Your Body Is Talking: What Chronic Symptoms Are Trying to Tell You
When the tests look normal, but you don't feel normal, there may be more to the story.
By Dr. Charlie Roach, D.Ac., L.Ac., FMP
One of the most frustrating things I hear from patients is, "I know something isn't right, but nobody can tell me what it is."
They've had blood work. Maybe they've seen several doctors. They've been told their thyroid is normal, their blood sugar is fine, their CBC looks good, and there isn't anything obvious showing up. And yet they don't feel good. They're tired. Their sleep isn't restorative. Their digestion has changed. They can't concentrate like they used to. They have headaches, joint pain, anxiety, weight changes, reflux, or a dozen other things that weren't part of their life a few years ago.
Eventually, some people begin to wonder if they're imagining it. You're not.
That doesn't necessarily mean there is a hidden disease that someone has missed. It means that there may be more to the story than the standard laboratory work is showing us. That's where I think we sometimes need to slow down.
Start With the Story
When someone comes into my office, one of the first things I want to know is not what supplement they are taking.
I want to know when they stopped feeling like themselves.
What was happening in their life?
Were they sick?
Did they have an infection?
Did they start a new medication?
Did they move into a different house?
Did their diet change?
Did they go through a divorce, lose a job, have a child, start working nights, or take on responsibilities that left them exhausted?
Did they stop exercising?
Or perhaps they started exercising too much.
Those details can be incredibly important. I've seen people spend thousands of dollars looking for an answer when the most useful clue was sitting right there in their history.
Fatigue Is a Good Example
Take fatigue. There are plenty of reasons someone can be tired. Lack of sleep is the obvious one, but it isn't the only one. Sometimes the problem is nutritional. Sometimes it's metabolic. Sometimes it's hormonal. Sometimes digestion isn't working well. Sometimes chronic stress has changed the way someone is recovering. Sometimes a medication is contributing. Sometimes the person simply isn't moving enough. And sometimes there are several things happening at once.
That's why I don't like the idea of treating fatigue with a generic "energy protocol."
If you're tired because you're sleeping five hours a night, taking ten supplements isn't going to solve the problem.
If you're tired because you're under-eating and exercising six days a week, the answer probably isn't another stimulant.
And if you're tired because something else is going on physiologically, we need to figure out what that is.
The symptom is real. We just have to work backward from it.
The Same Thing Happens With Brain Fog
I hear people say, "My brain just doesn't work like it used to." They forget names. They lose their train of thought. They read the same paragraph three times. They have trouble finding the right word.
It can be frightening. And again, there isn't one explanation.
Sleep can play a role. So can nutrition, blood sugar, hormones, medications, stress and inflammation. Digestive problems can sometimes be part of the picture as well.
I'm not interested in telling someone that their brain fog is "just stress." I'm interested in finding out what changed. That distinction matters.
I Also Pay Attention to the Gut
The gut is another piece that gets overlooked. Someone may come in because they're exhausted or dealing with brain fog, and almost as an afterthought they'll mention that they've been bloated for five years.
Or they have reflux every night.
Or they're constipated.
Or they can't eat certain foods anymore.
Or they have diarrhea every time they travel.
Those things may be unrelated to the primary complaint. But they may also be important clues. The digestive tract has a tremendous amount of interaction with the immune system, nervous system and metabolism. If digestion isn't working well, I want to know about it. That doesn't mean every problem begins in the gut. It means we shouldn't ignore the gut when the gut is clearly telling us something.
Then There Is the Environment
This is another area where context matters. I have patients who feel significantly different when they're at home compared with when they're traveling. Others notice that their symptoms started after moving into a particular building or after a water-damaged environment. That doesn't automatically mean mold is the cause. But if there is a strong relationship between a person's symptoms and their environment, it's worth asking why.
The same principle applies to chemical exposures, occupational exposures, air quality and other environmental factors. We live in an environment. It makes sense that our environment can influence how we feel.
And We Can't Ignore Stress
I also don't want to make the opposite mistake and pretend stress doesn't matter. It matters enormously. But there is a difference between saying, "Stress may be contributing to this," and telling someone, "It's all in your head."
Stress is physical.
Poor sleep is physical.
Under-eating is physical.
Overtraining is physical.
Chronic illness is physical.
Your body has to deal with all of it. Sometimes someone has been running on adrenaline for years and doesn't realize how depleted they have become until their body finally forces them to slow down.
That's not weakness. That's physiology.
This Is Why I Look at the Whole Picture
Functional medicine, when done well, isn't about ordering every test available or finding something exotic to treat. It's about putting the pieces together.
I want to know about your digestion, metabolism, hormones, immune system, environment, sleep, movement, nutrition and stress. Not because I believe everything is connected to everything else. Because some things are connected, and our job is to figure out which ones matter in your case.
Sometimes the answer is surprisingly simple. Sometimes it takes more investigation. And sometimes we never find one perfect explanation. Instead, we identify several things that aren't working well and gradually improve them.
That's still progress.
What I Don't Want You to Do
I don't want you to become obsessed with your laboratory results. A lab report can be useful, but it isn't your health.
I've had patients come in with pages of laboratory results and no idea what any of them mean. They've tried one supplement after another because somebody told them they were "low" in something.
That's not the goal. Testing should answer questions. Treatment should have a reason. And we should be able to look back after a period of time and ask, "Are you actually feeling better?" That's the test that matters most.
Your Body May Not Be Broken
Sometimes people come into my office after years of trying to fix themselves. They've tried diets. Supplements. Medications. Exercise programs. Elimination diets. Maybe they've seen five different doctors. They're exhausted from trying to figure it out.
I understand that. But I don't think the answer is always to find something else to add. Sometimes the answer is to step back and look at the entire picture.
Maybe you're not eating enough.
Maybe you're not sleeping.
Maybe you're not recovering.
Maybe your digestion needs attention.
Maybe your environment needs to change.
Maybe there is an underlying problem that deserves a closer look.
Or maybe it's a combination of several things that, individually, don't look terribly important—but together have left you feeling lousy. That's where I want to start. Not with a diagnosis I've already decided on. Not with a cabinet full of supplements. With your story.
Because before we can figure out what your body needs, we have to understand what your body has been through. And sometimes that is where the answer begins.
