Episode 126
Dr. Saima Qureshi:
Autoimmunity and Exhaustion: Analyzing The Overlooked Link
In this episode I was joined by Dr. Saima Qureshi, who shares her incredible journey of using functional and integrative medicine to conquer narcolepsy after traditional Western medicine failed her.
Dr. Saima has transformed her life from dependency on stimulants and drugs to living a life filled with purpose, and now, she helps others with chronic illness to challenge the belief that their diagnosis and medications are the only solutions for their symptoms.
First Aired on: Feb 12, 2024
Episode 126
Dr. Saima Qureshi:
Autoimmunity and Exhaustion: Analyzing The Overlooked Link
In this episode I was joined by Dr. Saima Qureshi, who shares her incredible journey of using functional and integrative medicine to conquer narcolepsy after traditional Western medicine failed her.
Dr. Saima has transformed her life from dependency on stimulants and drugs to living a life filled with purpose, and now, she helps others with chronic illness to challenge the belief that their diagnosis and medications are the only solutions for their symptoms.
First Aired on: Feb 12, 2024
Table of Contents:
In this episode:
Summary
In this episode I was joined by Dr. Saima Qureshi, who shares her incredible journey of using functional and integrative medicine to conquer narcolepsy after traditional Western medicine failed her. Dr. Saima has transformed her life from dependency on stimulants and drugs to living a life filled with purpose, and now, she helps others with chronic illness to challenge the belief that their diagnosis and medications are the only solutions for their symptoms.
In this Episode:
- Dr. Qureshi’s personal health journey from conventional Western medicine to functional medicine
- The challenges of diagnosing and living with narcolepsy
- The importance of foundational basics such as stress management, sleep, diet, detox, and movement for healing from chronic health challenges
- Approaches to brain and body transformation and healing from narcolepsy and autoimmunity
Dr. Saima’s Personal Health Journey
- Began during medical school with symptoms of fatigue and need for naps
- Progressed through residency, leading to the use of stimulants and multiple health issues
- Reached a turning point when conventional treatments failed and symptoms of Parkinson’s appeared
- Introduction to functional medicine through a friend’s recommendation
Narcolepsy: More Than Just Falling Asleep
- Misconceptions about narcolepsy and the importance of accurate diagnosis
- Personal challenges Dr. Saima faced before recognizing narcolepsy symptoms
- Testing for narcolepsy and why it’s often underdiagnosed
- The role of pharmaceuticals and the importance of looking beyond them for true healing
Healing from Autoimmunity and Chronic Health Challenges
- Dr. Saima’s approach to addressing autoimmunity incorporates both Western and alternative treatments
- The integral part of diet, lifestyle changes, and identifying root causes for healing
- The conversation around narcolepsy potentially being an autoimmune issue and the commonalities in treatment approaches
The Basics: Diet and Lifestyle
- The AIP (Autoimmune Paleo) diet and its impact on inflammation and autoimmunity
- Stress management as a critical element for overcoming fatigue and chronic conditions
- Strategies for improving sleep hygiene and alignment with circadian rhythms
- The importance of movement and exercise for overall health and detoxification
Key Takeaways
- Functional and integrative medicine can provide answers where conventional treatments fail
- Stress management, sleep, diet, detox, and movement are foundational to healing
- It’s vital to look beyond medication to address the root causes of chronic conditions
Other Resources:
Connect with Dr. Saima Qureshi
Episode Transcript
Julie Michelson:[Page//00:00:00] Welcome back to the Inspired Living with Autoimmunity podcast. I'm your host, Julie Michelson. And today we're joined by Dr. Saima Qureshi, board certified pediatrician and IFM certified functional medicine practitioner. Dr. Saima used functional and integrative medicine to conquer narcolepsy when conventional Western medicine failed and her doctors told her they had no other solutions for her.
Julie Michelson: She recovered completely, got off stimulants and drugs that were leaving her with severe side effects to live the life of her purpose. She now helps people with chronic illness dispel the lie that they're stuck with their diagnosis and medications, which are only a band aid for their symptoms. Dr. Sima practices functional and integrative medicine virtually all over Florida at Rebalance Family Health, where she specializes in narcolepsy, mold illness, and autoimmunity.
Julie Michelson: In today's conversation, Dr. Sima shares her approach to brain and body transformation, and we discuss addressing foundational basics like stress management, sleep, diet, detox, and movement to truly heal from chronic health challenges, [Page//00:01:00] including narcolepsy and autoimmunity.
Julie Michelson: Dr. Saima, welcome to the podcast.
Saima Qureshi: Thank you so much for having me here today, Julie.
Julie Michelson: I'm so looking forward to this conversation. Um, I always love when we're, I know we're going to hit on something that listeners haven't heard before. Um, we always get a different spin on, on stuff and there's definitely themes that repeat. So I would love for you to share your journey. How did you go from practicing pediatrics to transitioning to functional medicine?
Saima Qureshi: That's a great question. And yes, certainly a great way to start. So, you know, I grew up in a very traditional sort of Western kind of model. I grew up in Pakistan, but my parents followed, uh, doctors there or took us to doctors there that practice Western medicine. Uh, so we got the same kind of, you know, medications, antibiotics, uh, whatnot.
Saima Qureshi: Growing up, never got exposed to anything [Page//00:02:00] else, and then I went to a medical school that was also, again, the training was very Western. In fact, our dean would come from the U. S. And I wanted to be a doctor from a young age. I remember in middle school, I wanted to be a doctor. So really this was, you know, my purpose, uh, you know, I had a big drive to be a doctor.
Saima Qureshi: And when, when I started medical school, um, at some point I realized that I wanted to come to the U S for further training. And pediatrics excited me and I ended up in Michigan back in 1999 for my residency training. And, um, you know, during medical school, I started feeling fatigued and, um, I lived in the same city and I got a dorm room because I would need to break my day with a nap.
Saima Qureshi: So I would have lunch. And run to my room, take a 15 minute nap, run back for my clinicals. And that was that, you know, I had some gut symptoms, um, digestive [Page//00:03:00] issues, not anything out of the ordinary. Uh, you know, but some medications here and there. And as time went on, my fatigue grew. I got through residency.
Saima Qureshi: I did a residency in pediatrics. I did a fellowship in toxicology, learned all the conventional stuff that I've learned to not believe anymore. Uh, uh, so, you know, just that training, it just trains you to believe in things that may not always work or make you feel better, uh, temporarily. Um, and after I got done with my residency, I, uh, worked in an ER, you know, crazy lifestyle.
Saima Qureshi: The, you know, midnights, uh, eating on the go, you know, eating out of the vending machine, all that kind of stuff. And, um, I just got sicker and sicker, but nothing that, uh, you know, decompensated me or really made me stop to think, okay, I need to do something about it. So I had [Page//00:04:00] hormonal issues, I had duct issues, I was feeling fatigued.
Saima Qureshi: You know, I would go to my primary care physician every now and then and Get a workup and things would look kind of
Julie Michelson: fine. Your labs look good.
Saima Qureshi: The lab looks good. You know, that usual story.
Julie Michelson: Yeah.
Saima Qureshi: And so life went on. I had kids and um, I was just tired. You know, I was just having a hard time overcoming that energy deficit.
Saima Qureshi: And one of my daughters, you know, she wrote down when she was in elementary school and this little thing that they write at school. My mom loves taking naps.
Julie Michelson: No,
Saima Qureshi: I needed naps to get by my day. Um, and I ended up in, um, Florida from Michigan, um, about 14 years ago. Uh, you know, we were going through some transitions.
Saima Qureshi: My husband was starting a new job. And at that point I decided that was just too much for me to work as a doctor. Um, it was, I was just not able to keep it all together, [Page//00:05:00] you know, balance, uh, my commitments, um, as a wife, as a mom, uh, you know, take care of my kids. And work as a physician. And prior to that, I had actually worked part time.
Saima Qureshi: Once I got done with my training, I just worked part time. And I just got more and more fatigued. You know, I did, I did stuff. I volunteered whatnot, but I had fatigue. I had sleepiness and my husband was a sleep doctor, believe it or not. And he
Julie Michelson: interesting?
Saima Qureshi: telling me that I needed to get a sleep study. And finally, uh, about.
Saima Qureshi: Eight years ago, in 2016, when, uh, you know, when I hit rock bottom, so to speak, when I couldn't take it anymore, I was having a hard time driving, I said, okay, let's get a sleep study, so I got a sleep study, and the tech from his office called him, uh, because I had classical, you know, uh, so a sleep study followed by what's called an MSLT, classical [Page//00:06:00] textbook, MSLT, that's the name of the test for narcolepsy, MSLT.
Saima Qureshi: And I got started on stimulants. I was seeing, you know, his associate one stimulant after another. It would work, it would work for about three to six months, give me a lot of side effects. I would just be cranky and irritable and, uh, you know, lack of appetite. I would still crash in the middle of the day.
Saima Qureshi: Uh, with one of them, I couldn't sleep till around midnight or one. And then I would You know, I had to be started on a medication to put me to sleep at night. So medication to wake me in the morning, medication to put me to sleep at night. I started developing high blood pressure. And that's when, you know, I sort of started connecting the dots.
Saima Qureshi: Okay, is it the nighttime medication that is giving me the high blood pressure? And I stopped that and my hypertension went away. And during this time, I was, you know, developing other things, hormonal issues, gut issues. Um, I had a fibroid, I had a [Page//00:07:00] hysterectomy, so all these things are going on and finally when I was on my last, you know, my last medication for narcolepsy called Xyrem, which costs around almost 200, 000 a year,
Julie Michelson: Oh my gosh.
Saima Qureshi: I lasted one week on it, I started getting symptoms of Parkinson's
Julie Michelson: Oh my gosh.
