Why You’re Still Not Feeling Right (Even Though You’ve Tried Everything) | Functional Medicine Insights

The Problem: You have ‘Tried Everything;, But Nothing Works

If you are like so many people who come to see me in my Functional Medicine & Health Optimisation practice, you have tried everything:

• Multiple diets (keto, paleo, vegan, whole30, low FODMAP, low histamine, etc)
• Dozens of supplements
• Health optimisation tools (ice baths, infrared saunas, red light therapy)
• Exercise routines, meditation, breathwork

Yet you’re still not feeling right.

You’re still experiencing:

• Chronic fatigue that won’t go away
• Persistent brain fog
• Unexplained weight gain (especially around the belly)
• Hair loss
• Hormonal imbalances
• Skin issues like acne or eczema
• Digestive problems

At this point, you’re probably wondering: “Where is this actually coming from?”

Often these symptoms have as a common nominator chronic inflammation.

Yet instead of just addressing symptoms, throwing in yet another ‘anti-inflammatory’ tool or supplement or diet, we dig deeper to find the ‘why’, the root cause of why your body isn’t functioning optimally.

That is where a Functional Medicine approach comes in and truly shines. It asks, ‘why is there inflammation in the first place?’.

Understanding Chronic Inflammation: The Silent Health Destroyer

What Is Chronic Inflammation?

Now here is the very important, and often overlooked fact. Inflammation is actually a good thing – when it’s acute and short-term. Your body produces inflammation to:

• Fight off viruses and bacteria
• Heal wounds and injuries
• Protect you from invaders

This is your immune system doing its job. We need it!

The problem occurs when inflammation becomes chronic—when your immune system never fully turns off and remains in a low-grade activated state for months or years.

The Impact of Chronic Inflammation

Short-term effects of chronic inflammation include:

• Anxiety and mood swings
• Persistent fatigue and low energy
• Skin issues (acne, eczema, rosacea)
• PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome)
• Brain fog and difficulty concentrating
• Joint pain and muscle aches

These gradually erode your quality of life and ‘health span’.

Long-term consequences – the ‘big hitters are all linked to chronic inflammation at their core:

• Alzheimer’s disease and dementia
• Cardiovascular disease (heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure)
• Autoimmune diseases (Hashimoto’s, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Crohn’s, etc)
• Various cancers
• Osteoarthritis
• Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome

Many people take medications to suppress these symptoms, which can help save lives. (So please don’t just go off them upon reading this post!)

But if you don’t address what’s actually causing the chronic inflammation in the first place, you’re just stuck in a vicious cycle, with eventually other inflammatory symptoms creeping up elsewhere in the body, and the drugs potentially causing detrimental side effects also.

The 5 Hidden Root Causes Your Doctor Might Be Missing

1. Chronic Infections (The Invaders That Never Left)

Your body produces inflammation to fight infections. But what if the infection never fully goes away?

Common chronic infections include:

Viral Infections

• Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) – The virus that causes mono can reactivate and cause chronic fatigue
• Other herpes viruses like cytomegalovirus (CMV) – Can lie dormant and reactivate under stress

Gut Infections

• H. pylori (Helicobacter pylori) – A bacterial infection in the stomach, than if left untreated, can contribute to stomach ulcers and even cancers, but in the short run increase inflammation (with gastritis, reflux, burping being just some of the common symptoms), and mess with the digestive system, contributing to issues such as bacterial and fungal overgrowth further down in the intestines (think SIBO and SIFO, small intestinal bacterial and fungal overgrowth – often partly to blame for bloating and other digestive symptoms)
• Parasites – More common than you think, even if you haven’t travelled
• Candida albicans (fungal overgrowth) – I see this constantly in patients who:
• –> Have eaten a high-carb or high-fruit diet (even if ‘healthy’)
• –> Went vegan for a while
• –> Took recurrent antibiotics in the past
• –> Have sugar cravings they can’t shake

Even healthy sugars from fruit can feed Candida. Combined with antibiotic use that kills good bacteria, you end up with fungal overgrowth in the gut that can become systemic. Your body then constantly tries to fight it off, keeping you in a state of chronic inflammation.

Note: A good way to measure systemic candida and fungal overgrowth is an OAT urine test, and my go to for a comprehensive stool panel for gut health is the GI Map.

2. Mould Exposure (The Environmental Toxin Hiding in Your Home)

Surprisingly, mould toxicity is extremely common, especially in the UK, Ireland, and other damp climates with non-ideal building qualities.

