Written by Dr. Angie.
Some of you have noticed that I've been around the office more lately. I'm also still getting comments that some of my patients didn't even know I was back. So, I'm Back!!!🩵
Because I'm feeling better, we are slowly expanding my schedule. Also, because I'm feeling better, we're going to be going back to my regular appointment lengths (when I was at my worst, we had given me longer appointment times so I could rest between patients--I never rested and just spent that extra time taking care of people). This means I'll have to be more diligent about ending appointments on-time and keeping to my schedule.
While I'm getting back into my regular timing, please don't be offended when I check my watch. We've been easing back into this timing on Mondays, and as some of you know there have been a few days I've gotten really behind. You shouldn't have to wait long for care, so I'm going to do better in this department.
If you ever feel like you need more time for an appointment, please call the office and let the staff know. If you ever throw out your back or wake up and can't turn your head, these are considered urgent and we will do our best to see you same-day.
My current schedule is:
Monday 8a-12p
Wednesday 10a-3p
I am not accepting new patients right now, as I want my existing patients to have full access to my schedule first. If I have space in a few months, I may accept new patients again. I am still adjusting, and performing soft tissue services like dry needling, cupping, scraping/Graston (IASTM), and taping.
If you haven't been to Taproot in a while then you should know that we are now the only full wellness center in Bulverde. In addition to our chiropractic services, we also offer: massage (deep tissue, relaxation, and lymphatic), acupuncture and herbal therapy, infrared sauna, PEMF therapy, bioenergetic testing, and light rehab services. We hope to add weight-loss/health hacking to our services soon.
If you made it this far, you're probably interested in my actual health and not my hours of operation. We still don't know why I was feeling the way I was. We are still doing some testing here and there but it's really more geared at food allergies and allergy response. I do still feel weak on the immune side (get sick easily), but I feel that is improving.
I made some big changes in the last quarter of 2023 to improve my health:
Little to no alcohol and liver detox--I feel like alcohol is just poison to my body. I have had a few drinks here and there, but I make sure to stay well-hydrated (I use Endura for drinking days because of the B vitamins. We carry this in-office and on Fullscript). I also started using liver castor oil packs to help detox my liver (we will have these in-office within the week). None of my liver panels ever showed any dysfunction, but my body was obviously not eliminating toxins efficiently.
I quit caffeine 😲--I never thought I would say this as coffee is one of my FAVORITE things, but I randomly had a few days away from coffee in October. During this time, my dizziness improved and my brain fog lifted. When I was taking acupuncture classes a few years ago, I learned that caffeine can deplete liver Qi. As I feel like my health issues were due to toxin exposure or build-up and liver is the primary organ involved in detoxification, I figured it needed all the life-force (Qi) it could get. Speaking of toxins, most mass-produced coffee contains mycotoxins (toxins produced by mold) and there are differing opinions as to what levels of these (if any) are ok for human consumption. I still drink decaf coffee, but I only use guaranteed mold-free coffee like Purity. Bulletproof does not have a decaf option, but they also guarantee to be mold free. I like Purity so much that we now carry it in the office.
Exercise more, eat better, fast, and lose weight--Good thing that all these things go hand-in-hand. Its like the body was made with an intelligent design or something😉. I'm not terribly overweight as I've kept up with some exercising over the last year, but I also when through a period where I ate my feelings. Exercise alone just like diet alone is not enough for most people to maintain their health. With suspecting that my symptoms were some sort of toxicity, I knew that this would eventually have to be a focus of mine. The lymphatic system helps detox the body by collecting fluid and toxins throughout the body which are then filtered out of the body by the liver and kidneys. One of the best ways to make this system work efficiently is to MOVE!!! Toxins also get stored in fat. Weight loss for toxicity needs to be taken slowly as to not dump large amounts of toxins directly into the blood stream where they could just deposit elsewhere (and make you feel bad in the process). Eating a diet including greens and cruciferous vegetables binds toxins and helps eliminate them. Fasting contributes to apoptosis (programed cell death) which makes new cells more healthy and efficient. This is my primary health focus right now. I'm working out daily and I'll soon be training for 10ks again. I like to both intermittent fast and extended fast. Fasting is easy, but diet can be tricky with a busy family. Meal prepping makes or breaks our whole week. If you're interested in learning more about fasting, schedule a nutritional consultation with me and we can discuss it. If you're a woman of child-baring age, check out Fast Like a Girl for more information on fasting for your hormones.
Herbal Therapy--When Dr. Jay joined our team in December, I was really excited about getting acupuncture by a Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine again (it's been a few years), but what we've found is that we can't sync up our schedules to make this happen. We can though take 20 minutes to have an Herbal Therapy consultation and that has been a game changer!!! We've gone through 3 different compounds now. There's a goal of getting to a stronger detox blend but early-on I had a detox reaction so we're taking a lot of intermediate steps. I do feel like herbal therapy has been a big contributor to fortifying my immune system as (and I don't want to jinx anything here) I've definitely had some exposure to flu over the last 2 weeks and managed not to get sick 🤞. If you'd like to schedule with Dr. Jay, call the office 830-999-7668 or Schedule Online Here (if you can't find the time you need, please call and let our staff work their magic).
If you have any questions about the things I've been doing for my health and if they would be right for you, please reach out. All of the products we carry at Taproot I've had personal experiences with and love. I did not go into every aspect of everything I'm doing to rebuild my health, as there are lots of daily little things. Please, if you ever have any questions about your own health issues let us know and we'd be happy to schedule a consultation to help you or get you with the right provider who can.