But Everything Looks Fine…” When Blood Tests Don’t Explain Why You Feel Awful

Still feeling awful despite ‘normal’ blood test results? Discover why your symptoms matter and how private testing offers deeper insight and support.

Have you ever sat in front of your GP, been told your blood tests are “normal,” and still walked away feeling… off?

You’re exhausted. You’re bloated or wired-but-tired. You can’t concentrate like you used to. Your hair might be thinning, your cycle’s all over the place, or you’re just not bouncing back the way you did before. And yet, the tests say you’re fine.

I hear this from women almost every week.

They’ve gone through the right channels. They’ve asked for help. And still, they’ve come away with no answers, and sometimes, worse than that, they’ve started to question themselves. Maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe it’s just stress. Maybe I’m imagining it…

Let me say this clearly:

Just because your test results are “normal,” doesn’t mean your body is thriving.

And you’re not making it up.

Why I Look at Things Differently

This isn’t about saying the NHS is wrong. I trained as a children’s nurse and I worked in the NHS for 18 years. It does lifesaving work every day. But it’s stretched, and it’s built to look for disease, not to dig into the murky, grey in-between zone where most of my clients are living.

That’s where I come in.

When someone comes to me feeling unwell despite “normal” results, we slow things right down. We talk. We look at your symptoms, your food diary, your lifestyle, your sleep, your stress, your hormones, your cycle, your energy dips, your gut, everything that gives us clues about what your body might be trying to tell us.

By the time I take your bloods, I already have a pretty good sense of what might be going on behind the scenes. And when those results come back, I’m not just scanning for danger zones. I’m asking:

Are these levels optimal, or just within range?
Do they line up with what you're telling me about your symptoms?
Where might your body be quietly struggling, not sick, but under strain?

Because your body doesn’t suddenly fall apart. It whispers first. And often, those whispers get ignored because they don't show up clearly in standard tests.

What I’m Really Looking For in Your Results

Take your thyroid, for example. Most standard tests only look at TSH, the hormone that tells your thyroid to work harder. But you can still have symptoms of thyroid under-function even when your TSH is “normal.” That’s why I also look at Free T4, Free T3, and sometimes antibodies, especially if you’re struggling with fatigue, hair changes, constipation, or low mood.

Then there’s B12 and folate. You can technically be “in range,” but far from where your body needs to be for optimal energy, brain function, and hormone balance. The same goes for iron (ferritin). I often see women told their levels are fine when they’re sitting at 20, but most feel far better when levels are closer to 70 or even 100.

I also check your blood sugar markers, not just for diabetes, but for those early signs of metabolic dysfunction that can cause energy crashes, cravings, irritability, and stubborn weight gain.

Sometimes I’ll look at liver markers, inflammatory markers, sex hormones, or stress hormones, depending on your symptoms and goals. But always, I’m interpreting your results in the context of your real life.

Because the numbers alone never tell the whole story.

Why I Don’t Offer Blood Tests on Their Own

This is a question I get a lot and I completely understand why people ask it.

But here’s the truth: I don’t offer bloods in isolation because data without context can be misleading. You can end up more confused than before. Or fixated on a number that doesn’t actually explain how you feel. Or worse, you might be told everything’s “fine” again and walk away just as frustrated.

Your results mean more when I already know:

What your day-to-day life looks like
What symptoms you’re experiencing
What your diet, sleep, and stress levels are doing to your body
What you've already tried and what hasn't worked

When we layer those pieces together, symptoms, lifestyle, lab data, that’s when we start to see the real picture. That’s when we can make decisions that are rooted in understanding, not guesswork.

It’s Not Just You, This Is Happening Everywhere

I was part of a panel last week for the Women Unseen, Unheard webinar, run by Health Mary. On the panel were a private GP, a midwife, a sleep specialist, and a hypnotherapist, all working with women in different ways. And we were all hearing the same thing in our clinics:

“I’ve been told I’m fine… but I feel awful.”

We’re seeing more and more women looking for something deeper. Not because they don’t trust their doctor, but because they know their own body, and they know something’s not right.

Often, what’s going on is subtle, complex, and multi-layered:

Shifting hormones that aren’t clinically “wrong” but still affecting your energy and mood
Poor blood sugar regulation that leaves you wiped out, foggy, or craving sugar constantly
A stressed-out liver that’s not clearing oestrogen properly, leading to symptoms of oestrogen dominance
Low-grade inflammation or poor gut health affecting nutrient absorption and mental wellbeing

These things don’t always show up in a red-flag result. But they do show up when you zoom out and listen with curiosity.

This Is Why I Do What I Do

I don’t run tests to chase numbers. I don’t offer protocols that don’t make sense for your life. I’m not interested in making you dependent on endless supplements or ongoing appointments.

My job is to help you see the bigger picture, to give you a clear understanding of what’s going on, and to show you how to support your body back to balance.

If you’re feeling lost, dismissed, or stuck in the “everything looks fine” loop, I want to invite you to explore things from a different angle.

You don’t need to wait until things get worse, you don’t need to settle for “just fine'' and you don’t need to push through or figure it all out on your own.

If your body is telling you something, it’s time to listen. And if no one else has taken the time to join the dots? I will. You can book a call here.

About Claire

Claire Thomas is a Nutritional Therapist, NLP Practitioner, and Phlebotomist with a background in Children’s Nursing. She specialises in supporting ambitious women who feel exhausted, burnt out, or stuck in survival mode. Through personalised nutrition, mindset coaching, and functional testing, Claire helps her clients increase their energy levels, find clarity, and feel like themselves again. Based in Tiverton, Devon, she works both in-person and online through her clinic, Nourish to Soar

Categories: : empowerment, energy levels, metabolic health