Normal Labs but Still Feel Awful? What to Ask Your Doctor

Nikkiey: You go to the doctor, you ask them for labs. You're hoping to see something that confirms what you're feeling. And then everything comes back normal. But what does normal even mean? Most standard lab ranges are based on population averages. Oh man. That means the ranges are wide enough to include up to like 95% of the population, guys. Including people who are unhealthy, including people who are insulin resistant, including people who are sedentary, and including people who are already symptomatic.

What's going on, everybody? Hey, you guys. Welcome back to another episode of The WarriorBabe Show. Or if this is one of your first episodes, welcome to the show with your host, Nikkiey Stott. On these podcast episodes, we talk about mindset, methodology, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. So today's episode, you guys, is episode number 297.

Today, I want to tackle a topic that I feel like hits so many of you guys right in the gut. And this is probably going to get a little bit spicy. But what's a podcast without a little bit of spice? So let's just get right into it. Have you gone to your doctor, and I'm talking about like a PCP, your medical doctor, and said, I'm tired all the time. I'm gaining weight for no reason. My mood's all over the place. I'm doing everything right, and I still feel off. And what do you get? A shrug. Maybe a "your labs are normal." Maybe a "this is just your age, something you've got to get used to now as you're getting older." Maybe a prescription for an antidepressant. Or a suggestion of, oh, what is your nutrition like? Maybe you should just be eating less processed foods. Eat less. Move more. Get your workout on. Get some exercise in.

If that's been your experience, I want you to know something. Your doctor isn't wrong. They're just not trained in this field. And that's what we're going to dive into tonight. This episode isn't about bashing healthcare. I want to educate and empower you so that you can stop questioning your sanity and start taking control of your health and confidence.

If you guys have listened to some of the recent episodes that I've shared with you, specifically the one that's titled like Life Update, I go into, hey, this is what I was experiencing. I have a background of nine years in the medical field, and I'm aware that some of these doctors aren't trained in nutrition as much as other doctors who have specifically trained for this. And that's what I'm going to talk about. I'm going to talk about those doctors, the functional medicine doctors. I'm going to dive into that. But I didn't take the outlet of going to traditional healthcare. I took the outlet of going down this path where I feel like my symptoms are actually looked at a little bit more in depth. It's not just, oh, you're tired, well, here's this. Or, oh, your mood's all over the place, well, here's this. Or you're feeling bloated, your hair's thinning, it's falling out, all of this stuff.

So I talk about my life update if you guys want to go hear that. And that's why I wanted to expand upon this, because ever since, I've been getting DMs or questions or thoughts like, what do I look for? And how do I advocate for myself? So I want you guys to be able to stop questioning your sanity and start really taking control of your health with confidence.

I want to pull back the curtain on why, in my opinion, traditional healthcare keeps failing women, especially women over 35 in perimenopause and menopause and beyond. I want to dive into what I feel are the massive gaps in medical training when it comes to hormones, metabolism and nutrition. I want to talk about why standard lab ranges are kind of misleading and a little bit outdated, the difference between being normal and being optimal, functional testing and what that will reveal about your blood work that standard blood work won't, and how to advocate for yourself so that you stop feeling dismissed. Like I felt back in the day, kind of brushed off, like here's this, maybe that'll solve it. Instead of feeling dismissed or brushed off, you start to feel better, because your symptoms, and I want you to know this, are not all in your head. Your body's not betraying you. Your body's trying to tell you something, and you guys know your body better than anybody else. But we're just working with an outdated system at the time. And I want you guys to be able to take your power back.

So let me start by prefacing this. I am not anti-doctor. I need to make that clear. I am not anti-medicine. I need to make that clear. I am not anti-science. I'm going to make that clear too. What I am is pro-woman. I am pro-listening. I am pro equipping you with the tools to take your health into your own hands.

