“But the doctor said my blood work came back normal. Why do I still feel so terrible?”“They didn’t find anything in the blood work panel. Now what?”If you’re like us or many of the clients who walk through our virtual door, I’m sure you’ve felt similar sentiments. Interpreting your symptoms and your blood work can feel like a mystery. Whether it comes back “normal” or if the doctor tells you certain numbers are too high or too low, you can often be left with the feeling of “Now What?”Well let us step in and help clear things up.We’ve identified the top 4 points to consider when you are getting (or thinking about getting) hormonal blood work done:
- Understanding the benefits and limitations of blood work: Remember that a blood work sample is capturing one moment in your highly fluctuating hormonal reality. While it’s important to establish a baseline through blood work periodically, for chronic hormonal issues it’s often better to do saliva testing over a period of 30 days to truly track how your hormones vary throughout the month and pinpoint what’s not working right.
- The best time to get blood work done: If you are going to move forward with blood work, the best time of your cycle to get it done can vary, depending on what you’re testing. This is when it’s best to partner with your doctor to determine the best time for you and your health investigation.
- How to interpret results: Get a copy of your blood work results and pay attention to the numbers. Sometimes a hormone level can be considered “normal” because it falls within the standard range, however, where it falls on that range makes a big difference in how you feel. For example, if your progesterone levels are found to be low but within normal range and you’re having a lot of symptoms with your cycle and your mood, then you can use that information to address the issue before you go completely out of range and have to rely on bioidentical hormones. And that means, from the functional medicine standpoint, that you should start changing your diet and lifestyle to support bringing your endocrine system back to balance. Which brings us to our next point...
- Your body knows best: If your blood work doesn’t shed any light on your health, but you are still experiencing symptoms, know that there is still a way for you to make progress and improve your cycle, fertility, and/or libido. You can learn about the underlying causes of endocrine disruption and then learn how to use food sequencing to correct the imbalances and get back to feeling like yourself. While many doctors are catching on to holistic treatments options, many are still only prescribing drugs, surgery, or the “wait and see” suggestion. Don’t settle. Become the sexy scientist of your body and start running the show! Our WomanCode System is the first step to getting there, so be sure to check out the details and talk to one of our counselors if you feel it might be for you.
