Advocating for Your Health
Since posting my health update last week, I've had several conversations with people around the concept of advocating for your health. This is a topic with which I am definitely well-versed, having struggled with several different health issues in my 25 years.
I think that too often we dismiss the symptoms we are experiencing or have been experiencing for years as “normal” or “nothing to worry about” simply because they have become “normal” to us. We were not meant to live half a life, tired all the time and struggling with chronic health issues. In these instances, it is even more important to advocate for your right to have an answer, a root cause to your health conditions.
Sometimes we do advocate for our health and ask our doctor to run certain tests or provide us with an answer, but doctors can also fail us, questioning our desire to order certain tests or explore certain avenues that might be holding back our health.
Now, is this to say that doctors are out to get us? No, that is never the case! You don’t go through years of medical school and take on large amounts of loans in order to not help patients. The trouble comes when the doctor and patient aren’t on the same page.
This is where doing your own research and finding a doctor that supports you and your health on every level, meaning that if you want to run a certain test, they will allow you to do so.
Let’s take an example: if I walked into my doctor’s office and requested a FULL thyroid panel (not just testing TSH, which is usually a waste of time), I might have to fight to get the full panel ordered. The doctor might argue with me and say only TSH needs to be tested, and that the other markers aren’t important and/or aren’t covered by insurance (which, I’m sorry, if insurance is the case, pay out of pocket to get answers for your health. Insurance doesn’t rule the world). The same issue might occur with ordering a full cholesterol panel. Sometimes the doctors do not understand the implications and importance of ordering a full panel, so they don’t see the need to order it, refusing to give you what you might instinctively need.
If this was the case and I couldn't convince the doctor to order this panel for me, I would find a new doctor. We need to be a team, working together towards a common goal.
We live in our bodies EVERY SINGLE DAY. We are the ones who truly have all the answers, especially if we become intuitive enough to listen to our bodies. A doctor, health coach, or wellness practitioner can be a guide, but they can never be inside of your body 24/7. You alone know what that is like.
What’s the worst that can happen when advocating for our health? We order a full thyroid panel and all the numbers come back perfect? Awesome! Then you can cross something off of your list and move onto the next item to check to see if it is at the root of your health issues.
My bottom line here: you need to be an advocate for your health. If you are tired all the time, constantly bloated, struggling with anxiety, gaining weight, or dealing with any other symptom, it’s time to become a true advocate for your health and get some answers! I recently did this with all the tests I ordered for myself (blood work, hormone panel, and stool test). Was it an investment in my health? Yes. But were the results worth it? YES! Now I have a couple of answers and more directions to go when it comes to healing.
Remember, if you too want to have any stool, food sensitivity, or hormone test ordered, please let me know! I can order all of those tests and provide you with a customized supplement, diet, and lifestyle protocol to suit your specific needs. I’m not a doctor, so I don’t prescribe and treat, but I can address any imbalances in the body.
xoxo Olivia