Saima Qureshi: Uh, so yeah, my face, you know, became very mask like, I had tremors, and that had to be stopped. And that's when I knew I had to look for answers outside of what I was used to outside of this conventional Western medicine. So, and then, you know, one of my friends, uh, introduced me to cupping, um, and so that was my first experience with something.
Saima Qureshi: Out of what I was used to, you know, I grew up with a family of doctors. My brother's a doctor. My husband has siblings that are doctors. So I was just surrounded by this culture of, uh, you know, pills and procedures, so to speak, [Page//00:08:00] uh, that traditional Western medicine, uh, culture and never thought of anything.
Saima Qureshi: And in fact, um, I was In many ways, taught to look down upon other modalities of treatment, uh, you know, even in my training, I do remember functional doctors being mentioned as quacks
Julie Michelson: right.
Saima Qureshi: and During my toxicology training, uh, so I, this was, this is not something that I was, uh, you know, taught to seek, um, taught to look up to, uh, or taught to think that this would actually help people. And when things fell apart for me, I started looking outside, you know, I got cupping, I started reading books, um, I started off with Dr. Gundry's book. Um, the plant paradox and, you know, it introduced such radical concepts to me at that time.
Julie Michelson: that's a, that I, I don't [Page//00:09:00] know if I would recommend that that be your first entry into
Saima Qureshi: right. Absolutely. But for some reason it was. And I mean I've grown a lot since then. Uh, you know, after, and then, um, I got introduced to functional medicine by a friend who went to the same medical school as me.
Julie Michelson: Ah, so then there was a little, uh,
Saima Qureshi: there was that, uh, that link. And she actually pushed me. She, she asked me to Register for, you know, the IF Institute of Functional Medicine's first course and send a picture to her of my registration.
Julie Michelson: Woo-hoo.
Saima Qureshi: I was almost pushed into this, and, you know, I did it, and There's no looking back,
Julie Michelson: No, you can't, you can't unlearn or, or you know, it, it's, there is never any going going back.
Saima Qureshi: totally, so yes, so you know the whole my whole world changed and then, um, during, you know, during my recovery and during my health journey, [Page//00:10:00] um, I also discovered that I have mold illness, uh, so mold was a part of that eventual decompensation. It's not the whole story, but part of the story. Um, so yes, so I learned from mold experts, Dr.
Saima Qureshi: Neil Nathan and Jill Krista. Uh, so they're also a huge part of my healing journey. Um, yes. So that's how I ended up in functional medicine.
Julie Michelson: I love it. And how is your health now?
Saima Qureshi: Oh, totally different. I, I feel that I am better. Uh, I feel better than I've felt in a few decades, honestly, like going back to my teens.
Julie Michelson: I love it. Oh, well, I'm Yeah, I know. I, it's a, this is why we're having these conversations. So that, um, because I remember when I found functional medicine, it was like, well, how did I never hear about this? Like, how did I not know this was. [Page//00:11:00] It's an option, you know, um, and so that's, it's one of the reasons why we, we do the podcast so people can, can learn that there are other, other approaches.
Julie Michelson: And I do believe, um, you know, to have that Western training as, as a background, I mean, it's, it's not one way or another, you know, ideally you're bringing those worlds together. And, you know, because that that is I think a problem these days is a lot of people can just hang a functional medicine shingle, but there's no medicine and functional, you know, they're, they just don't have the medical training.
Saima Qureshi: absolutely. And I think that is a very important point. Um, you know, I really, uh, would call it more like functional and integrative medicine where integrating the modality. And I certainly do use some pharmaceuticals, and they are a part of my toolbox. And you really [Page//00:12:00] can't, you know, have one without the other.
Saima Qureshi: So, It is a part that Western training is a part of my journey. It is a bit of what I still incorporate. I mean, we do need to pull out those things when we need them,
Julie Michelson: But you ask why you ask, why is this happening? Not just, you know, here's a prescription as a band aid.
Saima Qureshi: Yes. To take care of your symptoms. Yes. You can, you may take care of those symptoms, but. You have to get to the root cause. You have to address that because if you don't, then those underlying problems that are happening in the body, they're just continuing and the damage is just ongoing, which is what happened with me.
Saima Qureshi: You know, I had those hormonal issues way back in my teens. And then I ended up having a fibroid and a hysterectomy so that, you know, the estrogen dominance, um, a
Julie Michelson: Yeah. It takes a toll, right?
Saima Qureshi: right, if you don't do anything about it. And then the gut issues, um, chronic SIBO. [Page//00:13:00] Uh, you know, we're just kind of building up over time.
Julie Michelson: I want to circle back for, for listeners. I want to talk a little bit about the NAR, about narcolepsy because I think it's common in the lay world. When you hear narcolepsy, you, you think, Oh. Well, how would you not know you're having, you know, weren't you falling asleep while you were driving? Or, you know, how could you not be aware that you have narcolepsy?
Julie Michelson: So can we just kind of touch on that a little bit and, and explain, you know, how, how do you get a narcolepsy diagnosis and not know
Saima Qureshi: absolutely. So, you know, in medical school, I learned that narcolepsy is a condition where you have excessive daytime sleepiness. And you would have a person who would just be, you know, falling asleep, dozing off. And it does happen, but you know, everything in life starts slow and it progresses and you get to that point.
Saima Qureshi: So Before you get to [Page//00:14:00] that point, what do you have? You have fatigue, you have sleepiness, and people would compensate, you know, people compensate for it with caffeine, um, so, you know, coffee, multiple cups of coffee in a day, that's how I was compensating for it, or taking a nap, and in my opinion, um, I think it's just an underdiagnosed condition, and that doesn't mean that, you know, the listener is just Go and get tested for narcolepsy, but it's just a manifestation of, um, you know, the body not working really well, the energy production system or, you know, the awakening system in the body, it's not working well because of all these, um, you know, hindrances.
Saima Qureshi: And, and sort of the biochemistry looking at that level at the cellular level, your cells are not functioning optimally and your mitochondria, which are your, you know, energy producing, um, organelles in [Page//00:15:00] the cells, they're not functioning. They're not generating the energy. So just like the powerhouse, you know, you've, you've got a power failure.
Julie Michelson: right. Which is why it is so. And again, because here I am now, 20 years ago, I might not have given it a second thought, but, but to think of, okay, somebody has fatigue and sleepiness and the treatment, and I'm using quotations for people listening on audio is we're going to, we're going to give you stimulants. We're not going to wonder why you can't make it through the day without falling asleep like that. It just seems insane now. I know it didn't, but I wanted to touch on that because a lot of listeners and I'm sure listeners are kind of leaning in because fatigue is such a common across the board symptom with autoimmunity, pretty much no matter, you know, what diagnosis you have.
Julie Michelson: Um. And, and, and even not in autoimmunity, I mean, just, just when I think of the typical [Page//00:16:00] inflamed adult, um, fatigue is, is common or, and, or energy deficiency in some, in some respects is common. And we always, not always, often, if the criteria is met, send people for sleep studies, because. With that thought of, are you, you know, are you oxygenating at night?
Julie Michelson: Because if not, you're going to be tired during the day. Um, but I, I, this is kind of a new world even for me to, to dig in a little bit to, to narcolepsy. And, and nobody's, I, I don't know of anybody really going that far with, with, The testing. So I think that, yeah,
Saima Qureshi: So generally the testing gets done if, you know, you get a sleep study and nothing comes up on it, like you don't have a sleep apnea, or if somebody's really thinking narcolepsy because their overnight sleep study, that doesn't pick narcolepsy, it's an additional test that has to be done. So the additional [Page//00:17:00] test would only get done if your overnight sleep study is negative, which is what the case was with me, or You know, if somebody really has an index of suspicion
Julie Michelson: Right.
Saima Qureshi: of epilepsy.
Saima Qureshi: So that's, that's a daytime. That's, that stays done in the daytime.
Julie Michelson: Sure. Well, that makes sense. Yeah. And that's, I just, I, I just am like wondering how many people have the negative sleep study. So they're just told they don't have apnea and Then, you know, this doesn't get addressed, as you said, until it progresses to a point. Eventually, it becomes clear if somebody has narcolepsy, if it's left untreated, you know, so, yeah,
Saima Qureshi: And there's so many people that take stimulants. So provisional is a very well known stimulant. It's, it's, um, It's not like Adderall or Ritalin or violence, but it is. You know, it's, it's, it helps you stay awake and there are many people who take Provigil even without a diagnosis of narcolepsy.
Julie Michelson: Yeah, [Page//00:18:00] my rheumatologist offered provigil to me years ago, and I was like, wait, that same boat, like you're giving me stuff to sleep? And now you want to give me, like, I'm not a junkie, like, what is going on? Why? And that was kind of toward where I was like, maybe there's a, you know, I, I was holding it 10 prescriptions.
Julie Michelson: I didn't want the 11th prescription, you know, but so I, I know it's, it's used, it is used and prescribed for, for people that have
Saima Qureshi: that are feeling,
Julie Michelson: without, without a diagnosis for sure.
Saima Qureshi: absolutely. And, and I feel like, uh, you know, it's, it's, it's a tough spot for doctors because that's just how they're trained. Like, you know, having a, my husband being a sleep doctor. That's just how he was trained. And, you know, you, you invest all this time going to medical school and residency and training and fellowship and all that.
Saima Qureshi: And then you sort of get on a hamster wheel, you know, you've got bills to pay, you've got, you know, your life, your [Page//00:19:00] kids, your family, all that. And, and then you're working in this system where a lot of what you do gets dictated by insurance companies. Uh, so you really, you know, your hands are tied. Um, and a lot of times doctors, you know, they're just so kind of stuck in the system.