If you live in a water-damaged building (which could be current or past exposure), you may have mycotoxins—the toxic compounds produced by mould—circulating in your system – or stored in your fat cells and released upon fasting! (A histamine flare that worsened after you lost weight? Released mycotoxins could be partly to blame).

Just some of the wide reaching symptoms of mould toxicity include:

• Chronic fatigue that doesn’t improve with rest
• Brain fog and memory issues
• Respiratory problems
• Skin rashes
• Joint pain
• Immune system dysfunction
• Digestive issues like bowel urgency and a plethora of food intolerances and allergies to healthy foods

I’ve had patients whose entire immune system was out of whack. We kept digging and digging, and eventually realised there was mould in their system causing perpetual chronic low-grade inflammation.

What to do:

If you suspect mould, get tested. Functional medicine Practitioners can run urine mycotoxin tests to check for mould in your system (see the test I use with my patients here). And note, this can be from decades ago and still stuck in your body!!

You may also want to assess your home or workplace for current mould exposure.

3. Hidden Food Intolerances (The ‘Healthy’ Foods Making You Sick)

This may just be one of the most misunderstood concepts in medicine.

Many conventional doctors, gastroenterologists and even nutritionists dismiss food intolerances, saying: ‘Having antibodies to foods is normal if you eat that food frequently’.

But research tells a different story.

How Food Intolerances Develop

In a healthy gut with a balanced microbiome, you don’t actually develop food intolerances. They only occur when you have a ‘leaky gut’ (intestinal permeability).

Here is what happens:

1. Your gut lining becomes damaged (from stress, antibiotics, infections, or inflammation)
2. Food particles that should normally stay inside the gut manage to leak into your bloodstream (through the ‘leakier’ gut lining) at a different shape than normally
3. Your immune system encounters these food particles and thinks: “I don’t recognise this, this must be an invader!’ and tries to fight it off. (= natural response to an invader!)
4. Your immune system creates memory cells = IgG antibodies, so that the next time you are exposed to this ‘invader’, it can fight it off quicker.
5. Now every time you eat that food the immune system launches an attack (–> inflammation!) to try and kill this ‘invader’ off!

Your immune system is trying to protect you, but it ends up causing harm.

Most Common Food Intolerances

While gluten, dairy, and eggs are well-known culprits, you can develop intolerances to ANY (often healthy!) food, including:

• Almonds or almond milk
• Hazelnuts
• Avocados
• Soy
• Ginger etc

If your body has mistakenly classified a food as an invader, it will produce low-grade inflammation every single time you consume it, slowly eroding your health and making you feel terrible.

The Good News

You don’t usually have to avoid these foods forever. If you identify and heal what’s causing the leaky gut in the first place, your immune system can eventually reset. Many of my patients are able to reintroduce foods they were once intolerant to after we fix the underlying gut and immune issues.

What to do:

• Get tested for food intolerances with an IgG food sensitivity and IgE allergy panel. Don’t just guess and randomly eliminate foods. This is the one I usually use for my clients.

4. Nutrient Deficiencies (Even If Your Blood Work Is ‘Normal’)

This is huge. Many people are ‘functionally deficient’ in key nutrients even though their lab results come back ‘normal’.

The problem? ‘Normal’ usually isn’t good enough. We need optimal levels to thrive.

Ferritin: The Goldilock Biomarker

I see iron issues constantly, especially in women who are vegetarian, vegan, or have heavy periods.

Ferritin is your main iron storage biomarker. Here’s what you need to know:

Below optimal, yet in normal ranges:

Your cells are starving for oxygen, as your red blood cells can’t transport enough oxygen to your tissues. This contributes to fatigue, hair loss, poor thyroid function, brain fog, difficulties losing weight, etc. Sound familiar?

Above optimal, yet in normal ranges:

Ferritin becomes inflammatory, ad has been shown in research to contribute to Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular disease, cancer risk and more.

What to do:

• Get your ferritin tested (this is a simple test and you likely already have this result on your regular annual health check from your GP)
• Make sure it’s between 60-100 ng/mL (=optimal ferritin range!)
• If too low: supplement with iron (ideally with vitamin C for absorption) or eat more red meat!
• If too high: donate blood regularly to reduce iron load

Note: High ferritin in itself can also be a biomarker for inflammation, so make sure you look over this with an experienced practitioner and evaluate it this in the bigger picture.

