Your Lab Results Are Normal. So Why Don't You Feel Normal?
You're exhausted. You're gaining weight despite eating well. Your hair is thinning, your brain feels foggy, your skin is dry, and you can't seem to get warm. You've been told your thyroid levels are normal, your hormones are fine, and perhaps it's just stress or aging.
But you know something isn't right. And we believe your symptoms deserve a deeper investigation.
At Root Causes Holistic Health & Medicine, Dr. Doreen DeStefano, DNP, APRN, NHD, specializes in investigating complex hormonal imbalances, particularly thyroid dysfunction in patients who continue to experience hypothyroid symptoms despite normal or seemingly adequate laboratory results.
Our philosophy is simple: Treat the person, investigate the physiology, and look beyond the numbers.
Traditional thyroid screening often begins with thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). While TSH is an important marker, it doesn't always tell the entire story.
Thyroid function involves a sophisticated communication network between the brain, thyroid gland, liver, gastrointestinal tract, and individual cells.
The thyroid produces primarily thyroxine (T4), which must be converted into the more biologically active triiodothyronine (T3). Thyroid hormone transport, conversion, receptor activity, nutritional status, and other health conditions can all influence how a person feels.
Dr. DeStefano investigates questions that may have been overlooked:
Is thyroid hormone production adequate?
Is T4 being converted appropriately to T3?
Are autoimmune processes affecting the thyroid?
Are nutritional deficiencies interfering with thyroid physiology?
Could cortisol abnormalities, inflammation, medications, or metabolic dysfunction be contributing to symptoms?
Are symptoms attributed to the thyroid actually coming from another hormonal or metabolic imbalance?
When symptoms persist despite thyroid treatment, a comprehensive evaluation can help distinguish thyroid-related problems from other conditions that require a different approach.
Hormones do not operate independently. Thyroid hormones, cortisol, insulin, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and DHEA participate in interconnected physiological systems.
Depending on the patient's history, symptoms, and clinical findings, our evaluation may include:
Comprehensive Thyroid Testing
TSH, free T4, free T3, thyroid antibodies, and selected additional markers when clinically indicated.
DUTCH Hormone Testing
Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones (DUTCH) testing can provide information about selected sex hormones, hormone metabolites, and cortisol patterns. We interpret these findings alongside symptoms, examination, and validated blood testing, recognizing that urinary metabolite patterns do not independently establish a need for hormone replacement.
Genetic SNP Analysis
Selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) may provide additional context about hormone metabolism, methylation pathways, and individual biological differences. Genetic findings are interpreted carefully rather than used alone to determine treatment or predict hormone safety.
Metabolic and Nutritional Evaluation
Insulin resistance, blood sugar regulation, inflammation, iron status, vitamin D, B12, and other nutritional factors may help explain symptoms that overlap with thyroid dysfunction.
Hormone replacement should never be a guessing game.
Dr. DeStefano takes an individualized approach to thyroid hormone treatment and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT), considering the patient's symptoms, laboratory findings, medical history, personal risk factors, and treatment response.
Treatment may involve thyroid medication optimization, appropriately selected T4 or T3-containing therapy, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, or nonhormonal interventions, depending on clinical need.
Our goal is not simply to increase hormone levels. It is to restore appropriate physiological balance while minimizing unnecessary risks.
We pay particular attention to cardiovascular health, bone health, personal and family cancer history, hormone-sensitive conditions, and ongoing laboratory monitoring.
Many patients come to Root Causes after years of frustration, multiple appointments, and repeated assurances that everything looks normal.
Dr. DeStefano is known for her investigative approach to medicine. Rather than treating an isolated laboratory value, she examines how the thyroid, adrenal system, sex hormones, metabolism, nutritional status, and other physiological processes interact.
Her experience in complex chronic illness and metabolic medicine allows her to approach difficult hormonal cases from a broader perspective.
You deserve more than being told your numbers are normal. You deserve an explanation for why you don't feel well.
If you're struggling with persistent fatigue, unexplained weight gain, brain fog, hair loss, low libido, temperature intolerance, or other symptoms of hormonal imbalance, a more comprehensive evaluation may uncover important answers.
Schedule a hormone and thyroid optimization consultation with Dr. Doreen DeStefano at Root Causes Holistic Health & Medicine.
Fort Myers, Florida | In-office and Telehealth
Request Your Appointment Today!
To request your appointment, please call (239) 347-9234 or contact us online today!
Root Causes Holistic Health & Medicine
12734 Kenwood Lane #56
Fort Myers, FL 33907
Phone: (239) 347-9234