Because here's the hard truth, and a truth that some of you guys may not even be aware of. Most primary care physicians, your PCP, your doctor, the ones we all go to when something feels off, get less than 20 hours of nutritional education in med school. And many get zero hours dedicated to hormone health, to perimenopause, to adrenal dysfunction, or to metabolic adaptation. Their training is absolutely phenomenal for acute disease, for trauma care, for diagnostics, for emergencies. We're talking broken bones. We're talking infections. We're talking heart attacks. We're talking chronic diseases like cancer and diabetes. They are aces. I saw it firsthand when I worked in the emergency room. They're aces, and there are aces in the specialties all throughout the hospital. They're absolute rock stars in those fields.

But what about when you don't have a disease, you just feel off? And off can be such a broad description. But you feel like hell. Your brain fog won't lift. Your weight gain, you can't explain. The fatigue, no matter how much you sleep, is still there. Mood swings that make you feel like you're totally losing it. Am I right here, my friends? Digestive issues, period changes, anxiety out of nowhere. Those symptoms don't get flagged as emergencies. They don't really qualify as a diagnosis. So then what happens? You get told, oh, it's your age. Oh, it's stress. You're probably really stressed at work. No shit. Excuse my language. No, really. I think we're all stressed, right? Or your labs are fine. Your labs are normal. But you know something isn't right, and your intuition is screaming. And yet the system shrugs. It's just this. It's just stress. That's the problem. Not the doctors themselves, I just want to make that clear, but the system that they were trained in.

So let me talk about labs now, because this is a huge source of confusion and frustration for so many women, especially for me. You finally get the courage to advocate for yourself, right? You go to the doctor. You ask them for labs. You're hoping to see something that confirms what you're feeling. And then everything comes back normal. But what does normal even mean? I remember asking this back in the day. This is what it means. Most standard lab ranges are based on population averages. Nikkiey, say less. Right there, you're just like, oh, man. That means the ranges are wide enough to include up to like 95% of the population, guys. Including people who are unhealthy. Including people who are insulin resistant. Including people who are sedentary. And including people who are already symptomatic.

So let's say your TSH, your thyroid stimulating hormone, comes back at 4.4. Technically, that's in range. But functionally, that is a red flag for a sluggish thyroid. Or let's say that your progesterone is low, but it's still above the lab's cutoff. So your doctor says it's fine. Meanwhile, you're experiencing insomnia. You're experiencing anxiety. You're experiencing short cycles, or you're experiencing heavy bleeding. Here's the deal, my friends, and I want you guys to hear me loud and clear and understand.

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Nikkiey: Normal doesn't mean that it's optimal. "In range" doesn't mean that your thyroid or those things are functioning well. And being told that you are "fine" doesn't mean that you actually are. Again, I don't want you guys to think that you are crazy when you're feeling all of these things. This is why so many people feel invalidated. They feel so confused and so stuck, because the professional, the one that we look to because they have all of this knowledge and expertise, more than we do, is the one whose words we believe. And when they say that you're fine but you're experiencing all these things, it doesn't mean that you actually are. So I just want you to know that.

This is where functional and integrative medicine absolutely shines. Functional testing looks for patterns, not just problems. It's about understanding how your body is working, not just whether a number is flagged on a lab report. So there are some tests you guys could be equipped to learn about or understand. Maybe some of you have already heard about these tests before. These types of tests will help get you answers when traditional medicine won't.

As a side note before the tests: I said in that Life Update podcast, for those of you who know and for those of you who don't, that my thyroid has downregulated. So I have a low thyroid, and my testosterone and my DHEA are low as well. My cortisol is elevated. Prolactin and some other things are also off. So I'm being treated. I'm about three and a half-ish weeks into my protocol. I will say that I feel like my body is definitely getting used to this new routine. I haven't really experienced much difference, but I know that takes time, because I'm currently in an adaptation period. I said in that podcast that if I was having a good experience and felt the company was awesome, I would share it with you guys. So the company is called Marek. I'm not endorsed or sponsored by them. I just feel like they're a great company so far in the time I've been working with them. So check out Marek if you guys are interested.

But in the meantime, if you guys want to do tests that will give you some answers that traditional medicine can't, I'm sure you've heard of the DUTCH test. If you haven't, it's specifically around hormones. It's the gold standard for hormone analysis. It's a urine test, but don't let that fool you, because it tells you how much estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and cortisol your body is producing, and how your body is metabolizing that estrogen, which is huge for any type of potential cancer risk. And whether your cortisol rhythm is inverted, aka you're wired and tired at night, awake at night and having a hard time falling asleep, and then you're tired in the morning. That's me. So that's a really cool test. It's like a complete map of what's going on with your sex and stress hormones.

