easily. And that that's kind of his philosophy with Let's work on these two things right now. Get good at those and and I've been, you know, working on those things. And that that makes sense and that seems to help me a lot. I like having a little bit of a plan, you know, a little little bit of a road map. Feel like I've gotten that. Let's talk about your I guess experience or the way that you view your health and your longevity now versus how you did before. Well, I still have some unknown health issues that are plaguing me that we haven't got to the bottom of yet, but that's something that I don't know. So, I still have some concerns with my health. But, I feel like I have a little bit better control of it now, so we'll kind of see where it goes from there. With me, it's been well, a slow process, but and I know it's on me, too. So, I don't know. I'm still looking forward to see more progress as far as that. And I I do feel that they I'm going to get that with them. It's just like I said, it's also on me because there's certain things that I haven't been able to follow through what they have scheduled for me. Definitely, their direction, you know, their map, what you're doing, I do feel that I can get better, and I have been feeling better. So, that's a plus right there. So, I know that there will be more. It's just a matter of a time. Are you looking forward to learning more? Yeah, we want to learn more. We we're still figuring things out. So, before learning some of these things, has it impacted your motivation towards your health? There are more options open. Well, this has been more focused on what I've been taking is more like things that I really need like vitamins and things like that. Where regular practice they usually give me some kind of medicine which comes with side effects. I am willing to learn more about how my body works and what do I need to actually reach that level of health that I'm looking for. So, if somebody was on the fence about functional medicine, how would you describe it to somebody? Well, first of all I would just go if they're struggling with something they haven't got resolved I personally go with functional medicine is just they really focus on what you need instead of pushing something that maybe help you and it doesn't give you the side effects that the other stuff may. So, that's usually what I said. I've had good experience. He's had good experiences. I mean definitely seen a big improvement on him as well since we've been coming over here. You know, energy level, mental awareness, you know, so I guess it just worked for us. And how would you describe functional medicine in general? It's focused more on your needs, not on the doctor's budget. I kind of think of it as really it's I don't like taking medication I have to take. I'd rather healthier and more natural and take things that are more natural and less side effects and I feel like I might get that here. You know, like when they draw out my blood and actually I get all these markers of things that are going on my body that my doctor would never show me. So, I can get a better understanding of what I need either through nutrition or exercise. Functional medicine it's not here's a pill to cure it all. Like personalized, yeah. What is it Colin? Do you say Colin Renaud? He always says, "I don't know if we do one pill for every ill." That's what he says. He actually's on our podcast a lot. We do like webinars and you can ask live questions. Very well spoken. I really enjoy listening to him. And is there anything else that you would want to leave somebody with who's on the fence. Give it a try. You know, what what do you got to lose? It's your health. You've got to control it yourself. This is a good way just to at least see what's going on inside your body. You know, you get a wider understanding of things that you need to work on. It wasn't as scary as I thought. It was painless for the most part. It's helping me out. It's taking control of your own health and not allowing big pharma control you. That's what I like about it because it focus more on you, more natural with resources instead of just a magic pill for this, magic pill for that. This is focus on trying to help you, fix you instead of it being a band-aid over whatever issue you may have. So, that's the way I look at it. It's taking control of your own health.