Saima Qureshi: They don't have time to step out and look at other, at other modalities. And they're also taught to think that those modalities don't work. And there's no evidence behind
Julie Michelson: It's quackery. Right.
Saima Qureshi: It's black, green, all that, right? And you're sort of brainwashed, unfortunately. And until,
Julie Michelson: decades and decades and, you know, I always ask like, why going back, like so many doctors that I've interviewed, you know, your, even though there were symptoms you normalized when you were younger medical school, it really became clear. But it's like, why do we try to kill [Page//00:20:00] doctors in medical, like people who want to be doctors?
Julie Michelson: In medical school, like you're, you're not sleeping. You can't possibly be eating. Well, the stress is through the roof. Like all of the things that we know now will lead to, to illness and chronic illness is like, why, why are we putting people through that? And it doesn't, like you said, it doesn't even matter what country it's, that's, it's how the structure of, of medical school is.
Saima Qureshi: it's just a world, yeah, it's just a worldwide sort of a phenomenon, right?
Julie Michelson: And so it gets accepted like, yeah. That's fine.
Saima Qureshi: Right.
Julie Michelson: I mean, the good news is, which is unfortunate, it shouldn't be that way, but this is how functional medicine is growing, right? It's because, unfortunately, because people practicing strictly in the Western model aren't getting answers for themselves. And so, you know, um, we're grateful you're here,
Saima Qureshi: Oh, thank you so much. And that's what happens. The patients that come to me, and I'm sure that's what [Page//00:21:00] you're seeing too, they've already been through so many different kinds of providers, and you're not getting the results that they're looking for, or they're just getting sicker and sicker, uh, and, you know, more tired, more fatigued, all that, right?
Saima Qureshi: Um, and they're looking for answers. And then, you know, once you start fixing those underlying problems, so, you know, and it's, it's not just one thing in functional medicine, we know that it's. So many things, like, there's so many, uh, leaks in the roof, as Dr. Bredesen, uh, says, you know, for dementia, like, and that applies, I feel that applies to every single illness, like for narcolepsy, it wasn't just one thing.
Saima Qureshi: I did not have an adderall deficiency or a bypass deficiency. But I had multiple nutritional deficiency and deficiencies. And in addition, I had imbalances in my gut and hormonal imbalances and toxins. And, you know, so I had to work [Page//00:22:00] on all those different things, uh, to get rid of the narcolepsy symptoms and address the root causes.
Julie Michelson: And I love that you, you brought that up. So I happen to be Bredesen trained. I'm a RICODE coach, which I don't, I don't know that I've ever mentioned on the podcast before. And, and I love in case people are like, wait, why are we talking about narcolepsy? Isn't this an autoimmune podcast? It's it's the same.
Julie Michelson: These, the leaks, the, we need to be supporting, you know, nutrition, hormones, reducing, like all of the things, whether you have an autoimmune diagnosis, you have dementia or Alzheimer's, you have, you know, can't pick something, anything chronic. Including narcolepsy, we, we need to be, you know, taking away those blocks from healing because our body is designed to heal and supporting.
Julie Michelson: And so I [Page//00:23:00] love that you brought that up because it is, it's, I know when I first got into functional medicine, I, you know, we hear root cause medicine and I, I thought singular, like root cause, like what is the cause of ha ha ha. And like you said, is it never. Just one thing
Saima Qureshi: It's never, right, and even with autoimmunity, like, so I have, so Hashimoto's, that's also a part of my story. So I,
Julie Michelson: Now we're talking
Saima Qureshi: right. And to be honest, I don't know if, you know, the narcolepsy, like the sleepiness, if part of that is also, uh, you know, autoimmune and I suspect that it is, there just hasn't been, you know, nobody's done the research.
Julie Michelson: Well, and I'm guessing if you had been diagnosed, I'm guessing you had were not diagnosed with Hashimoto's first Because if you were they probably would have totally discounted the fatigue as part of your autoimmune [Page//00:24:00] condition, right? Like oh, yeah, it's like telling you know a mom who knows she's not tired fatigued And the doctor says, well, of course, cause you have little kids.
Julie Michelson: Like, no, it's not. Um, so that is interesting. I, I, that you, uh, thank you for sharing that, you know, you also have an autoimmune diagnosis and I love, you know, like me, you don't identify by your diagnoses. It's like, Oh yeah. And I have that, you know, they said I had so addressing these roots, addressing these foundations. It improves, it doesn't matter the list of, of diagnoses or, you know, kind of what the, I really am firm, a firm believer in, and I'm not saying again, you don't ever need medication or, you know, I always say there's this framework and it's, we prioritize. You know, like, if you've got mold exposure and you're living in a moldy house, like, we know, like, we [Page//00:25:00] have to prioritize according to, to need for the individual, but, but we need that foundation strong.
Saima Qureshi: Absolutely. And yes, and you know, and there are many pieces to the foundation as well, and you have to work on all of them. And, you know, starting with the basics.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Where, where, what are your basics?
Saima Qureshi: So my basics are diet and, you know, diet and lifestyle. So sleep, exercise, stress, those are, those are my basics. And what I've found in my own journey is that until you work on those, you, you could be pouring supplements. Or other functional treatments, but until you work on the food that is going in the body or, you know, removing the food that your body is going to react to, like with autoimmunity in an autoimmune paleo diet, which is what I've follow.
Saima Qureshi: Um, and working on the stress means stress just takes such a [Page//00:26:00] toll on the body and stress can be the cause, the actual, or rather the trigger, that finally broke the camel's back, so to speak, or that triggered someone's Hashimoto's or other autoimmune condition, like, you know, MS, for instance, or anything else.
Julie Michelson: All right.
Saima Qureshi: Like stress can be a huge trigger, right?
Julie Michelson: Well, and I don't know about you. I've seen, you know, I'm, I'm an audio autoimmune paleo coach as well. And so, you know, I've seen people come in with the appropriate diet for them. I've never had anybody come in where I say your stress management routine. So great. We're not touching it. We just, especially, and I think diet's not static either, but especially we may have a routine that works for us.
Julie Michelson: You know, really well in certain time periods, and then we're going to need to up level. We just are always need to be working on [Page//00:27:00] stress management. I think it's, it's, it's that one. Not everybody has a toxin issue. Everybody has too many toxins, but for sure, chronic stress is. I think number one.
Saima Qureshi: It is. I agree. You know, we're living in a very stressed society. Our just, our daily routines, uh, you know, as adults and also children. I mean, the routines have become so stressful. There's so much demand on people to, uh, you know, to do things. And we're just constantly busy. Um, the
Julie Michelson: not a, it's not a badge of honor or it shouldn't be a badge of honor. You know, I'm so busy, you know, out busying each other.
Saima Qureshi: it shouldn't be. And, you know, to be honest, I was one of those people.
Julie Michelson: Sure.
Saima Qureshi: Busy all the time.
Julie Michelson: Yeah.
Saima Qureshi: You know, the funny thing is, um, this is a comment that my grandfather made when I was a kid. I don't, I think I was a teenager, he said I wouldn't even have time to [Page//00:28:00] die . So, because it was just a part of my nature
Julie Michelson: Right.
Saima Qureshi: to be busy all the time. Um, so yeah. Uh, and you know, I didn't grow up in the us I grew up in a very large city. Um. In the developing in a developing country, but it was a large city. And yes, this life is stressful. Um, so stress does take a toll. And, you know, you get to the point where you tip over.
Julie Michelson: right. Yeah. It's any of these things, you know, we talk about that tipping point with toxins all the time, but it, it is the same. And, and I love that you said, and we have to work on all of it because, you know, if you're not working on stress, well, I don't care how good your diet is. You're not absorbing.
Julie Michelson: Your nutrients, you're not going to be sleeping well, you know, you're probably over exercising and, and that, you know, so it's, you have to be working on all of them. Um, [Page//00:29:00] and so I love that you highlighted that because it's really, I've had people come in and I know it's so frustrating, you know, so many of us start with a book or a podcast episode or a something.
Julie Michelson: And, and I say that was, I had the throw spaghetti at the wall approach to healing. When I decided to look for another way, um, outside of the rheumatology office, I was trying. I would read, learn, try, listen, try. I would, you know, and it was like, I did a lot of really good things, but it wasn't until I did some of them in concert.
Julie Michelson: That I started to heal. And so this is why, you know, again, we have these conversations. That's why I do what I do. It took me years to reduce my inflammation and symptoms and have my doctors. I always say my doctors took me off my medication. I didn't because I didn't need it anymore. Don't ever tell people to stop their meds.
Julie Michelson: Um, but it doesn't need to take years. [Page//00:30:00] It's not going to take a week, but it doesn't need to take, you know, six years to start to feel better. That's for sure. Yeah.
Saima Qureshi: That's very true. And yes, working on the stress is, you know, calming the nervous system down. That's key, right? Like calming the body, deep breathing, um, that progressive muscle, muscle relaxation. You really don't need it. You know, you don't need to go out and buy anything for that, but you need to set aside time for that.
Saima Qureshi: To really sort of consciously work on that relaxation. And sometimes you can be doing it even while you're, you know, doing some chores, just sort of being mindful about the breathing and the belly breathing. Um, so that's really important and that's
Julie Michelson: in conversation, like people don't know, you know, I did, um, right. I guess it had to have been 2020 right in the, you know, heart of the lockdown. Um, I did a, a big training for hospital based doctors [Page//00:31:00] in Pakistan. And that was their homework was as they change patients. To take three or seven breaths just to reset that nervous system, you know, cause they're in that.
Julie Michelson: And then, you know, add COVID on top of already a high stress job. Um, but one of the things I love about some of the just natural, we're built to use those tools. Um, so I always say, you know, you, you can't grab the tool if you don't have it in the toolbox.