Another really good one is the GI-MAP test, a digestive health test that looks at your stool. Another one, and one of the most underused in my recommendations, is the HTMA, hair tissue mineral analysis, which is good for adrenal function, for your nervous system stress, and for mineral imbalances that affect your mood, your energy, and your metabolism. So if you feel like you're wired and tired at night and your nervous system is always on, this test is an absolute game changer.

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Nikkiey: And this is the one main thing that I wanted you guys to have a takeaway on. I've gotten a couple of DMs on my Instagram asking, well, what did this company test you for? Because I had 11 vials of blood taken, and that's pretty extensive. Like I said, functional medicine goes a little bit deeper than traditional medicine will. They'll do a regular blood draw, but it's analyzed through a functional lens. What I specifically mean is that they're looking at fasting insulin, not just your glucose level. They're looking at your cortisol. I can't remember the last time a PCP looked at my cortisol levels or had me do a saliva test, which looks at my cortisol over the course of an entire day. Typically cortisol is taken once and done, but there are also saliva tests where you can take it throughout the course of the day. And if you do take a blood test and look at cortisol, like I said earlier, it's about looking at the pattern of your cortisol when you go and take a follow-up test.

Anyway, a full thyroid panel. This includes your antibodies. Some PCPs don't take a full look at your thyroid, and that's where you can fall in the range of normal when it's really not normal. Looking at inflammation markers, like your CRP and your homocysteine. These are things that give you so much deeper insight. Vitamin D, B12, iron, ferritin, all of that. Those types of blood panels give us a real look at your metabolic, your immune, and your energy systems in action. I'm going to repeat this and break it down into a tangible list so you feel equipped to assess things and advocate for yourself.

So now you know, okay, these are the gaps. You're probably like, yeah, Nikkiey, 100%, I totally agree with what you're saying. Some of this is probably causing a little bit of controversy, and that's okay, because this is what I firmly believe in. It's my opinion. If you have something you want to talk to me about or debate, I'm happy to have those types of conversations in my DMs. More than happy. I love that.

But now you know where the gaps are, right? You know where standard medicine falls short. You know what tests are out there to try. But how do you put this all into action? How do you start showing up for your own health? How do you start advocating for your own health, even when your doctor won't? So the next time you walk into an appointment, maybe you absolutely love your doctor and you have an amazing relationship with them, but this is how things have gone and you want to turn it around and take a little more control. Speak up. There's nothing wrong with that.

But don't walk into an appointment saying, I just feel off. Be specific. Keep a weekly log of your sleep patterns, your energy dips, your cycle changes, your mood shifts, your digestion, your cravings, your soreness, your recovery. Because that is your evidence. When you have that type of evidence over the course of weeks, it's way harder to be dismissed, or to be told you're just getting older, to get the shrugs and the here's this, hope it fixes it. Because if you just say off, like I said earlier, that's very broad. Where do you feel off? And then you're thinking about what happened yesterday, but forget what happened last week, or the week before that, or the patterns. Personally, from experience, I've been in the moment in a doctor's office and said something like that, and they're like, well, can you elaborate? And I just go deer in headlights. And I'm like, dang, I wish I kept a journal or something, so that I could say, this is my evidence, and feel more confident delivering what I'm experiencing and what my symptoms are.

So I highly recommend keeping a weekly log of what you're experiencing, because then you have legs to stand on when you're having that conversation. And when they say, oh, you're fine, you can say, no, no, no. Two weeks ago, I experienced this. A week ago, I experienced this. This pattern is still happening. And that's you being able to advocate for yourself.

And then, most importantly, know what to ask for. So go in with this list. Ask for a full thyroid panel. That is your TSH, your free T3, your free T4, your reverse T3, and your antibodies. Ask for cortisol. Ask for your progesterone, your estrogen, your testosterone. Ask for vitamin D, B12, your iron, and then insulin and your A1C.

