I am a chiropractor in Lakewood, Colorado. I have a background in nursing. I have a passion for helping people and helping them to better understand how their body works. Over the years as a chiropractor I have had several clients get physicals from their medical doctors and they run a bunch of tests on them and my clients' complaint is that they just don't feel good. Their medical doctor goes on to tell them that there's nothing wrong with them. Yet, the problem is that they still don't feel good. That's why they are now my clients. These are people tired of riding the medical roller coaster or some have even become what I have heard called, "Medical Wreckage". They are tired of taking prescription medications or even getting referred to a surgeon even though they can't say what is wrong.

First of all, I am not going to be bashing the medical doctors or their community. I am here to share with people what I have learned, seen, and experienced over the last 13 years + of working in healthcare. A typical case for example is someone that has very low energy, feels tired all the time, even after a full nights sleep (if they don't suffer from insomnia), they feel stressed out, but often times don't know why. They maybe experiencing anxiety, depression, or even both. They typically crave sugar and get lightheaded, irritable or agitated if they skip a meal or may get really tired after eating a meal. Usually they complain of digestive problems; either upset stomach or burning (some call it reflux) or diarrhea or constipation. Mentally it feels like their brain is stuck in a fog and they are noticing more memory problems (like can't remember people's names or difficulty calculating numbers) or they know what they want to say, but can't find the right words, you know like when the words are on the tip of your tongue. Classically these people have been diagnosed with hypothyroid and put on a pacifier of Synthroid or some other medical drug. If the MD can't find anything to coorelate to the patient's symptoms then they are medicated for depression because it is all in their head. If this "depressed" person happens to have multiple tender places in their muscles (usually upper back and neck area) they are often diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Others complain of just widespread muscle, joint, or back aches and pains and are put on muscle relaxants and/or anti-inflammatories.

From a medical perspective, medical doctors are experts in their field to diagnose and treat diseases. Period! So when somebody goes to their medical doctor and they don't find anything "wrong" with the patient then they usually aren't sure what to do and unfortunately as reported by my clients are told, "There's nothing wrong with you." The patient leaves very discouraged because obviously there IS something wrong or else they wouldn't be feeling like they do.

So let's look at it with a little more detail. The patient goes in to report their symptoms or aches and pains. The medical doctor runs their medical tests and some actually do an exam. They are looking for things that are OUTSIDE THE NORMAL RANGE! So if you feel bad, but it's still within the normal range, then the doctor is telling you that there is nothing wrong with you because he or she is trained to look for DISEASES! So to have a disease you must be pretty bad off. FORTUNATELY, most people aren't that bad and that is where I come in because they still need help.

You see, I look at a patients history and reason for their visit and then I have them get their blood tested to include a full comprehensive blood chemistry panel that MD's can order, but usually don't because they have insurance companies tell them what to order or they won't pay for it. Since I am not locked into the insurance run world of "healthcare" I can order blood tests at a discounted cash rate because a group of us Alternative Medical practitioners have joined together where we can make this possible.

These blood tests when evaluated by the MD are seen as normal because they are looking for "outside the normal range" values. That means the body chemistry has been so badly altered by disease processes that it can no longer regulate proper blood chemistry. ALSO, the biggest thing to keep in mind is that the "normal" lab ranges are based off of each lab and the people that get their blood tested there. You have to think about what the "normal" population is that is getting their blood tested. A majority of these people are on a wide range of medications to control their disease processes and so the blood lab normal ranges are skewed because the NORM includes people on these medications. So to actually have a lab out of the normal range is a BIG deal and that's what these MD's are looking for.

That can be kind of depressing in and of itself when you think about it. How many blood tests have you had where everything or most everything was just fine? On an optimistic note, I look at the blood tests from a "functional" perspective. This means that I use a narrower range to evaluate the blood work. So even though somebody may not show out of the normal range on the lab (also known as the "Pathological Range") they may actually be outside the "functional range" or in other words have a pattern that is on the way to becoming a disease or pathological. You could say that to have a properly balanced body in all ways would be to have a body that is "At-Ease" and then when it gets out of balance, but is not too bad then it is under "Dis-Ease". Then if the balance is so bad that it is out of the normal range then it is what is called "DISEASE".

So by identifying the functional range of blood tests and comparing it to the patients exam and history, the systems of the body that are dysfunctioning can be identified. Once identified, I make recommendations of pharmaceutical grade nutritional supplements(Which means: all ingredients are equal in every capsule/tablet/perle vs. food grade where the ingredients are in varied amounts and give unpredictable results) to support the weakened biochemical pathway. I do not treat or diagnose diseases or condition! Some people may have blood sugar imbalances, but not be a true diabetic. So I support the blood chemistry pathways in the body, but leave the Diabetes treatments to the medical doctors. I identify what systems are under stress and provide the proper building blocks and support until their system is restored to proper function and then we move to the next one until we have obtained proper balance and function of their normal biochemical pathways.

Sometimes the process takes a few months, but for others it can take a lifetime of support. The goal however, is to get your body to work at its optimal potential. The main thing I have to point out to people however is that if they are on medications and they begin a nutritional program to help restore their health that there a few things that happen. Medications either stimulate or inhibit a specific function or chemical pathway in the body. This helps to regulate the symptoms the person is experiencing, but the person is not suffering from a medication deficiency. So when a person begins to start taking nutritional supplements to restore and repair the body and its natural function (as long as it hasn't been destroyed too far) and the medications are still being according to the prescription, side effects may occur. When this happens, the nutritional supplements are blamed because the "side effects" didn't show up until they started taking the nutrition. The key thing to remember is that when the body begins to heal, it starts working better which clinically the medication dosage is too much for the person and so the side effects are actually a reaction of getting too much medication. I DO NOT ALTER MY CLIENT'S PRESCRIPTIONS AT ANY TIME! I am not licensed to do this. So they are told to discuss their goals with their medical doctor so that if they start experiencing these side effects then the MD can decrease or change their prescription. This is what they are licensed to do. I do not do this. This is their field of expertise. Fortunately, I am seeing more and more medical doctors listening to the wishes of their patients and helping them to accomplish their health goals. With the help of their MD's, I have had some clients where their MD actually decreased the dosage and a few were able to get UN-Prescribed for their medication. This is great when this happens because it is so much easier to work with the body. Since the medications are synthetic (and some even toxic) to the body, it decreases the stress on balancing the natural body chemistry by not having the medications in the system.

My clients tell me that when they think through the process it makes perfect sense and so that is why I stress this with clients that are taking medications. Now this doesn't happen with everyone taking medications and everybody is NOT on medications as many medical doctors actually think. I have 70 and 80 year old clients that get their annual physicals and the medical doctors and staff are surprised to see they aren't taking any medications and they ask them, "Then, why are you here?" I guess they are not expecting people to actually come in for "Well Visits", but only "Sick Visits". This used to be uncommon, but when something becomes common enough then it becomes the norm. When something becomes the norm then that is what everybody comes to expect AND that is what I battle against everyday. It's almost like Un-training bad behaviors and that is not an easy process. Very possible though. So to all those out there searching for answers to why you don't feel well and your doctor says, "There's Nothing Wrong With You!" There is ALWAYS hope as I am not alone in my "alternative methods". Like-minded practitioners are out there and sometimes just hard to find because we are not the NORM. I personally prefer it that way! So help me to spread the word that there truly is an Alternative to Medicine! :>) www.andersonfamilywellness.net 303-985-4002