Saima Qureshi: right.
Julie Michelson: it's in the toolbox, you know, if something is driving that you're having a stressful conversation, you can be breathing during it and not even go to that place of stress response.
Saima Qureshi: That's so true. Absolutely.
Julie Michelson: Yeah, I love it. Do you use that? You know, I, I know sleep is one of the pillars. Um, where do you start with people? Like what, what are things people can do around improving sleep?
Saima Qureshi: So [Page//00:32:00] sleep hygiene, you know, that's. Something so basic. Um, everybody's on their phones and you have blue light coming from phones. So consciously, uh, you know, not using your phone at least 2 to 3 hours before bedtime and then moving that bedtime to around 10 to 10 30 p. m. That should really be. The latest, anyone should go to sleep if they really want to reset their body and help it heal naturally.
Saima Qureshi: I mean, you really can't heal the body by, um, you know, pushing those circadian rhythms out of what they're supposed to be doing. So our bodies have something called circadian rhythms based on the cortisol, uh, so the natural, you know, one of the hormones. And, uh, If we stay up till too late, then it just puts that whole system out of balance.
Saima Qureshi: So to rebalance the body, you need to move that bedtime to 10 to 10. 30 and wake up early, [Page//00:33:00] you know, with the sun in so in many parts of the country. Uh, so, you know, by If you get good 7 to 9 hours of sleep, um, that should be the goal, but your 7 to 9 hours should not begin at 1 in the morning or 2 in the morning, or even midnight.
Saima Qureshi: They should begin sooner.
Julie Michelson: I love that you, that you say that because it is so important and people do tend to, you know, we, the, I think 10 years ago, if you ask people, what do they know about sleep? You know, they know, okay, somewhere around eight hours, right? But it really does make a difference when you're sleeping. What time
Saima Qureshi: Right. And again, this should not be a badge of honor that, you know,
Julie Michelson: hours is I've met. I've met so many people who say they're a super sleeper. You know, and they don't need, and there are the very rare super sleepers who don't need that seven to nine hours. Everybody so far that I've met that told me [Page//00:34:00] they were a super sleeper is not, they're not.
Saima Qureshi: They're not, they're going to,
Julie Michelson: they're running on, they're running on fumes and adrenaline.
Julie Michelson: Yeah.
Saima Qureshi: and it's going to catch up at some time, like I know people personally who claim that they're super sleepers, but they've had a big health setback, you
Julie Michelson: they don't connect the dots, right?
Saima Qureshi: you know, it could be a cancer, it could be an autoimmune condition, it could be a heart attack or something,
Julie Michelson: Well, and you mentioned, you know, brain health and Bredesen protocol, right? Like our brain is detoxing while we sleep. If you're not giving your, that your body that time, that's when we're healing and detoxing and cleaning out and, you know, rebuilding. So,
Saima Qureshi: And that's, you know, and that's one of those concepts that's not there in conventional medicine. That's probably just coming around. Uh, the concept of glymphatics. Uh, so, and even the whole lymphatic system is not something that, uh, conventional medicine really teaches. You don't, I didn't think about it until I [Page//00:35:00] got into functional medicine and cupping.
Saima Qureshi: Um, so our toxins are, uh, removed from From the brain through the glymphatic. So it's the lymphatic system off the brain and the time when it's doing its detoxing is when we're sleeping. So just imagine the more, uh, you sleep like, you know, the But in those seven to nine hours, the more your brain gets to detox, and brain disorders, brain fog, Alzheimer's, all those things, that's also a detox issue.
Saima Qureshi: And my personal theory is that, you know, narcolepsy is also a toxin issue, and a brain Detox issue because I mean, I know mold was a piece of my story when I got some specialized testing done, which you really don't have to do for specific toxins. But I was sort of trying to learn. I mean, I didn't have a lot of other toxins on board.
Saima Qureshi: Um, so. So, getting rid of those [Page//00:36:00] toxins from the brain is important, and I feel like it's just the body's signal of trying to detox, like, you know, you're just tired and sleepy because your brain needs to detox. To detox.
Julie Michelson: I, I love that you said that. That's so, it's so brilliant. And it, it, it just reinforces what you said also about the time of night, your sleep. Cause it's not just sleep. We, we need, you know, we need REM and we need deep sleep. This is, those are the stages where the good stuff is happening. And so that's what we're missing, even if we think we're getting enough.
Julie Michelson: Sleep, but we're going to bed at two in the morning, like you're not getting that restorative sleep that you need,
Saima Qureshi: Right. And it's unfortunate that a lot of that, those behaviors start when, you know, kids are little or in high school or in college and somehow, and I mean, I don't, you know, I feel like, you know, some of the, [Page//00:37:00] uh, sort of the writings or the data that's out there. I mean, people talk about teenagers, uh, neat having to have that altered, uh, rhythm and
Julie Michelson: circadian rhythm is different. Yeah.
Saima Qureshi: I'm not sure if that's, that's really true, to be honest. Um, again, you know, I don't know if it's just like that conventional Western kind of a concept. Um, but I really feel that our bodies are designed to work a certain way
Julie Michelson: Well, the sun,
Saima Qureshi: Yeah,
Julie Michelson: the earth and the sun are not changing just because you're a teenager, right? So the sun, now that I never really gave it much thought when I, when my kids were teenagers, I did wish that high school started later. Um, but. But I see what you're saying, and logically it wouldn't make sense. Why would our circadian rhythm, if it's set, you know, if it's connected to the cycles of nature, why would it be different [Page//00:38:00] at a certain period of growth?
Julie Michelson: It doesn't make sense.
Saima Qureshi: right. I mean, I feel like the circadian rhythm needs to be there. Maybe kids need more sleep at that time because that's just a time of their life and they're growing and
Julie Michelson: growing exponentially, sure,
Saima Qureshi: the metabolic needs are more. So, uh,
Julie Michelson: yeah,
Saima Qureshi: need to sleep more, but the timing doesn't need to shift
Julie Michelson: yeah,
Saima Qureshi: to later at night.
Julie Michelson: right,
Saima Qureshi: And you see that everywhere, unfortunately, like you see it in the U.
Saima Qureshi: S. You see it outside. I mean, it's just. Sort of become like a worldwide culture, um, you know, wherever you have, you know, artificial light and phones and
Julie Michelson: well, and that's these days, I mean, teenagers are on screens, you know, phones, tablets, laptops, video games. I mean, you name it and, and, you know, it's all day and all night, they're getting bombarded. So
Saima Qureshi: Absolutely.
Julie Michelson: I [Page//00:39:00] love that. See, I, I, cause back then, see, that's another thing I get to shift perspective on it. It doesn't make sense.
Julie Michelson: I mean, it doesn't make sense at all.
Saima Qureshi: It doesn't make sense. And, you know, and all those things catch up. Like I was a night owl, um, through high school, I mean, starting in high school. Uh, so if you don't pay attention to all those things, and if you don't sort of train, You know, your families, your children, which is hard, you know, being a mom of two, uh, teens and a, and a young adult, a young adult and teen, uh, those things are hard because, you know, your children are also surrounded by this culture, but those things do catch up.
Saima Qureshi: Like, I know they caught up with me.
Julie Michelson: Well, and, and they'll, you know, I know, I remember, I have three also that are close together and it was different when they were teenagers. They've all had their own kind of chronic health stuff to, to navigate. [Page//00:40:00] And now that they're all in their 20s, like none of them stay up late intentionally, you know, like if they're, they're regular schedules are, Which is still unusual in their age group, right?
Julie Michelson: But they're like, nope, peace out, um, I need to get my rest. Because they know if they're chasing that other kind of lifestyle, they're going to get sick. Because They just, they're, they've worked too hard to get inflammation down. Um, so, you know, eventually, it's always that, it's, it's a great moment when, you know, the kids get old enough to then, the things you've modeled and taught, you know, I, I think it's nature.
Julie Michelson: They should, they rebel against it a little bit, and then, it's, it's just a beautiful thing when they're older and they're like, oh, they may not even say it out loud, but if they just, it's just a start. Showing you that they're, you know, they're eating. Well, they're sleeping. Well, it's like, oh,
Saima Qureshi: And you know, yes, that that's a great point. And I hope my kids get there.
Julie Michelson:[Page//00:41:00] will
Saima Qureshi: It's almost like an elimination diet. You know, when you take those things out of your diet, and you bring to introduce them,
Julie Michelson: write.
Saima Qureshi: your body feels it. So once you've reset your circadian rhythm, and you're sleeping, you know, 1010 30. And you have that odd day when you don't, then you feel it the next day.
Saima Qureshi: So, um,
Julie Michelson: and it's I'm going to throw my throw my partner under the bus here. I always thought he was a night owl. He always thought he was a night owl. And when he moved in, I, there was no question, I'm not going to even pretend or try to be a night owl. And I'd say, you know, I'm going to bed. Oh, I'll go too.
Julie Michelson: I'm like, no, you don't have to, you know, because I really did think he was a night owl. He would go to bed between 12 and 2. And I'm telling you, he falls asleep before I do. It doesn't matter how early I head in. He was never a night owl. He just, it was that habitual, you know, busy, busy, busy [Page//00:42:00] until like I just can't.
Julie Michelson: And then I'm going to sleep. And he's a doctor, you know, but now he knows. But so it's, you know, we tell ourselves stories because we have habits and patterns and it's not necessarily because our nature is driving that, it's that we've trained our bodies.
Saima Qureshi: Absolutely. And sometimes, you know, the way we grew up or, you know, our families, how everybody else was, uh, was, uh, so all that plays a role, friends, all that.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. I love it. Amazing. So we've already covered so much, but here's your opportunity to either pull something new or highlight whatever you want. What is one step that listeners can take starting today to improve their health?
