If you feel off and your bloodwork keeps coming back "normal," the answer may be sitting in the markers no one thought to check.

We know, because the right tests are what turned things around for both of us.

Sesh Diagnostics was built by two women who lived the same frustration you might be experiencing. Hilary was the patient first, told she was fine for 17 months postpartum while she fell apart. Shae spent years doing everything right, lost nearly 70 pounds, and still could not figure out why her body felt stuck.

Both of them were told their labs looked normal. Both of them finally got answers from a handful of at-home tests. Here are the tests, what they found, and what they shifted.

"Normal" is not the same as optimal

Hilary asked at every checkup: "Is this normal? Should I feel like this?" The answer was always "Yes, you're fine." Her doctor ran a five-marker blood panel, a basic thyroid screen and called it "relatively normal," and wrote see you in a year. Leaving her feeling like she was the problem and just needed to push through the symptoms she was experiencing.

Shae heard a different version of the same thing. Her labs were fine. She just needed to manage stress better. But she knew her body, and she knew something was not adding up.

Said plainly: a standard physical is built to catch disease, not to explain why you feel terrible. "Normal" just means you are not sick enough to alarm anyone. It says nothing about whether you are optimal. The tests below are the ones that actually looked.

The DUTCH Plus Test: Hilary's hormones and cortisol

What it measures. The DUTCH Plus is a comprehensive hormone and cortisol test you complete from home with saliva and urine samples. It looks at your sex hormones, how your body processes them, and your full daily cortisol pattern, including how you wake up and wind down.

What it found. Hilary's cortisol was on the floor. Flat when it should have been climbing, with low DHEA and low testosterone alongside it. That one result explained what five "normal" markers never could: the inability to get out of bed, the missing motivation, the bone-deep fatigue that no effort touched, the low libido, and more. She also did a broader blood panel workup that caught a low vitamin D, a small, common, fixable piece she had no idea about.

What it shifted. Once she could see it, she could fix it. With targeted support built around the actual numbers, it took about three months, weeks to months is the honest timeline, before the change set in. Then it turned. She got back to the gym, her mood lifted, the weight started to move, and over time she lost the 20 pounds that wouldn't come off postpartum and rebuilt the muscle she had lost.

The Adrenal Stress Test: Shae's cortisol

What it measures. The DUTCH Adrenal Stress Test is a focused, at-home look at your cortisol across a full day, plus DHEA and adrenal function. It shows the rhythm: whether your cortisol rises and falls when it should, or whether your body is stuck in fight-or-flight.

What it found. Shae had already done the hard work. Nearly 70 pounds lost, eating well, training consistently, prioritizing her health. And she was still dealing with inflammation, bloating, sugar cravings, energy crashes, poor sleep, and the constant feeling that her body was stuck in overdrive. Living through some of the hardest years of her life, including loss and family crisis, meant stress was not a buzzword for her. It was daily. Her cortisol testing in 2022 confirmed it: elevated cortisol patterns that were quietly wrecking her sleep, her recovery, and her stress response.

Worth noticing: Hilary's cortisol was too low and Shae's was too high. Same test, opposite problem. That is the point. There is no single "normal" to chase. There is only your pattern, and you cannot fix what you cannot see.

What it shifted. For the first time, Shae was not guessing. In her words, she finally felt seen and valid, like she had not been making it up. Working through the findings took time, patience, and consistency. It was not an overnight fix. But she finally had data that explained what she had been feeling for years.

The GI-Map: the gut

What it measures. Most women grab a random probiotic off the shelf and hope it fixes the bloating. The GI-Map reads your gut directly, from an at-home stool sample: which bacteria are overgrowing, what is missing, and whether you even make enough stomach acid to digest and absorb your food.

What it found. Both of us ran a GI-Map. For Shae, it was the test that explained years of digestive symptoms: a persistent H. pylori infection that no one had caught. After years of bloating and poor digestion written off as normal, there was finally a real, treatable reason. The test also surfaced a high gluten sensitivity that had been feeding the inflammation and digestive issues for years.

What it shifted. It ended the guess-and-supplement cycle. Instead of cycling through random products, Shae had an actual target. Clearing what the test found was not instant, but it was the difference between throwing darts in the dark and following the data.

The MRT Food Sensitivity Panel: what actually fuels you

What it measures. When certain foods quietly drive inflammation and gut symptoms, the Food Sensitivity Panel (an MRT blood test) measures how your immune system actually responds to specific foods. Note that this one is a blood draw, not an at-home collection like the others.

What it found. For Shae, the panel surfaced many whole foods that on paper were 'healthy foods' but for her body specifically, were actually causing inflammation. Foods like black pepper, pineapple, mango, rice, all things she was having almost daily while macro tracking.

What it shifted. Removing these foods aren't forever or permanent. It definitely was not easy either, and she will be the first to say so. But pairing that temporary 90 day change with the rest of her findings is what finally moved the needle. Instead of cutting foods on a hunch, she knew exactly what was working against her.

When the foundations are not enough

Here is what both of our stories have in common. We were not lazy and we were not looking for shortcuts. We were doing the basics: eating well, strength training, prioritizing protein, managing stress. Nutrition, movement, sleep, and stress management will always be the first things we teach. They matter.

But sometimes the foundations reveal a deeper problem instead of solving it. Shae saw it again recently when, under medical guidance, she tried a microdose of compounded tirzepatide. She expected nothing and was honestly against it. What surprised her was not weight loss. It was a dramatic drop in inflammation and fluid retention within a few weeks. No aching joints, no swelling hands, no painful sleep. More proof that when you are doing everything right and still struggling, the answer is rarely "work harder." It is usually "look deeper."

That is exactly why Shae kept adding to her toolbox, eventually earning her FDN-P certification, and why we built Sesh Diagnostics together. Not to replace the foundations. To build on them.

Five markers versus forty

Put the two approaches side by side. Hilary's "you're fine" physical checked five markers. The functional workup that finally helped looked at roughly forty, plus a full micronutrient panel, an at-home gut test, and a full cortisol curve.

Five versus forty. "Normal" versus optimal. Most women are not failing. They are being measured by a ruler that was never built to find what is actually wrong.

What this means for you

SeshDx was built for the women who know they are trying but still do not feel like themselves. For the women who are tired of guessing and want data instead of assumptions.

The same at-home testing that changed things for us is what we offer through our diagnostic labs, from the DUTCH Plus and the DUTCH Adrenal Stress Test to the GI-Map and the Food Sensitivity Panel. Every test we offer comes with a full personal review from Shae, a comprehensive 90 day protocol and complimentary training and nutrition through our five-star app.

Sometimes the next step is not working harder. It is finally understanding why.

This reflects our personal experiences, shared to help women who feel the same way. It is not medical advice, and individual results vary. SeshDx does not act or warrant itself as a licensed medical provider, and nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always work with a licensed clinician on any testing, supplementation, or treatment plan.