Dr. Due Diligence

I met a new doctor. And since July 2019, she has given me access to answers that don't need a prescription.

Taking your health and wellness to the next level is not necessarily a doctor appointment away. If the year 2020 has taught us anything, it's that most things (if not all) can be accomplished with a wifi signal. That goes hand-in-hand with Dr.Due Diligence; as in doing your due diligence to get the answers and type of healthcare you want.

After starting my journey last year, I know my way around the get-it-done game board when it comes to labwork but also finding ways to get at the core of certain medical issues that are chronic or just simply linger/seem to keep getting worse. If you're tired of going to urgent care, the ER, your PCP, or a number of "conventional" doctors that look at you like you have a 3rd head when you tell them you don't want to be medicated for your ailments - here are some resources to get things done without an MD's "approval"or prescription.

At-Home & Local Testing

If you've ever been curious about things like food allergies, migraines, itchiness, random body aches, or general seemingly unexplainable symptoms, there are a variety of tests you can do at home & send off via mail to a lab for answers. No doctor sign off needed. There are also more specialty tests available as well if you wanted something specific to your gender or known disease. One(or all) of these 4 things are the requirement: urine, saliva, finger prick/blood draw, or....yepp.... poop aka "stool".

I could get lost in these all day because although you may only need to test a few things, you will want to test everyyything once you see the amount of things that can actually be investigated for you - all in one click.

- Everlywell, the most well known, most convenient and reputable at-home test kit brand.

- HealthLabs online , order ANY test you want, take your confirmation to a lab in your zip code, get your results in less then a week. Win-win-win.

- MyMedLab , this one I think has the most variety of tests too choose from and my favorite most interesting test on here can actually predict how certain pharmaceuticals will respond depending on your DNA and what supplements/food/lifestyle changes to implement that reduces/prevents your risk with diseases that you are specifically prone to develop!

- LetsGetChecked , great customer service & always have discounts regularly.

As a side note, you should technically be doing allergy testing every 5 years and/or any time you move to a different hemisphere. You are not immune to developing allergies that you weren't originally born with. There have been several cases where a person has eaten chicken, for example, their whole life - then all of a sudden they start having symptoms they think are from something else - but are actually from a new sensitivity to chicken! Same thing can happen with dairy, gluten, or pollen. You can dig even deeper by finding out if you have toxic build up due to unbeknownst mold exposure from places you've lived/worked in your lifetime.

Online Therapy/Psychology

People keep it on the hush, but the truth is 1 out of 3 people are in some form of counseling (or they're taking Xanax...we're here for the less heavy options though):

- BetterHelp, I have used this service on & off for 3 years. You can choose your therapist by filtering to your hearts desire: male/female, specialty, education, belief system, age, as well as choosing how to chat via phone, live video, instant message, or email. Change therapists as often as you'd like to find the right fit.

- TalkSpace , comparable in similar offerings but what stands out the most is their partnerships with several employers & a few insurances (even Cigna!) to help people cover the cost.

Both options have flexible scheduling and are totally private. Having a counselor/therapist is like having a neutral 3rd party at your beckoned call. You can use this for as little or as long as you'd like. There have been instances where I use it for a few weeks than pause, a year goes by I restart for maybe 3 months, pause, and so on and so on. It's about what is going on in your present day. Life ebbs and flows; thankfully these platforms have been built in such a way to recognize the humanity of that fact.

Naturopathic/Functional Medicine Options

In the event you are still attached to the idea of being under someone's wing or having guidance, just with a different/more reliable perspective, there are definitely options for you too. Two good places to start a search in your city are here and here. What I love about the holistic approach is the way they treat the body as a whole, instead of focusing on a set of symptoms coming from one organ.

Some options I have had personal experience working with is a brand called Parsley Health; they offer both in-person & online membership where you meet (or Zoom with) both a holistic doctor and a Health Coach. They literally build you a plan of true action, to meet short and long term goals no matter where you're at healthwise or whatever mysterious symptoms have been plaguing you. (Did I mention you get unlimited direct messaging?!)

Although I'm not big on naming names, Amy Myers has a practice in Texas but has also authored several books that would make any family doctor's head spin. Overall, if you want to seek out a holistic approach to your healthcare or you just want resources from people who actually understand how things work in the body outside of just being medicated/antiobiotic'd....there are certain professionals that we highly underrate: pharmacists. People like Isabella Wentz and Suzy Cohen have gone rogue - in the best way. But all three have done the trial and error themself for people like me(us) to achieve our own true core healing based on addressing the list pictured above. Conventional medicine failed them and now their newfound-proven methods have helped reverse and/or put many serious medical conditions into remission.

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Get to the core of your symptoms - holistically, conveniently, efficiently, effectively. I really hope all or any of these options empower you to get the answers you never knew you even wanted and the ones you did. I hope these options also give you a sense of freedom from the rules, diagnostic processes, & perspectives of conventional medicine that leave us feeling boxed in or cornered, when the sky is now (and in a way has long been) the limit. I hope these options make you realize in a different way that you don't need permission to explore what life can be like outside of medication being the 1st stop upon any ill feeling.

Ready? Set. Dr. Due Diligence to the rescue! #GoBabyGo

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