Saima Qureshi: So they can start by moving their bodies. Uh, movement is not one of those things that I grew up with, unfortunately. And like I said, you know, [Page//00:43:00] everything adds up. Um, I was never into sports. And, um, walk, you know, exercising. So it's not one of those things that I did on a regular basis. Um, and movement. One, it releases endorphins, you know, your brain chemicals that make you feel better.
Saima Qureshi: And the second thing is that it helps with detox also. So your lymphatics, they move. Your lymphatics don't have the ability to sort of pump the lymph naturally. So movement helps, uh, the lymph
Julie Michelson: they work. You
Saima Qureshi: how they work. Start small, you know, if you're really sick and fatigued and you have a lot of pain, then, uh, you know, it, it could just be moving around the house.
Julie Michelson: Right.
Saima Qureshi: Do what you can, but start moving. Uh, and I mean, these are just some basic things that you can do to start getting better. Um, and baby [Page//00:44:00] steps, you know, you don't have to Just don't jump and do everything, you know in one day or one week, but start where you can that's
Julie Michelson: Yeah. And don't overdo it because that's not going to support you. It'll drive inflammation. So I love, I love that your language is, is the same as mine, that you say movement, you know, because a lot of people, when you say exercise, We all hold a different, whatever the picture is that flies, you know, so we're not talking about CrossFit or, you know, a high intensity, anything or a rope.
Julie Michelson: It's just moving. And, and like you said, it can be just moving around the house. I have to remind people all the time, like, you know, There's so much that we either enjoy that that includes movement and we don't think of it that way, um, or that we're doing in our day. Um, and if we did a little more than we're increasing our movement.
Julie Michelson: So I love that. Yay. So, before we wrap up, where is for people listening on the go, [Page//00:45:00] where's the best place for them to find you.
Saima Qureshi: So my practice is in Florida so currently I can see Patients in Florida. So you have to be physically present in Florida for your first with it Otherwise, I have a
Julie Michelson: Who doesn't want to go to Florida? Come on.
Saima Qureshi: And I'm in the Orlando area, so, and my areas of interest, obviously, narcolepsy, um, mold illness, which is a part of my personal journey, so I do specialize in mold, and then autoimmunity, so all those, um, are conditions that I, uh, treat and specialize in.
Saima Qureshi: And, um, I have a virtual practice, uh, it's called Rebalance Family Health. My website is going through some updates right now, uh, but there is a link, uh, to schedule the call if you're in Florida.
Julie Michelson: Awesome. I love it. Wonderful.
Saima Qureshi: Well,
Julie Michelson: so, so much. You have given us amazing gold today [Page//00:46:00] and I'm really glad we got to explore a whole new topic on the show and learn more about narcolepsy and find out that yet again, this is another thing that by addressing foundations, we get to heal. So
Saima Qureshi: absolutely. And there is an autoimmune connection in all likelihood.
Julie Michelson: A pre, yeah, and hopefully we'll, we'll learn more, you know, as, as research advances and thinking shifts, we'll, we'll connect some more of those dots, but it, it kind of doesn't matter because, you know, from experience and practice that we can heal.
Saima Qureshi: Yes, absolutely.
Julie Michelson: Dr. Syma, thank you so very much
Saima Qureshi: Thank you too, Julie.
Julie Michelson: for everyone listening, remember you can get the transcripts and show notes by visiting inspiredliving. show. I hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. See you next week. [Page//00:47:00]
Julie Michelson: She recovered completely, got off stimulants and drugs that were leaving her with severe side effects to live the life of her purpose. She now helps people with chronic illness dispel the lie that they're stuck with their diagnosis and medications, which are only a band aid for their symptoms. Dr. Sima practices functional and integrative medicine virtually all over Florida at Rebalance Family Health, where she specializes in narcolepsy, mold illness, and autoimmunity.
Julie Michelson: In today's conversation, Dr. Sima shares her approach to brain and body transformation, and we discuss addressing foundational basics like stress management, sleep, diet, detox, and movement to truly heal from chronic health challenges, [Page//00:01:00] including narcolepsy and autoimmunity.
Julie Michelson: Dr. Saima, welcome to the podcast.
Saima Qureshi: Thank you so much for having me here today, Julie.
Julie Michelson: I'm so looking forward to this conversation. Um, I always love when we're, I know we're going to hit on something that listeners haven't heard before. Um, we always get a different spin on, on stuff and there's definitely themes that repeat. So I would love for you to share your journey. How did you go from practicing pediatrics to transitioning to functional medicine?
Saima Qureshi: That's a great question. And yes, certainly a great way to start. So, you know, I grew up in a very traditional sort of Western kind of model. I grew up in Pakistan, but my parents followed, uh, doctors there or took us to doctors there that practice Western medicine. Uh, so we got the same kind of, you know, medications, antibiotics, uh, whatnot.
Saima Qureshi: Growing up, never got exposed to anything [Page//00:02:00] else, and then I went to a medical school that was also, again, the training was very Western. In fact, our dean would come from the U. S. And I wanted to be a doctor from a young age. I remember in middle school, I wanted to be a doctor. So really this was, you know, my purpose, uh, you know, I had a big drive to be a doctor.
Saima Qureshi: And when, when I started medical school, um, at some point I realized that I wanted to come to the U S for further training. And pediatrics excited me and I ended up in Michigan back in 1999 for my residency training. And, um, you know, during medical school, I started feeling fatigued and, um, I lived in the same city and I got a dorm room because I would need to break my day with a nap.
Saima Qureshi: So I would have lunch. And run to my room, take a 15 minute nap, run back for my clinicals. And that was that, you know, I had some gut symptoms, um, digestive [Page//00:03:00] issues, not anything out of the ordinary. Uh, you know, but some medications here and there. And as time went on, my fatigue grew. I got through residency.
Saima Qureshi: I did a residency in pediatrics. I did a fellowship in toxicology, learned all the conventional stuff that I've learned to not believe anymore. Uh, uh, so, you know, just that training, it just trains you to believe in things that may not always work or make you feel better, uh, temporarily. Um, and after I got done with my residency, I, uh, worked in an ER, you know, crazy lifestyle.
Saima Qureshi: The, you know, midnights, uh, eating on the go, you know, eating out of the vending machine, all that kind of stuff. And, um, I just got sicker and sicker, but nothing that, uh, you know, decompensated me or really made me stop to think, okay, I need to do something about it. So I had [Page//00:04:00] hormonal issues, I had duct issues, I was feeling fatigued.
Saima Qureshi: You know, I would go to my primary care physician every now and then and Get a workup and things would look kind of
Julie Michelson: fine. Your labs look good.
Saima Qureshi: The lab looks good. You know, that usual story.
Julie Michelson: Yeah.
Saima Qureshi: And so life went on. I had kids and um, I was just tired. You know, I was just having a hard time overcoming that energy deficit.
Saima Qureshi: And one of my daughters, you know, she wrote down when she was in elementary school and this little thing that they write at school. My mom loves taking naps.
Julie Michelson: No,
Saima Qureshi: I needed naps to get by my day. Um, and I ended up in, um, Florida from Michigan, um, about 14 years ago. Uh, you know, we were going through some transitions.
Saima Qureshi: My husband was starting a new job. And at that point I decided that was just too much for me to work as a doctor. Um, it was, I was just not able to keep it all together, [Page//00:05:00] you know, balance, uh, my commitments, um, as a wife, as a mom, uh, you know, take care of my kids. And work as a physician. And prior to that, I had actually worked part time.
Saima Qureshi: Once I got done with my training, I just worked part time. And I just got more and more fatigued. You know, I did, I did stuff. I volunteered whatnot, but I had fatigue. I had sleepiness and my husband was a sleep doctor, believe it or not. And he
Julie Michelson: interesting?
Saima Qureshi: telling me that I needed to get a sleep study. And finally, uh, about.
Saima Qureshi: Eight years ago, in 2016, when, uh, you know, when I hit rock bottom, so to speak, when I couldn't take it anymore, I was having a hard time driving, I said, okay, let's get a sleep study, so I got a sleep study, and the tech from his office called him, uh, because I had classical, you know, uh, so a sleep study followed by what's called an MSLT, classical [Page//00:06:00] textbook, MSLT, that's the name of the test for narcolepsy, MSLT.
Saima Qureshi: And I got started on stimulants. I was seeing, you know, his associate one stimulant after another. It would work, it would work for about three to six months, give me a lot of side effects. I would just be cranky and irritable and, uh, you know, lack of appetite. I would still crash in the middle of the day.
Saima Qureshi: Uh, with one of them, I couldn't sleep till around midnight or one. And then I would You know, I had to be started on a medication to put me to sleep at night. So medication to wake me in the morning, medication to put me to sleep at night. I started developing high blood pressure. And that's when, you know, I sort of started connecting the dots.
Saima Qureshi: Okay, is it the nighttime medication that is giving me the high blood pressure? And I stopped that and my hypertension went away. And during this time, I was, you know, developing other things, hormonal issues, gut issues. Um, I had a fibroid, I had a [Page//00:07:00] hysterectomy, so all these things are going on and finally when I was on my last, you know, my last medication for narcolepsy called Xyrem, which costs around almost 200, 000 a year,
Julie Michelson: Oh my gosh.
Saima Qureshi: I lasted one week on it, I started getting symptoms of Parkinson's
Julie Michelson: Oh my gosh.
Saima Qureshi: Uh, so yeah, my face, you know, became very mask like, I had tremors, and that had to be stopped. And that's when I knew I had to look for answers outside of what I was used to outside of this conventional Western medicine. So, and then, you know, one of my friends, uh, introduced me to cupping, um, and so that was my first experience with something.
