Subclinical hypothyroidism
TSH inside the GP range can still be functionally hypothyroid. Free T3 is the active form your cells actually use, and it's rarely tested.
+ Symptom 03
Energy · Thyroid · Adrenals
I'm constantly exhausted.
You sleep, but you don't wake rested. Coffee gets you to lunch. By 3pm you're done — and another six hours of evening still need to happen. The bloods come back normal. Everyone tells you it's stress, motherhood, your age. You know it isn't just that.
Persistent fatigue almost never has one cause. It has a stack — thyroid running cold, ferritin under 70, cortisol curve flipped, B12 borderline, blood sugar crashing — and standard GP testing was never built to find it.
The Picture
If this is you,
it might sound like —
Read these the way you'd read a letter from someone who already knows. If three or more land hard, you're in the right place.
- I sleep 8 hours and wake exhausted.
- My energy crashes around 2-3pm every day.
- Coffee is the only thing keeping me upright.
- I get a second wind at 10pm and can't fall asleep.
- I'm tired but wired — body shattered, brain won't switch off.
- My TSH is "normal" and my GP says I'm fine.
- I push through the day on willpower.
- Even when I rest, the rest doesn't land.
+ Key Drivers
What's actually draining you.
"Just stress" is not a diagnosis. Persistent fatigue almost always has three or four measurable drivers stacked together — and most of them never appear on a standard GP order.
Low ferritin (under 70)
"Iron is normal" isn't enough. Hair loss and fatigue start under 70 even when iron studies look fine on the headline numbers.
HPA axis dysregulation
Cortisol meant to be high in the morning, low at night. Reverse the curve and "tired but wired" follows.
B12 + folate depletion
Common in vegetarians, on PPIs, after pregnancy. The B12 reference range catches deficiency, not insufficiency.
Mitochondrial dysfunction
Your cells stop making ATP efficiently. Often nutrient-deficient (CoQ10, magnesium, B-vitamins), often inflammation-driven.
Blood-sugar instability
A high-carb breakfast → 11am crash → afternoon coffee → evening cortisol spike. You feel tired because your fuel is wrong.
+ Key Tests
How we see the stack.
Standard GP fatigue workups test 4-6 markers. Functional testing routinely runs 30+. The picture changes once you can see it.
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Comprehensive bloods · Full panelFull thyroid (TSH, free T3, free T4, reverse T3, antibodies), complete iron studies (with ferritin), B12 (active + serum), folate, vitamin D, fasting insulin, HbA1c, inflammation markers.
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HTMA · Mineral panelMagnesium, copper:zinc ratio, mineral status. The cofactors your mitochondria need to make energy.
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OAT · Organic acidsMitochondrial markers, B-vitamin status, neurotransmitter metabolites, gut dysbiosis — the upstream chemistry of energy production.
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DUTCH cortisol · Diurnal curveFull cortisol pattern in dried urine — what your stress system is actually doing morning to night, not just one snapshot.
+ Foundational Must-Haves
What you can start today.
The floor your body needs before any protocol can work. These six are the highest-leverage daily moves for fatigue specifically.
- 30 g protein at breakfast within an hour of waking. Stops the late-morning crash before it starts — the single biggest energy lever.
- Caffeine cap at noon. Caffeine has a 6-hour half-life. Afternoon coffee is still in your system at bedtime — and it's fuelling the 3am wake.
- Morning daylight in your eyes within 30 minutes of waking. Anchors cortisol so it can drop properly at night.
- Magnesium glycinate 300–400 mg at bedtime. Helps the nervous system release the tension built up across the day.
- A real lunch — protein, fats, slow carbs. Skipping it guarantees a 3pm crash. Eating it solves half of the afternoon problem.
- One non-negotiable wind-down hour before bed. No screens, low light. Your nervous system needs the runway.
+ The Process with How It Heals
Tired isn't a diagnosis.
"You're stressed" is not a treatment plan. Persistent fatigue almost always has a measurable cause — usually three or four stacked together. We find the stack.
Most clients feel a meaningful lift inside the first 4-6 weeks once the right nutrients are in the right doses. By month 3, "I'm constantly exhausted" usually isn't the first sentence anymore.
+ From the women in front of us
What changed.
Selected from clients who started here — chronically fatigued, normal bloods, no clear answers — and worked through the 22-week reset.
I have my afternoons back. I forgot what it felt like to want to do something after 4pm.
J.R. · 38 · New Farm
Three things were wrong and they were all in my bloods. My GP didn't run them. Two months in and I'm a different person.
D.M. · 44 · Telehealth