Health Update: This Is Me, Frustrated and Committed

This isn’t a glossy before-and-after post.

This is a mid-journey update — raw, honest, and somewhere
between “what the hell” and “I’m still doing it anyway.”

A few months ago, I started a full functional health protocol using the Function Health app. I got comprehensive labs, created a supplement plan, and committed — fully — to taking back control of my health. I started in April, and by June, I had already spent close to $1,000 on high-quality supplements — not to mention the $500 I paid for the Function Health testing itself.

No joke. I’ve been all in.

But here’s where I’m at today:
I’m frustrated.

Why?
Because I haven’t seen the symptom relief I hoped for.

I still wake up stiff.
Still deal with mental fog.
Still feel like I’m dragging my body through mud some days.

Yes, my vitamin D improved.
Yes, my B12 is great.
But that’s about it — and when you’re spending hundreds of dollars and showing up every single day to do “the right things,” that can feel really defeating.

The Function Health app gave me a list of recommended supplements — but here’s the catch:
No dosage. No guidance. No roadmap.
It’s just a list.

And the supplement world? It’s a jungle.

You can’t just grab any bottle off the shelf and expect it to work. It needs to be third-party tested, high quality, and dosed correctly. That takes research. And time. And money.

So I’ve been building my protocol in phases — slowly, intentionally — because I didn’t want to throw a dozen new things at my body all at once. This week, I’ve decided to pause. No new supplements. No new purchases. I’m giving myself permission to feel the overwhelm and not push through it. That, too, is part of healing.

But here’s what’s keeping me grounded:

I used my annual physical as a checkpoint — a pulse check before retesting with Function Health. I brought everything to my doctor, told her about the supplements I’m taking, and asked for labs that could help me understand if this is working.

She listened.
She ran the tests.
And because of that, we discovered something critical:

I’m in the early stages of Hashimoto’s.

If I hadn’t advocated for myself, it might have gone unnoticed until things got worse. And here’s the wild part — my doctor literally said,
“There’s nothing we do right now… until it gets worse.”

And that, my friends, is exactly why I believe in functional medicine.

I don’t want to wait until it gets worse.
I want to intervene now.
I want to support my body before it breaks down.
I want to look at the why, not just the what.

Oh, and for the first time ever, at my annual screening, I took those standardized depression and anxiety screenings and — all zeros.

I’m officially off my antidepressant (as of May 20), and while I’m still carrying a lot, I finally feel like I’m moving through it with more clarity — not numbed out.

So here I am:
Still foggy. Still frustrated. But fiercely committed.

This isn’t a quick fix.
It’s a reclaiming.
It’s slow, and layered, and exhausting — but it’s mine.

If you’re in this place too — feeling like nothing’s working, wondering if it’s worth it…

Let me say what I need to remind myself today:

It’s okay to be frustrated.
It’s okay to be tired.
It’s okay to pause.
But it’s not okay to give up on yourself.

Not now. Not ever.

With heart,
Rebecca

*FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. NOT MEDICAL ADVICE.