Saima Qureshi: Out of what I was used to, you know, I grew up with a family of doctors. My brother's a doctor. My husband has siblings that are doctors. So I was just surrounded by this culture of, uh, you know, pills and procedures, so to speak, [Page//00:08:00] uh, that traditional Western medicine, uh, culture and never thought of anything.
Saima Qureshi: And in fact, um, I was In many ways, taught to look down upon other modalities of treatment, uh, you know, even in my training, I do remember functional doctors being mentioned as quacks
Julie Michelson: right.
Saima Qureshi: and During my toxicology training, uh, so I, this was, this is not something that I was, uh, you know, taught to seek, um, taught to look up to, uh, or taught to think that this would actually help people. And when things fell apart for me, I started looking outside, you know, I got cupping, I started reading books, um, I started off with Dr. Gundry's book. Um, the plant paradox and, you know, it introduced such radical concepts to me at that time.
Julie Michelson: that's a, that I, I don't [Page//00:09:00] know if I would recommend that that be your first entry into
Saima Qureshi: right. Absolutely. But for some reason it was. And I mean I've grown a lot since then. Uh, you know, after, and then, um, I got introduced to functional medicine by a friend who went to the same medical school as me.
Julie Michelson: Ah, so then there was a little, uh,
Saima Qureshi: there was that, uh, that link. And she actually pushed me. She, she asked me to Register for, you know, the IF Institute of Functional Medicine's first course and send a picture to her of my registration.
Julie Michelson: Woo-hoo.
Saima Qureshi: I was almost pushed into this, and, you know, I did it, and There's no looking back,
Julie Michelson: No, you can't, you can't unlearn or, or you know, it, it's, there is never any going going back.
Saima Qureshi: totally, so yes, so you know the whole my whole world changed and then, um, during, you know, during my recovery and during my health journey, [Page//00:10:00] um, I also discovered that I have mold illness, uh, so mold was a part of that eventual decompensation. It's not the whole story, but part of the story. Um, so yes, so I learned from mold experts, Dr.
Saima Qureshi: Neil Nathan and Jill Krista. Uh, so they're also a huge part of my healing journey. Um, yes. So that's how I ended up in functional medicine.
Julie Michelson: I love it. And how is your health now?
Saima Qureshi: Oh, totally different. I, I feel that I am better. Uh, I feel better than I've felt in a few decades, honestly, like going back to my teens.
Julie Michelson: I love it. Oh, well, I'm Yeah, I know. I, it's a, this is why we're having these conversations. So that, um, because I remember when I found functional medicine, it was like, well, how did I never hear about this? Like, how did I not know this was. [Page//00:11:00] It's an option, you know, um, and so that's, it's one of the reasons why we, we do the podcast so people can, can learn that there are other, other approaches.
Julie Michelson: And I do believe, um, you know, to have that Western training as, as a background, I mean, it's, it's not one way or another, you know, ideally you're bringing those worlds together. And, you know, because that that is I think a problem these days is a lot of people can just hang a functional medicine shingle, but there's no medicine and functional, you know, they're, they just don't have the medical training.
Saima Qureshi: absolutely. And I think that is a very important point. Um, you know, I really, uh, would call it more like functional and integrative medicine where integrating the modality. And I certainly do use some pharmaceuticals, and they are a part of my toolbox. And you really [Page//00:12:00] can't, you know, have one without the other.
Saima Qureshi: So, It is a part that Western training is a part of my journey. It is a bit of what I still incorporate. I mean, we do need to pull out those things when we need them,
Julie Michelson: But you ask why you ask, why is this happening? Not just, you know, here's a prescription as a band aid.
Saima Qureshi: Yes. To take care of your symptoms. Yes. You can, you may take care of those symptoms, but. You have to get to the root cause. You have to address that because if you don't, then those underlying problems that are happening in the body, they're just continuing and the damage is just ongoing, which is what happened with me.
Saima Qureshi: You know, I had those hormonal issues way back in my teens. And then I ended up having a fibroid and a hysterectomy so that, you know, the estrogen dominance, um, a
Julie Michelson: Yeah. It takes a toll, right?
Saima Qureshi: right, if you don't do anything about it. And then the gut issues, um, chronic SIBO. [Page//00:13:00] Uh, you know, we're just kind of building up over time.
Julie Michelson: I want to circle back for, for listeners. I want to talk a little bit about the NAR, about narcolepsy because I think it's common in the lay world. When you hear narcolepsy, you, you think, Oh. Well, how would you not know you're having, you know, weren't you falling asleep while you were driving? Or, you know, how could you not be aware that you have narcolepsy?
Julie Michelson: So can we just kind of touch on that a little bit and, and explain, you know, how, how do you get a narcolepsy diagnosis and not know
Saima Qureshi: absolutely. So, you know, in medical school, I learned that narcolepsy is a condition where you have excessive daytime sleepiness. And you would have a person who would just be, you know, falling asleep, dozing off. And it does happen, but you know, everything in life starts slow and it progresses and you get to that point.
Saima Qureshi: So Before you get to [Page//00:14:00] that point, what do you have? You have fatigue, you have sleepiness, and people would compensate, you know, people compensate for it with caffeine, um, so, you know, coffee, multiple cups of coffee in a day, that's how I was compensating for it, or taking a nap, and in my opinion, um, I think it's just an underdiagnosed condition, and that doesn't mean that, you know, the listener is just Go and get tested for narcolepsy, but it's just a manifestation of, um, you know, the body not working really well, the energy production system or, you know, the awakening system in the body, it's not working well because of all these, um, you know, hindrances.
Saima Qureshi: And, and sort of the biochemistry looking at that level at the cellular level, your cells are not functioning optimally and your mitochondria, which are your, you know, energy producing, um, organelles in [Page//00:15:00] the cells, they're not functioning. They're not generating the energy. So just like the powerhouse, you know, you've, you've got a power failure.
Julie Michelson: right. Which is why it is so. And again, because here I am now, 20 years ago, I might not have given it a second thought, but, but to think of, okay, somebody has fatigue and sleepiness and the treatment, and I'm using quotations for people listening on audio is we're going to, we're going to give you stimulants. We're not going to wonder why you can't make it through the day without falling asleep like that. It just seems insane now. I know it didn't, but I wanted to touch on that because a lot of listeners and I'm sure listeners are kind of leaning in because fatigue is such a common across the board symptom with autoimmunity, pretty much no matter, you know, what diagnosis you have.
Julie Michelson: Um. And, and, and even not in autoimmunity, I mean, just, just when I think of the typical [Page//00:16:00] inflamed adult, um, fatigue is, is common or, and, or energy deficiency in some, in some respects is common. And we always, not always, often, if the criteria is met, send people for sleep studies, because. With that thought of, are you, you know, are you oxygenating at night?
Julie Michelson: Because if not, you're going to be tired during the day. Um, but I, I, this is kind of a new world even for me to, to dig in a little bit to, to narcolepsy. And, and nobody's, I, I don't know of anybody really going that far with, with, The testing. So I think that, yeah,
Saima Qureshi: So generally the testing gets done if, you know, you get a sleep study and nothing comes up on it, like you don't have a sleep apnea, or if somebody's really thinking narcolepsy because their overnight sleep study, that doesn't pick narcolepsy, it's an additional test that has to be done. So the additional [Page//00:17:00] test would only get done if your overnight sleep study is negative, which is what the case was with me, or You know, if somebody really has an index of suspicion
Julie Michelson: Right.
Saima Qureshi: of epilepsy.
Saima Qureshi: So that's, that's a daytime. That's, that stays done in the daytime.
Julie Michelson: Sure. Well, that makes sense. Yeah. And that's, I just, I, I just am like wondering how many people have the negative sleep study. So they're just told they don't have apnea and Then, you know, this doesn't get addressed, as you said, until it progresses to a point. Eventually, it becomes clear if somebody has narcolepsy, if it's left untreated, you know, so, yeah,
Saima Qureshi: And there's so many people that take stimulants. So provisional is a very well known stimulant. It's, it's, um, It's not like Adderall or Ritalin or violence, but it is. You know, it's, it's, it helps you stay awake and there are many people who take Provigil even without a diagnosis of narcolepsy.
Julie Michelson: Yeah, [Page//00:18:00] my rheumatologist offered provigil to me years ago, and I was like, wait, that same boat, like you're giving me stuff to sleep? And now you want to give me, like, I'm not a junkie, like, what is going on? Why? And that was kind of toward where I was like, maybe there's a, you know, I, I was holding it 10 prescriptions.
Julie Michelson: I didn't want the 11th prescription, you know, but so I, I know it's, it's used, it is used and prescribed for, for people that have
Saima Qureshi: that are feeling,
Julie Michelson: without, without a diagnosis for sure.
Saima Qureshi: absolutely. And, and I feel like, uh, you know, it's, it's, it's a tough spot for doctors because that's just how they're trained. Like, you know, having a, my husband being a sleep doctor. That's just how he was trained. And, you know, you, you invest all this time going to medical school and residency and training and fellowship and all that.
Saima Qureshi: And then you sort of get on a hamster wheel, you know, you've got bills to pay, you've got, you know, your life, your [Page//00:19:00] kids, your family, all that. And, and then you're working in this system where a lot of what you do gets dictated by insurance companies. Uh, so you really, you know, your hands are tied. Um, and a lot of times doctors, you know, they're just so kind of stuck in the system.
Saima Qureshi: They don't have time to step out and look at other, at other modalities. And they're also taught to think that those modalities don't work. And there's no evidence behind
Julie Michelson: It's quackery. Right.
