When You Feel Like Something Is Wrong but Your Doctor Says You Are Fine
I Hear It Every Week: "I Feel Like Something's Wrong, But My Doctor Says I'm Fine"
The woman sitting across from me is usually exhausted. Not the "I-need-more-sleep" kind of tired. The bone-deep, soul-tired kind that no amount of rest seems to fix.
She's often:
Gaining weight despite eating well and exercising
Losing her hair or noticing it's thinner
Struggling with brain fog that makes work feel impossible
Feeling emotionally flat or disconnected from things she used to love
Dealing with night sweats or temperature swings
Fighting constant bloating and digestive issues
Experiencing a libido that's disappeared
Feeling anxious or depressed in ways that don't quite match her life
And then she tells me the part that frustrates her most:
"My doctor ran blood work and said everything looks normal. They told me to exercise more, eat better, and maybe it's just stress."
I believe her. And I also know that "normal labs" don't always tell the real story.
Here's What I've Learned
Women are incredibly intuitive about their bodies. When you say something feels off, something usually is off, even when the standard lab ranges say otherwise.
The problem isn't you. The problem is that we're often looking at incomplete information, missing pieces, or ranges that don't account for how you individually feel best.
As both a Family Nurse Practitioner and a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, I've learned that the most important diagnostic tool isn't always the lab result. It's listening to you, really listening, and then connecting the dots that others might have missed.
That's where real answers come from.
You Deserve a Different Conversation
Here's what a partnership in your health looks like at The Listening NP:
We look at the whole picture. Not just one hormone or one symptom. Your thyroid, your adrenals, your reproductive hormones, your metabolism, your gut health, your stress load, your sleep, your relationships, they all matter. They're all connected.
We consider where you are in your cycle. Whether you're in your reproductive years, navigating perimenopause, or in menopause, your hormones are shifting in ways that deserve attention and support. These transitions are not character flaws. They're biology.
We treat you as an individual. There's no one-size-fits-all answer for women's health. What works for your friend might not work for you. Your treatment plan is built specifically for your body, your goals, and how you want to feel.
We listen for what's really going on. Sometimes symptoms point to hormone imbalance. Sometimes they point to nutrient deficiencies, thyroid dysfunction, metabolic shifts, or the weight of carrying too much stress without support. Often it's a combination. We ask the questions that matter.
We focus on how you feel, not just lab numbers. Yes, we run thorough bloodwork and look at the data. But we also ask: Do you have the energy you need for your life? Is your mood stable? Can you think clearly? Are you sleeping? Do you feel like yourself? Those answers matter more than hitting a "normal" range.
We partner with you, not prescribe at you. Treatment plans are conversations. You have input. You have choice. You understand why we're doing what we're doing. And if something isn't working, we adjust.
What Often Gets Missed
Women's health is complicated, and conventional medicine often doesn't have time to dig deep. Here are some things I frequently find that others missed:
Thyroid dysfunction that labs said was "fine." Your TSH might be in range, but your free T3 and free T4 tell a different story. Or you have antibodies suggesting autoimmunity that needs support.
Nutrient deficiencies that mimic hormone problems. Iron, B12, vitamin D, magnesium, when these are low, everything feels harder. Energy drops, mood suffers, metabolism slows.
Estrogen dominance or progesterone insufficiency. Not always a problem you need to fix with hormones. Sometimes it's about supporting your body's own production, reducing your toxic load, or addressing what's driving the imbalance.
Metabolic changes that weren't explained. Your body might not be processing food, storing fat, or managing glucose the way it used to. That's not laziness. That's biology that needs support.
The impact of chronic stress on your hormones. Cortisol, the stress hormone, affects everything, your sleep, your metabolism, your immune system, even how your other hormones function. If we're not addressing stress, we're missing half the picture.
How your gut health influences your mood and metabolism. Your gut produces neurotransmitters that affect your mood. It also affects how you absorb nutrients. A struggling gut often means struggling hormones.
You're Not Broken
I want to say this clearly: if you've been told your symptoms are "all in your head" or that you just need to try harder—that's not okay. Your body is trying to tell you something. My job is to help you understand what it's saying.
You're not lazy. You're not weak. You're not overreacting. You're a woman navigating a complex system, your body, that deserves skilled, compassionate, evidence-based support.
And that support should feel like partnership, not judgment.
What Happens Next
The first step is different than what you've probably experienced before. We don't just run tests and hand you a prescription. We start with listening. Your story matters. Your experience matters. How you feel matters.
From there, we run comprehensive bloodwork designed to answer real questions about your health—not just the standard labs your doctor ordered. We look at thyroid function, reproductive hormones, metabolic markers, nutrient status, and more.
Then we sit down together and talk about what we found, what it means for you specifically, and what options exist. Treatment might include bioidentical hormone support, targeted supplementation, lifestyle adjustments, stress management, nutrition optimization, or a combination of these. It's built for you, not a template.
And we check in. We adjust. We make sure what we're doing is actually making you feel better.
You Deserve to Feel Like Yourself Again
If you're tired of feeling off and being told everything's fine. If you're ready to stop accepting symptoms as normal. If you want someone to actually listen and help you figure out what's going on, that's what I'm here for.
Schedule a consultation with The Listening NP. Let's find the answers that have been missing and build a plan that helps you feel like yourself again.
You don't have to keep feeling this way. And you don't have to do it alone.
The Listening NP is a holistic, evidence-based practice dedicated to partnering with women in navigating their health with empathy, expertise, and real answers.
Key Points to Remember
• Many women live with fatigue, weight changes, brain fog, low mood, and sleep disruption even when their lab results are reported as normal.
• Standard testing often overlooks deeper hormonal, thyroid, metabolic, and nutrient factors that affect how you feel day to day.
• Your symptoms matter. They are often more accurate than a single number on a lab report.
• A whole person evaluation can reveal thyroid changes, hormone imbalances, stress related shifts, and gut issues that impact your energy and mood.
• You deserve care that listens to your story and builds a plan around your actual lived experience.
Schedule a Women's Health Consultation