If your doctor won't run them, because I've heard this and I've seen this, you can use direct-to-consumer labs or work with a company like Marek, the one I just mentioned, or even Equal Life. We used to be a partner with them. They went a different route that wasn't in alignment with what we personally agreed with. If you go to the website, you might see why. But they were great with the tests they offered in the functional medicine realm. Or if you're a WarriorBabe, ask your coach how you can advocate for yourself more deeply. And in WarriorBabe, something is coming soon, so stay tuned. That's all I'm going to say.

And know that you are allowed to change doctors. You are allowed to get second opinions. Don't ever just take at face value what somebody is saying when you have a gut feeling that it's off. You are allowed to say, I hear you, but I am not okay, and I want to dig a little bit deeper. Dude, it is okay to say that. This is your body. This is your life. This is your future. Okay?

So I want to bring it home. First of all, a story from the front lines. It's me. While I don't feel like I can share my full experience yet, since I'm still in the midst of my body adapting to this protocol, I will say I knew something was off. I knew that my hair thinning, me being tired and wired, me crashing out midday, me sleeping for eight to nine hours and then waking up exhausted and feeling like I could go back to sleep, I knew that wasn't right. And because I've personally spent time in the healthcare field, I knew that if I went to a PCP with that type of information, it would have amounted to, here's some sleeping medication, or here's, I don't know, I'm making this up, protocols or medicine that will treat a diagnosis, as I was saying earlier.

What they are well equipped for is emergencies and diagnosing things like heart attacks and chronic diseases. Those doctors are really well equipped to recognize those, and they've spent years in that type of training. But when it comes to the type of stuff we're talking about, well, what about getting a little bit deeper with it? You can get a little deeper when you work with somebody who's been trained in nutrition, in hormones, in metabolism for more than 20 hours in school. They made it their passion, their understanding. They wanted to learn more.

Anyway, I say all of that because I didn't go the PCP route, since I knew that would be the outcome. So I advocated for myself. I did a bunch of research online, and then I found this company. And it was refreshing, because they were like, yeah, you're not alone. A lot of women experience this. It's everywhere. So me sharing my story with you guys, that my thyroid is off, my testosterone is off, my hormones are off, first of all at 35 years old, like I said in the other podcast, it's important to get checked. I'm not saying all this to scare you. I'm saying it to empower you to get checked out.

Okay, so I want to bring it home. If you've felt dismissed or brushed off, if you've been told, oh, you're fine, when you don't feel fine, the system is only looking at numbers, not at your experience. So this is your reminder. One, you're not crazy, you're not lazy, and you're not broken. You're just working with an outdated playbook, and I hope this stuck and landed, one that's going off of the population as "normal" when the majority of the population is unhealthy. Going off of those numbers is crazy. It's time to change the game in the way you look at things.

I'm hoping this episode brought more awareness, which is my favorite word, and a different type of outlook. You deserve a practitioner or a doctor who listens, labs that go way deeper, and a strategy that's built around your body, your biofeedback, and your goals. And I say all this because I knew something was off. I'm going to go with that broad term. I knew something was off. All those symptoms that I just shared with you, it's not that you're getting older. It's not what you're meant to feel like. You are meant to feel alive and vibrant and strong and resilient and free in your body.

Okay. So I hope this empowered you and gave you the confidence to advocate for yourself when you go to your doctor next time. Know what to ask for, know how to show up, have your evidence. Because that way it's really hard to feel dismissed. So I hope this landed for you guys. If it did, pop into my DMs. I would love to have a chat. I've been talking to a lot of you and building some really cool relationships with some of you through IG, which I'm loving. So if you have questions or thoughts about this, I'm happy to talk, happy to chat. Hit me up in the DMs. And until then, I will see you guys in the next episode. Peace out.

Hey, really quick before you go, I have one small favor to ask. If this episode brought you value or sparked something in you, take just a moment to hit that review button. Your rating and review make all the difference in helping more women discover the tools they need to transform their fitness and their confidence. It takes less than a minute, but it can change the path of someone else's journey. Thank you so much for leaving that review. I appreciate you so much.