Saima Qureshi: It's black, green, all that, right? And you're sort of brainwashed, unfortunately. And until,
Julie Michelson: decades and decades and, you know, I always ask like, why going back, like so many doctors that I've interviewed, you know, your, even though there were symptoms you normalized when you were younger medical school, it really became clear. But it's like, why do we try to kill [Page//00:20:00] doctors in medical, like people who want to be doctors?
Julie Michelson: In medical school, like you're, you're not sleeping. You can't possibly be eating. Well, the stress is through the roof. Like all of the things that we know now will lead to, to illness and chronic illness is like, why, why are we putting people through that? And it doesn't, like you said, it doesn't even matter what country it's, that's, it's how the structure of, of medical school is.
Saima Qureshi: it's just a world, yeah, it's just a worldwide sort of a phenomenon, right?
Julie Michelson: And so it gets accepted like, yeah. That's fine.
Saima Qureshi: Right.
Julie Michelson: I mean, the good news is, which is unfortunate, it shouldn't be that way, but this is how functional medicine is growing, right? It's because, unfortunately, because people practicing strictly in the Western model aren't getting answers for themselves. And so, you know, um, we're grateful you're here,
Saima Qureshi: Oh, thank you so much. And that's what happens. The patients that come to me, and I'm sure that's what [Page//00:21:00] you're seeing too, they've already been through so many different kinds of providers, and you're not getting the results that they're looking for, or they're just getting sicker and sicker, uh, and, you know, more tired, more fatigued, all that, right?
Saima Qureshi: Um, and they're looking for answers. And then, you know, once you start fixing those underlying problems, so, you know, and it's, it's not just one thing in functional medicine, we know that it's. So many things, like, there's so many, uh, leaks in the roof, as Dr. Bredesen, uh, says, you know, for dementia, like, and that applies, I feel that applies to every single illness, like for narcolepsy, it wasn't just one thing.
Saima Qureshi: I did not have an adderall deficiency or a bypass deficiency. But I had multiple nutritional deficiency and deficiencies. And in addition, I had imbalances in my gut and hormonal imbalances and toxins. And, you know, so I had to work [Page//00:22:00] on all those different things, uh, to get rid of the narcolepsy symptoms and address the root causes.
Julie Michelson: And I love that you, you brought that up. So I happen to be Bredesen trained. I'm a RICODE coach, which I don't, I don't know that I've ever mentioned on the podcast before. And, and I love in case people are like, wait, why are we talking about narcolepsy? Isn't this an autoimmune podcast? It's it's the same.
Julie Michelson: These, the leaks, the, we need to be supporting, you know, nutrition, hormones, reducing, like all of the things, whether you have an autoimmune diagnosis, you have dementia or Alzheimer's, you have, you know, can't pick something, anything chronic. Including narcolepsy, we, we need to be, you know, taking away those blocks from healing because our body is designed to heal and supporting.
Julie Michelson: And so I [Page//00:23:00] love that you brought that up because it is, it's, I know when I first got into functional medicine, I, you know, we hear root cause medicine and I, I thought singular, like root cause, like what is the cause of ha ha ha. And like you said, is it never. Just one thing
Saima Qureshi: It's never, right, and even with autoimmunity, like, so I have, so Hashimoto's, that's also a part of my story. So I,
Julie Michelson: Now we're talking
Saima Qureshi: right. And to be honest, I don't know if, you know, the narcolepsy, like the sleepiness, if part of that is also, uh, you know, autoimmune and I suspect that it is, there just hasn't been, you know, nobody's done the research.
Julie Michelson: Well, and I'm guessing if you had been diagnosed, I'm guessing you had were not diagnosed with Hashimoto's first Because if you were they probably would have totally discounted the fatigue as part of your autoimmune [Page//00:24:00] condition, right? Like oh, yeah, it's like telling you know a mom who knows she's not tired fatigued And the doctor says, well, of course, cause you have little kids.
Julie Michelson: Like, no, it's not. Um, so that is interesting. I, I, that you, uh, thank you for sharing that, you know, you also have an autoimmune diagnosis and I love, you know, like me, you don't identify by your diagnoses. It's like, Oh yeah. And I have that, you know, they said I had so addressing these roots, addressing these foundations. It improves, it doesn't matter the list of, of diagnoses or, you know, kind of what the, I really am firm, a firm believer in, and I'm not saying again, you don't ever need medication or, you know, I always say there's this framework and it's, we prioritize. You know, like, if you've got mold exposure and you're living in a moldy house, like, we know, like, we [Page//00:25:00] have to prioritize according to, to need for the individual, but, but we need that foundation strong.
Saima Qureshi: Absolutely. And yes, and you know, and there are many pieces to the foundation as well, and you have to work on all of them. And, you know, starting with the basics.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Where, where, what are your basics?
Saima Qureshi: So my basics are diet and, you know, diet and lifestyle. So sleep, exercise, stress, those are, those are my basics. And what I've found in my own journey is that until you work on those, you, you could be pouring supplements. Or other functional treatments, but until you work on the food that is going in the body or, you know, removing the food that your body is going to react to, like with autoimmunity in an autoimmune paleo diet, which is what I've follow.
Saima Qureshi: Um, and working on the stress means stress just takes such a [Page//00:26:00] toll on the body and stress can be the cause, the actual, or rather the trigger, that finally broke the camel's back, so to speak, or that triggered someone's Hashimoto's or other autoimmune condition, like, you know, MS, for instance, or anything else.
Julie Michelson: All right.
Saima Qureshi: Like stress can be a huge trigger, right?
Julie Michelson: Well, and I don't know about you. I've seen, you know, I'm, I'm an audio autoimmune paleo coach as well. And so, you know, I've seen people come in with the appropriate diet for them. I've never had anybody come in where I say your stress management routine. So great. We're not touching it. We just, especially, and I think diet's not static either, but especially we may have a routine that works for us.
Julie Michelson: You know, really well in certain time periods, and then we're going to need to up level. We just are always need to be working on [Page//00:27:00] stress management. I think it's, it's, it's that one. Not everybody has a toxin issue. Everybody has too many toxins, but for sure, chronic stress is. I think number one.
Saima Qureshi: It is. I agree. You know, we're living in a very stressed society. Our just, our daily routines, uh, you know, as adults and also children. I mean, the routines have become so stressful. There's so much demand on people to, uh, you know, to do things. And we're just constantly busy. Um, the
Julie Michelson: not a, it's not a badge of honor or it shouldn't be a badge of honor. You know, I'm so busy, you know, out busying each other.
Saima Qureshi: it shouldn't be. And, you know, to be honest, I was one of those people.
Julie Michelson: Sure.
Saima Qureshi: Busy all the time.
Julie Michelson: Yeah.
Saima Qureshi: You know, the funny thing is, um, this is a comment that my grandfather made when I was a kid. I don't, I think I was a teenager, he said I wouldn't even have time to [Page//00:28:00] die . So, because it was just a part of my nature
Julie Michelson: Right.
Saima Qureshi: to be busy all the time. Um, so yeah. Uh, and you know, I didn't grow up in the us I grew up in a very large city. Um. In the developing in a developing country, but it was a large city. And yes, this life is stressful. Um, so stress does take a toll. And, you know, you get to the point where you tip over.
Julie Michelson: right. Yeah. It's any of these things, you know, we talk about that tipping point with toxins all the time, but it, it is the same. And, and I love that you said, and we have to work on all of it because, you know, if you're not working on stress, well, I don't care how good your diet is. You're not absorbing.
Julie Michelson: Your nutrients, you're not going to be sleeping well, you know, you're probably over exercising and, and that, you know, so it's, you have to be working on all of them. Um, [Page//00:29:00] and so I love that you highlighted that because it's really, I've had people come in and I know it's so frustrating, you know, so many of us start with a book or a podcast episode or a something.
Julie Michelson: And, and I say that was, I had the throw spaghetti at the wall approach to healing. When I decided to look for another way, um, outside of the rheumatology office, I was trying. I would read, learn, try, listen, try. I would, you know, and it was like, I did a lot of really good things, but it wasn't until I did some of them in concert.
Julie Michelson: That I started to heal. And so this is why, you know, again, we have these conversations. That's why I do what I do. It took me years to reduce my inflammation and symptoms and have my doctors. I always say my doctors took me off my medication. I didn't because I didn't need it anymore. Don't ever tell people to stop their meds.
Julie Michelson: Um, but it doesn't need to take years. [Page//00:30:00] It's not going to take a week, but it doesn't need to take, you know, six years to start to feel better. That's for sure. Yeah.
Saima Qureshi: That's very true. And yes, working on the stress is, you know, calming the nervous system down. That's key, right? Like calming the body, deep breathing, um, that progressive muscle, muscle relaxation. You really don't need it. You know, you don't need to go out and buy anything for that, but you need to set aside time for that.
Saima Qureshi: To really sort of consciously work on that relaxation. And sometimes you can be doing it even while you're, you know, doing some chores, just sort of being mindful about the breathing and the belly breathing. Um, so that's really important and that's
Julie Michelson: in conversation, like people don't know, you know, I did, um, right. I guess it had to have been 2020 right in the, you know, heart of the lockdown. Um, I did a, a big training for hospital based doctors [Page//00:31:00] in Pakistan. And that was their homework was as they change patients. To take three or seven breaths just to reset that nervous system, you know, cause they're in that.
Julie Michelson: And then, you know, add COVID on top of already a high stress job. Um, but one of the things I love about some of the just natural, we're built to use those tools. Um, so I always say, you know, you, you can't grab the tool if you don't have it in the toolbox.
Saima Qureshi: right.
Julie Michelson: it's in the toolbox, you know, if something is driving that you're having a stressful conversation, you can be breathing during it and not even go to that place of stress response.
