05/27/2026
"Your labs are normal."
Translation: your labs aren't outside the range that triggers an insurance code.
That's not the same as healthy. That's not the same as optimal. That's not the same as how you should actually feel.
Standard reference ranges are built off a sick population. They tell us when you've crossed into disease — not when your body has started compensating, struggling, or quietly running on empty.
Here's what I look at instead:
TSH between 1–2 (not 0.5–4.5)
Free T3 in the upper third of the range
Vitamin D between 60–80 ng/mL (not "above 30")
Fasting insulin under 7 (not "non-diabetic")
Ferritin above 70 for women (not "above 11")
The standard system asks: are you sick yet?
Optimal medicine asks: how good can you actually feel?
If you've been told you're "normal" and you know something's off — you're not crazy. You're under-tested.
I built the Normal Isn't Optimal lab guide for exactly this reason. Direct access to the specialty labs the standard system doesn't run. No membership required.
Link in bio.
— Megan, FNP-C
