AlphaOmega Wellness

Many of Dr. Dee's patients tried the standard depression and anxiety therapy for years, but never got the results they wanted. When we keep taking the same medicine over and over, or we keep seeing the same counselor for years on end, and we are not experiencing healing, it's time to try something different.The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result.Wishful thinking that this same treatment will somehow start working is just that – wishful thinking.Dr. Dee discusses how shifting to a different therapy, one that gets the brain healthy, can make all the difference.1 

In this podcast episode Dr. Dee talks about how the Western approach to health issues, especially mental health, is to treat the symptoms but it fails to address the root cause what is going on in the body and brain. Most doctors continue to try different SSRIs and SNRIs to help relieve symptoms for their patients, but this does not address the underlying cause of these symptoms, which is brain health. Dr. Dee explores how to improve brain health so that the symptoms go away AND you are healthier in the process.

Dr. Dee Bonney is board-certified in emergency medicine. In this video he describes why he left the chaos of the ER to help people heal from depression, anxiety, and PTSD using IV ketamine therapy. He also discusses why this medicine works so well, and he shares insights about some plant medicines that can treat mental health issues even though they are not available in most states.

Is Ketamine Right For You? In this episode, we break down who can benefit most from ketamine therapy. Whether you're struggling with treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, PTSD, or chronic pain, ketamine might be the alternative you've been looking for. Learn how it works, who it's for, and what to consider before starting treatment.

Why Ketamine Works When Pills Don't In this episode, we explore how ketamine offers rapid relief for depression, anxiety, and other mental health challenges especially when traditional antidepressants fall short. Learn the science behind ketamine therapy and why it's transforming mental healthcare.

We know that chronic stress causes inflammation in the brain as well as loss of neural connections. These changes, in some people, lead to depression and anxiety symptoms. In today's podcast, Dr. Dee interviews Bryan Brown, a firefighter in central Indiana. Bryan candidly shares his story about his mental health struggles, and how he had tried various treatments, some of which were helpful for a period of time.Sharing his experience with ketamine therapy, Bryan talks about the improvements he started seeing early on in his treatment. He discusses how now he is becoming a person who is better equipped to handle life than even the "old me."Let us know your experiences with PTSD and what has worked to help you overcome your struggles. 

In this podcast, Dr. Dee emphasizes the importance of getting adequate sleep. So many times sleep gets relegated to an afterthought; it can easily have the least priority to us, but that can have significant health consequences.Four ways in which lack of sleep is impacting your health:1. Sleep is important for the brain to detoxify from it's own waste products that are naturally produced. This is when the glial cells get rid of these byproducts. 2. Lack of sleep can lead to fatigue and dependence on energy drinks just to get through the day. This creates an endless cycle. The energy drinks negatively impact our sleep quality, further depleted our energy levels. 3. Inadequate sleep can also wreck our hormones. Inadequate rest leads to higher cortisol levels. This then impacts how our thyroid and sex hormones work. Now we are suffering with lower metabolism as well as loss of libido and weight gain.4. Poor sleep strains relationships. General Patton said, "Fatigue makes cowards of all men." When I'm always tired and worn out I am not the best version of myself to my family. Prioritize sleep. Adults need 7-9 hours of sleep at night. Make sure you go to bed early enough and utliize good sleep hygiene practices to get good quality sleep. 

Anger can wreck relationships, reputations, and job security.Dr. Dee shares 4 steps you can take today to begin to get your anger under control. When this is managed well then every part of our lives can flourish.Here's how you start:Notice your emotional state. If you are in a state of high negative emotional arousal, then it's time to pause the conversation. Breathing can change the way you feel. Focusing on slow, deep breaths can engage the vagus nerve, which starts moving us out of “fight or flight” and into “rest and relaxation.” Just changing how we breathe can then change our internal chemistry.Stop making it all about you. The more we have to get our way the more upset we are going to be going through life. One of the best lessons I learned is that I don't have to get my way. That's still hard at times, but addressing life this way will completely change your interactions with other people.Be quick to listen and slow to speak. This means listen first to understand the other person. Pause. Don't say the first thing that comes to your mind. 

We have learned that gut health is so important to how our bodies function. When this organ is optimized mood can be improved, energy levels can rise, brain fog can decrease, and even skin rashes can improve!Dr. Dee shares 4 ways to start today to heal leaky gut.Consume a good diversity of food. Focus on all the colors of the rainbow, and be sure to get plenty of fiber and resistant starch. Eliminate toxins that damage the gut, like NSAIDs and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs).GI Medical Food - some of the GI medical foods contain good nutrients that help the gut lining to be healthier. Glutamine is an amino acid that is know to help repair the gut lining. Rest and digest - we have to focus on the rest and relaxation part of ourselves for our gut to get healthier. Activities that stimulate the vagus nerve, and thus the parasympathetic nervous system, bring about calm. This can be deep breath, yoga, prayer, mediation, mindfulness, and even laughing and singing. 