Vitamin D: The Immune System’s Powerhouse

Most people are below optimal in vitamin D, especially if you:

• Live in northern climates (UK, Ireland, northern Europe, northern US)
• Don’t spend much time outdoors (I have clients in exotic, sunny locations like the Bahamas, that are still low in vitamin D, due to constant sunscreen use!)
• Have darker skin (melanin blocks vitamin D production)

Optimal vitamin D levels: 100-150 nmol/L (or 40-60 ng/mL)

Most labs consider anything above 30 nmol/L ‘normal’, but that’s far too low for optimal immune function, energy, mood, and disease prevention (in particular autoimmune and cancer).

What to do:

Supplement with 4,000-5,000 IU of vitamin D3 daily throughout the winter months (with added K2 to ensure calcium goes into your bones, not arteries or joints). Test your levels from time to time and adjust dosing accordingly. Ie if you spend a lot of time outdoors in summer (and don’t always wear sunscreen and protective clothing) you may not need any during the summer, etc.

Folate and Methylation: The Overlooked Essential

Folate (vitamin B9) is critical for a process called methylation, which happens constantly throughout your body.

What is methylation, and why does it matter?

1. It helps produce neurotransmitters like dopamine (motivation, pleasure) and serotonin (happiness, calm). Without adequate methylation, you risk feeling depressed, unmotivated, and low-energy.

2. Eliminates homocysteine, a compound that if too high becomes inflammatory and damages blood vessels. High homocysteine contributes to:

•    Alzheimer’s disease
• Heart attacks
• Strokes
• Cardiovascular disease
• and more.

3. Controls gene expression – Helps your body decide which genes to turn ‘on’ or ‘off’. This helps to determine whether you are healthy and thriving or struggling with chronic illness.

The MTHFR gene mutation: About 60% of people have a genetic variation in the MTHFR gene that makes it harder to convert folate into its active form. If you have this mutation, you need even more folate.

The Supplement Trap: Folic Acid vs. Methylfolate

Most multivitamins contain folic acid, the synthetic form of folate (as much cheaper to produce). Here is the problem:

• Folic acid must be converted into the active form (methylfolate) before your body can use it
• If you have an MTHFR mutation (or even if you don’t), folic acid can block your receptors, preventing your body from using folate properly
• This can potentially make the deficiency symptoms even worse

What to do:

• Test your folate levels (aim for the top of the normal range)
• Supplement with methylfolate (also called 5-MTHF or L-methylfolate), NOT folic acid

• Look for high-quality multivitamins with ‘methylated B vitamins’

5. Environmental Toxins and Heavy Metals

Your body is constantly exposed to toxins:

• Heavy metals (mercury from fish, lead from old pipes, aluminum from cookware)
• Pesticides and herbicides on food
• Plastics and BPA
• Air pollution
• Chemicals in personal care products

These accumulate over time and create a toxic burden that stresses your immune system and contribute to keeping inflammation on.

Why Standard Medical Testing Misses These Issues

Conventional medicine excels at diagnosing acute, severe conditions, and often saves lives. But it often misses those more subtle ‘functional imbalances’—the early-stage problems that haven’t YET progressed to full-blown disease.

Here is why:

1. Lab ranges are often too wide – ‘Normal’ reference ranges are created by taking an average of the population, not from optimally healthy and thriving individuals.

2. Standard panels don’t test for root causes – Your GP nor specialist generally won’t test for food intolerances, mould toxicity, low grade gut infections (they will test for overt issues!), or advanced nutrient markers.

3. Symptoms are dismissed – If your labs are ‘normal’, you are often told ‘it’s just stress’ or ‘it’s in your head’, ‘come back in a year’.

4. Treatment focuses on symptom suppression – And don’t get me wrong, like previously mentioned, these are often lifesaving, and crucial in the short term!

You get medications to lower blood pressure, reduce inflammation, or manage pain, but generally no one asks WHY you have these problems in the first place.

The Functional Medicine Approach: Getting to the Root

Functional medicine asks a different question: ‘Why is this happening?’

Instead of just treating symptoms, we investigate:

• What chronic infections might be present?
• What foods is your immune system (currently) reacting to?
• What nutrient imbalances exist? What is suboptimal vs optimal? (these are often ‘low hanging fruit’, quick and easy fixes, if only looked at!)
• What environmental toxins are you exposed to?
• What genetic predispositions do you have?

Then we create a personalised protocol to address YOUR unique root causes.

