You Don’t Need a Diagnosis to Start Understanding Your Health.

Years before I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and Sjögren’s syndrome, my body was trying to tell me something. I just didn’t have the language or support to understand what it was saying.

Maybe this sounds familiar...

You wake up exhausted after a full night of sleep.

You cancel plans because your body hurts again.

You’ve tried changing your diet, taking supplements, exercising more, exercising less, and reading every article Google could find.

Your lab work comes back “normal.”

Your doctor tells you everything looks fine.

But deep down, you know something isn’t right.

It feels like you’re playing a game of Clue.

You’re trying to figure out what happened, except no one will tell you who the suspects are, where to look, or which clues actually matter.

But you’re in no mood for games, and you’re tired of guessing what’s causing your unexplained symptoms.

I know this feeling all too well, because I’ve lived it.

When we don’t understand our symptoms…

• We delay getting the care that we need

• We doubt that what we’re experiencing is real

• We waste money chasing random solutions that don’t work

• We lose confidence in our ability to make informed decisions for our health

The longer we spend guessing …the harder it becomes to trust ourselves.

That’s why I believe clarity matters before certainty.

Long before that diagnosis, I knew something wasn’t right.

It all started during my time serving in the Marine Corps in July 2012, when I started becoming lactose intolerant. At first, it was more of an annoyance, but over the years, I realized that it wasn’t just that dairy upset my stomach.

I also began to notice that I was growing an intolerance to other foods that I had been eating since childhood.

In my effort to “fix” what I thought was broken, I joined the “growing” community of chronic dieters, believing that if I lost weight, I would become healthier.

However, the truth was that no matter how much weight I lost, my symptoms didn’t disappear. And, in some situations, the excessive dieting and exercise made my symptoms worse.

Eventually, I reached a point where I couldn’t ignore my symptoms anymore.

I wasn’t looking for another diet or another wellness trend. I wanted answers. So, I went to my primary care doctor because I was growing concerned about my food intolerances, but she completely dismissed me. Instead, she was more concerned with my “high BMI” than she was with diagnosing my unexplained symptoms.

Eventually, I did get a diagnosis...

In December of 2019, months before the world would shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and Sjögren’s syndrome. However, that diagnosis wasn’t the beginning of my story, as my story had already been unfolding since July of 2012.

What it did do was help me realize that my intuition that something wasn’t right was right all along.

Sometimes I wonder if I would have received answers sooner if my concerns had been taken seriously. I’ll never know. What I do know is that my experience changed how I think about health forever.

That’s why I do what I do.

I was a chronic dieter who spent years trying to fix symptoms the wrong way. Learning to understand my body instead of fighting it completely changed my relationship with health.

Today, I combine my lived experience with more than a decade of coaching experience, evidence-based nutrition education, and an unhealthy amount of curiosity to help Black women better understand the stories their symptoms have been telling them all along.

She Learned How to Listen to What Her Body Was Telling Her.

“I’ve tried many different bandwagon diets, and some worked short-term, but they were never easy to stick with, not to mention money pits. I am more organized with my meal prepping and planning, and that has made making health choices easier. Tomesha encouraged me to look at my food and its benefits or lack thereof.”

Veronica W.

A Few Things You Should Know About Me

🏃 You’ll usually find me lifting weights or on a run.

☕ Chai tea is basically a personality trait.

📚 I can lose an entire afternoon reading research papers.

🐶 I’ll absolutely Google what random foods Penny Deena can eat.

🐉 I’m still not over Game of Thrones Season 8.

Here’s What I Believe

• I believe your symptoms deserve investigation, not dismissal.

• I believe every symptom tells part of a story.

• I believe you shouldn’t have to wait years for clarity.

• I believe Black women deserve healthcare that listens before it labels.

• I believe understanding your health shouldn’t require becoming your own detective.

Most of all...

I believe you deserve answers.

Because you shouldn’t have to wait for a diagnosis to start understanding your health.

Join the EBWH Community

Every Monday, I share research, personal stories, and practical lessons to help you better understand unexplained symptoms and make more informed decisions about your health.

Inside the newsletter, you’ll find:

• Research explained in plain language

• Stories that help connect the dots behind symptoms

• Practical tools for navigating healthcare

• Encouragement that reminds you you’re not imagining what you’re experiencing

Because you deserve more than generic health advice.

You deserve context.