In order to be well, all 6 pillars of health need to be operating well. Those foundational elements are nutrition, body movement, metabolic function, sleep, spiritual wellness, and healthy relationships. Yes, you must have great interaction and communication with the people around you if you want to live with energy, vitality, and delay the onset of aging.Dr. Dee and Megan discuss how to establish boundaries in your life with the people with whom you interact. They provide you with actionable steps to take in order to begin to establish some guardrails for what you will and will not allow. Learn how to develop healthy boundaries with the people in your life, and understand the 4 benefits that come when you start instituting these structures in and around you. 

Moving your body goes beyond just exercising and weight loss. All the comforts we enjoy in the developed world have resulted in LESS developed bodies. The detriments to health are not limited, though, just to our physical selves. Data reveals that global average IQ has actually begun to DECLINE for the first time. This is thought to be related to environmental factors and lifestyle, with sedentary existence considered a major culprit.Dr. Dee and Megan discuss the 3 major benefits of moving our bodies, which goes beyond "exercise." They highlight the improvements in cognition people experience with movement, the mental health improvements that result, as well as the benefits that occur when we begin to understand what our bodies need moment to moment.Dr. Dee also discusses how we can actually modify our genetic expression based on our environment and lifestyle factors. 

What is the number one cause of chronic diseases and lack of wellness in the United States? By far poor health is the result of substances that we allow into our bodies that deteriorate how we function. While some of these are chemicals and pollutants, many diseases result from the foods we consume. Often we have no idea how the symptoms with which we struggle daily are the result of a diet that contains little nutrition and is inflammatory to our bodies.Dr. Dee and Megan discuss the gold standard in determining food sensitivities, and it's not and expensive test that requires you to give up your precious blood! Learn the benefits of investing 3 weeks of your life doing a comprehensive elimination diet. You may be surprised at how this approach can transform the way you feel and function. 

Every wonder why you can't seem to stop shoveling the sweets into your mouth? Or maybe your hang up isn't the sweets, but it's the comfort food (biscuits and gravy anyone) you can't do without at the end of a long day. As a country we are plagued by chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, hormone imbalances, dementia, and autoimmune illnesses. These have their roots in the foods we are consuming. Dr. Dee and Megan discuss the ways in which food manufacturers modify their ingredients to keep us coming back for more. You'll learn some tools that allow you to break the cycle of food addiction by focusing on exactly what you're consuming. 

You get a fever, congestion, cough. You have big plans this weekend. What to do??? Why not go to the urgent care and get an antibiotic to squash these symptoms from the get-go?Dr. Dee and Jessica discuss the downstream effects of this culture of antibiotic overuse, and they discuss why some doctors use antibiotics indiscriminately. Learn how you can create a therapeutic alliance with your physician so that you aren't the recipient of the quick discharge with a script in hand for the antibiotic du jour. 

Semaglutide is a peptide that has demonstrated multiple health benefits, including achieving better control of blood sugar for individuals with insulin resistance and type II diabetes as well as assisting with weight loss.Dr. Dee and Jessica discuss how elevated blood sugar, even for people who have not yet developed diabetes, drives multiple metabolic disease and causes weight gain. They discuss the multiple health benefits attributed to semaglutide. Beyond just helping with weight loss, this substance has been shown to decrease risk of heart disease, be protective of the neurologic system, help some women with fertility, and improve symptoms of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). 

Welcome to the AlphaOmega Wellness Podcast!Dr. Dee and Jessica give you the background of why they are focusing on wellness at their central Indiana medical practice, and how quality healthcare needs a paradigm shift away from just treating sickness when it occurs to promoting wellness among patients, which leads to prevention of chronic medical conditions. Jessica shares some of her own wellness journey and how that was born out of frustration that the traditional medical model was unable to address the symptoms she was having. 

Dr. Dee and Jessica discuss thyroid health. There is a lot of misinformation, even in the medical community, about thyroid: what is normal, what is the cause of hypothyroidism (low thyroid), and how to create an environment for our thyroid to function optimally. Often people have symptoms that can be attributed to low thyroid, but they get bloodwork that their physician interprets as "normal." However, what's considered normal on labs does not necessarily correlate with being well and thriving. Many people do not realize that diet can play a huge role in not only whether or not the thyroid hormone is being produced as it should, but also if that hormone is being use effectively in the tissues, and even can be the reason that the thyroid gland begins to fail.