Can I still heal if I don’t have a diagnosis?
I was speaking to a woman the other day who told me she had been feeling “off” for a long time now experiencing symptoms of fatigue, increased weight gain, digestive issues, brain fog and joint pain. She’d been to a few doctors who ran tests and told her that everything appeared to be “normal.” She felt discouraged, knowing that she didn’t feel right but she didn’t feel validated about how she was feeling. She was confused because she didn’t have any formal diagnosis of disease from her practitioners and, therefore, wasn’t given any guidance on what to do to help herself feel better.
She asked me, “How can I heal if I don’t have a diagnosis?”
An AARDA study of autoimmune patients found that the average time for diagnosis of an autoimmune disease is 4.6 years. During that period, the patient typically has seen 4.8 doctors in our current medical system. This is because autoimmune diseases can start out or manifest as “vague” symptoms such as fatigue, digestive issues, inflammation and pain. Our medical system is really a disease-focused system where the goal is to identify and diagnose a disease state. When our symptoms don’t fit into a neat and tidy disease category, patients aren’t given a diagnosis and are sometimes told to come back when things get worse and they meet criteria for treatment.
This, to me, just isn’t good enough and allows many people to fall through the cracks without getting proper medical care.
Having a diagnosis can be really helpful especially in our current medical system and definitely worth pursuing because it allows us to get the right medications, insurance reimbursement, and have a clear plan of action and path to healing. But, a diagnosis is not everything and waiting for a formal diagnosis to do anything about our health can stop us from what’s available to us right now.
So what happens when we don’t fit into this disease category, but we still don’t feel great? It may seem as though there is nothing we can do, but actually there are many, many tools in the toolkit to support the body at this pivotal time! This is the area that I love to work in, and the area that gets missed so often in our health care system.
When we look at these foundational aspects of health that include:
Proper nutrition
Digestive health
Hydration
Stress and Resilience
Sleep
Relationships
Mindset
…it doesn’t matter what the disease diagnosis is at the top. This goes against the paradigm we have in our current medical system where we focus on the organ-system diagnosis rather than the roots below that allowed that system to get out of balance in the first place. If you are experiencing symptoms and have not gotten a formal diagnosis, you can absolutely still benefit from taking a look at these foundational pieces of health and supporting your body to functional more optimally right now.
I like to say, start where you are, use what you have and do what you can! Where are you at with all of those foundational pieces and how can you support yourself TODAY no matter what diagnosis you have? Can you increase the nutrient density of your food intake? Reduce your sugar intake? Do you need to support digestion to ensure you are absorbing all of your nutrients from your food? What is your level of stress on a daily basis on a scale from 1-10? Are you sleeping?
Once we begin to look at these foundation pieces of healing we see that we have so many more tools in the toolkit than we have been lead to believe! It can seem overwhelming to know where to start in this process. If you’re looking for support on how to take control of your health and understand the root causes of imbalance in your body, I can help. I always offer free 20-minute discovery sessions to get clear on your major health concerns and what’s standing in your way! Book in your complementary phone call here >>
Trust yourself. You know your body better than anyone else. When you don’t feel right, you don’t feel right and you deserve validation and support. I want you to know that there are many tools available to you even if you don’t have a formal diagnosis of disease!
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If we haven't met before, I'm Christina Tidwell and I'm so excited that you're here! I am a RN & Functional Nutrition Practitioner that helps those with autoimmune disease, hormone imbalance and gut issues heal without overwhelm so you can feel better in your body in a way that honors your unique needs and feels sustainable for the rest of your life.
If you suffer from:
Fatigue and energy crashes
Brain fog
Poor digestion
Painful periods and PMS
Symptoms of autoimmunity
Stress and overwhelm
...and aren't getting the support you need, I’m here to help guide you! My job is to clear the overwhelm, help you put the pieces of the puzzle together and co-create a sustainable path forward to help you reach your goals and feel better in your amazing body. When we work together you can’t fail.
In my health & nutrition coaching programs I support you in the quest to get back into balance by listening to your story, understanding your needs, getting to the roots of imbalance in the body and co-creating a sustainable path to healing together. These sessions weave together functional nutrition and science, lived experience, breathwork, mindset shifts, and intuitive guidance for a unique and full-spectrum approach to nutrition counseling and holistic health.
I always offer free 20-minute discovery sessions to get clear on your major health concerns and identify what’s standing in your way. Click the button below to set up your free consultation and we can create a plan of action specifically for you.