Genetic Predispositions vs. Lifestyle Choices

Yes, genetics matter. Some people are more prone to:

• Inflammatory conditions
• Nutrient deficiencies (e.g., needing more folate due to MTHFR mutations)
• Mould sensitivity
• Autoimmune disease
• Blood sugar issues
• Histamine sensitivity
• Gut infections

And more.

Note: I do test my clients for their genetic health predispositions to make their protocol truly personalised. If that is of interest, simply get an ancestry.co.uk panel, download the raw data file, and send it through to me to upload to my DNA health panel (only available currently to my patients).

But here’s the empowering truth: Genetics load the gun, but lifestyle pulls the trigger.

This is called ‘epigenetics’, and it means you have far more control over your health destiny than you might think.

My Personal Story: From Crohn’s Disease to Functional Medicine

And trust me, I can relate to feeling stuck despite trying everything.

I had Crohn’s disease, an autoimmune condition where your immune system attacks your gut. It is pretty miserable.

As a teenager, I pretty much ‘tried everything’:

• Yoga and breathwork (long before it was trendy)
• Various elimination diets, including cutting out sugar for 3 years (yes, as a teenager!)
• Ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine, homeopathy.

And while these tools did help keep a lid on my symptoms, they did not get to and address the root cause of my autoimmunity.

It wasn’t until I did an undergraduate in health and learned to read scientific papers, that lead by what I found in those research papers,  identified my specific triggers and that I was able to put my Crohn’s into remission.

That was over 15 years ago (in 20210), and I have been symptom-free ever since (knock on wood).

This experience inspired me to become a Functional Medicine Practitioner so I could help others break free from chronic health issues and live their best lives.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: How long does it take to feel better once you address root causes?

A: It depends on how long you’ve been dealing with issues and how complex your case is. Some people feel significantly better within 4-6 weeks. Others with more complex chronic infections or severe nutrient deficiencies may take 3-6 months to see major improvements. But you often start noticing subtle changes within the first weeks!

Q: Can I get rid of food intolerances, or do I have to avoid those foods forever?

A: In many cases, yes you can get rid of them! Once we heal the gut and immune system issues that caused the food intolerances in the first place, your immune system can generally gradually reset (and calm down from being so over reactive)! I’ve had many patients successfully reintroduce foods they were once intolerant to.

Q: Are Functional Medicine tests covered by insurance?

A: Unfortunately, most Functional Medicine tests (food sensitivity panels, comprehensive stool tests, mould testing) are not generally covered by insurance. However, basic blood panels (ferritin, vitamin D, thyroid) can often be ordered through your GP free of charge. You just need to make sure to place those results into ‘optimal’ ranges to get the most out of your results. The investment in specialised testing is usually worth it when you finally get answers after years of suffering.

Q: What is the difference between Functional Medicine and conventional medicine?

A: Conventional medicine excels at acute care, emergencies, and managing disease. Functional medicine focuses on prevention, optimisation, and finding root causes of chronic issues. They work best together.

Q: Can I do Functional Medicine testing on my own, or do I need a practitioner?

A: While some tests are available direct-to-consumer (here are some you can get via my website), I strongly recommend working with an experienced Functional Medicine practitioner. Testing is only valuable if you know how to interpret results, connect the dots, place them into the bigger picture, and create an effective protocol.

Q: I’ve been told my labs are ‘normal’, but I still feel terrible. What should I do?

A: This is incredibly common. ‘Normal’ lab ranges often times are too wide. You need to look at ‘optimal’ ranges and possibly also consider Functional Medicine testing that goes beyond standard panels. Don’t accept ‘everything is normal’ when you want to thrive.

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Key Takeaways

• Chronic inflammation is the root of most modern diseases – From fatigue and brain fog to Alzheimer’s and heart disease
• Hidden infections, food intolerances, and nutrient deficiencies are some of the most common root causes doctors miss
• Normal” lab results don’t mean optimal – Ferritin should be 60-100, vitamin D should be 100-150 nmol/L, folate should be at the top of the range
• Genetics aren’t destiny- Your lifestyle choices determine which genes get turned on or off (though testing can be helpful!)
• Healing takes time but is possible – With the right testing and protocol, most people can dramatically improve their health

Ready to Finally Feel Better?

If you’re tired of trying everything without getting results, it’s time to dig deeper and find your root causes. Email hello@mprecisionhealth.com to book an initial consultation with Mirthe, either in person in clinic in Kensington, London, or online on Zoom worldwide.

Medical Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with your healthcare provider before making changes to your diet, supplements, or treatment plan. Do not stop taking prescribed medications without consulting your doctor.