Saima Qureshi: That's so true. Absolutely.
Julie Michelson: Yeah, I love it. Do you use that? You know, I, I know sleep is one of the pillars. Um, where do you start with people? Like what, what are things people can do around improving sleep?
Saima Qureshi: So [Page//00:32:00] sleep hygiene, you know, that's. Something so basic. Um, everybody's on their phones and you have blue light coming from phones. So consciously, uh, you know, not using your phone at least 2 to 3 hours before bedtime and then moving that bedtime to around 10 to 10 30 p. m. That should really be. The latest, anyone should go to sleep if they really want to reset their body and help it heal naturally.
Saima Qureshi: I mean, you really can't heal the body by, um, you know, pushing those circadian rhythms out of what they're supposed to be doing. So our bodies have something called circadian rhythms based on the cortisol, uh, so the natural, you know, one of the hormones. And, uh, If we stay up till too late, then it just puts that whole system out of balance.
Saima Qureshi: So to rebalance the body, you need to move that bedtime to 10 to 10. 30 and wake up early, [Page//00:33:00] you know, with the sun in so in many parts of the country. Uh, so, you know, by If you get good 7 to 9 hours of sleep, um, that should be the goal, but your 7 to 9 hours should not begin at 1 in the morning or 2 in the morning, or even midnight.
Saima Qureshi: They should begin sooner.
Julie Michelson: I love that you, that you say that because it is so important and people do tend to, you know, we, the, I think 10 years ago, if you ask people, what do they know about sleep? You know, they know, okay, somewhere around eight hours, right? But it really does make a difference when you're sleeping. What time
Saima Qureshi: Right. And again, this should not be a badge of honor that, you know,
Julie Michelson: hours is I've met. I've met so many people who say they're a super sleeper. You know, and they don't need, and there are the very rare super sleepers who don't need that seven to nine hours. Everybody so far that I've met that told me [Page//00:34:00] they were a super sleeper is not, they're not.
Saima Qureshi: They're not, they're going to,
Julie Michelson: they're running on, they're running on fumes and adrenaline.
Julie Michelson: Yeah.
Saima Qureshi: and it's going to catch up at some time, like I know people personally who claim that they're super sleepers, but they've had a big health setback, you
Julie Michelson: they don't connect the dots, right?
Saima Qureshi: you know, it could be a cancer, it could be an autoimmune condition, it could be a heart attack or something,
Julie Michelson: Well, and you mentioned, you know, brain health and Bredesen protocol, right? Like our brain is detoxing while we sleep. If you're not giving your, that your body that time, that's when we're healing and detoxing and cleaning out and, you know, rebuilding. So,
Saima Qureshi: And that's, you know, and that's one of those concepts that's not there in conventional medicine. That's probably just coming around. Uh, the concept of glymphatics. Uh, so, and even the whole lymphatic system is not something that, uh, conventional medicine really teaches. You don't, I didn't think about it until I [Page//00:35:00] got into functional medicine and cupping.
Saima Qureshi: Um, so our toxins are, uh, removed from From the brain through the glymphatic. So it's the lymphatic system off the brain and the time when it's doing its detoxing is when we're sleeping. So just imagine the more, uh, you sleep like, you know, the But in those seven to nine hours, the more your brain gets to detox, and brain disorders, brain fog, Alzheimer's, all those things, that's also a detox issue.
Saima Qureshi: And my personal theory is that, you know, narcolepsy is also a toxin issue, and a brain Detox issue because I mean, I know mold was a piece of my story when I got some specialized testing done, which you really don't have to do for specific toxins. But I was sort of trying to learn. I mean, I didn't have a lot of other toxins on board.
Saima Qureshi: Um, so. So, getting rid of those [Page//00:36:00] toxins from the brain is important, and I feel like it's just the body's signal of trying to detox, like, you know, you're just tired and sleepy because your brain needs to detox. To detox.
Julie Michelson: I, I love that you said that. That's so, it's so brilliant. And it, it, it just reinforces what you said also about the time of night, your sleep. Cause it's not just sleep. We, we need, you know, we need REM and we need deep sleep. This is, those are the stages where the good stuff is happening. And so that's what we're missing, even if we think we're getting enough.
Julie Michelson: Sleep, but we're going to bed at two in the morning, like you're not getting that restorative sleep that you need,
Saima Qureshi: Right. And it's unfortunate that a lot of that, those behaviors start when, you know, kids are little or in high school or in college and somehow, and I mean, I don't, you know, I feel like, you know, some of the, [Page//00:37:00] uh, sort of the writings or the data that's out there. I mean, people talk about teenagers, uh, neat having to have that altered, uh, rhythm and
Julie Michelson: circadian rhythm is different. Yeah.
Saima Qureshi: I'm not sure if that's, that's really true, to be honest. Um, again, you know, I don't know if it's just like that conventional Western kind of a concept. Um, but I really feel that our bodies are designed to work a certain way
Julie Michelson: Well, the sun,
Saima Qureshi: Yeah,
Julie Michelson: the earth and the sun are not changing just because you're a teenager, right? So the sun, now that I never really gave it much thought when I, when my kids were teenagers, I did wish that high school started later. Um, but. But I see what you're saying, and logically it wouldn't make sense. Why would our circadian rhythm, if it's set, you know, if it's connected to the cycles of nature, why would it be different [Page//00:38:00] at a certain period of growth?
Julie Michelson: It doesn't make sense.
Saima Qureshi: right. I mean, I feel like the circadian rhythm needs to be there. Maybe kids need more sleep at that time because that's just a time of their life and they're growing and
Julie Michelson: growing exponentially, sure,
Saima Qureshi: the metabolic needs are more. So, uh,
Julie Michelson: yeah,
Saima Qureshi: need to sleep more, but the timing doesn't need to shift
Julie Michelson: yeah,
Saima Qureshi: to later at night.
Julie Michelson: right,
Saima Qureshi: And you see that everywhere, unfortunately, like you see it in the U.
Saima Qureshi: S. You see it outside. I mean, it's just. Sort of become like a worldwide culture, um, you know, wherever you have, you know, artificial light and phones and
Julie Michelson: well, and that's these days, I mean, teenagers are on screens, you know, phones, tablets, laptops, video games. I mean, you name it and, and, you know, it's all day and all night, they're getting bombarded. So
Saima Qureshi: Absolutely.
Julie Michelson: I [Page//00:39:00] love that. See, I, I, cause back then, see, that's another thing I get to shift perspective on it. It doesn't make sense.
Julie Michelson: I mean, it doesn't make sense at all.
Saima Qureshi: It doesn't make sense. And, you know, and all those things catch up. Like I was a night owl, um, through high school, I mean, starting in high school. Uh, so if you don't pay attention to all those things, and if you don't sort of train, You know, your families, your children, which is hard, you know, being a mom of two, uh, teens and a, and a young adult, a young adult and teen, uh, those things are hard because, you know, your children are also surrounded by this culture, but those things do catch up.
Saima Qureshi: Like, I know they caught up with me.
Julie Michelson: Well, and, and they'll, you know, I know, I remember, I have three also that are close together and it was different when they were teenagers. They've all had their own kind of chronic health stuff to, to navigate. [Page//00:40:00] And now that they're all in their 20s, like none of them stay up late intentionally, you know, like if they're, they're regular schedules are, Which is still unusual in their age group, right?
Julie Michelson: But they're like, nope, peace out, um, I need to get my rest. Because they know if they're chasing that other kind of lifestyle, they're going to get sick. Because They just, they're, they've worked too hard to get inflammation down. Um, so, you know, eventually, it's always that, it's, it's a great moment when, you know, the kids get old enough to then, the things you've modeled and taught, you know, I, I think it's nature.
Julie Michelson: They should, they rebel against it a little bit, and then, it's, it's just a beautiful thing when they're older and they're like, oh, they may not even say it out loud, but if they just, it's just a start. Showing you that they're, you know, they're eating. Well, they're sleeping. Well, it's like, oh,
Saima Qureshi: And you know, yes, that that's a great point. And I hope my kids get there.
Julie Michelson:[Page//00:41:00] will
Saima Qureshi: It's almost like an elimination diet. You know, when you take those things out of your diet, and you bring to introduce them,
Julie Michelson: write.
Saima Qureshi: your body feels it. So once you've reset your circadian rhythm, and you're sleeping, you know, 1010 30. And you have that odd day when you don't, then you feel it the next day.
Saima Qureshi: So, um,
Julie Michelson: and it's I'm going to throw my throw my partner under the bus here. I always thought he was a night owl. He always thought he was a night owl. And when he moved in, I, there was no question, I'm not going to even pretend or try to be a night owl. And I'd say, you know, I'm going to bed. Oh, I'll go too.
Julie Michelson: I'm like, no, you don't have to, you know, because I really did think he was a night owl. He would go to bed between 12 and 2. And I'm telling you, he falls asleep before I do. It doesn't matter how early I head in. He was never a night owl. He just, it was that habitual, you know, busy, busy, busy [Page//00:42:00] until like I just can't.
Julie Michelson: And then I'm going to sleep. And he's a doctor, you know, but now he knows. But so it's, you know, we tell ourselves stories because we have habits and patterns and it's not necessarily because our nature is driving that, it's that we've trained our bodies.
Saima Qureshi: Absolutely. And sometimes, you know, the way we grew up or, you know, our families, how everybody else was, uh, was, uh, so all that plays a role, friends, all that.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. I love it. Amazing. So we've already covered so much, but here's your opportunity to either pull something new or highlight whatever you want. What is one step that listeners can take starting today to improve their health?
Saima Qureshi: So they can start by moving their bodies. Uh, movement is not one of those things that I grew up with, unfortunately. And like I said, you know, [Page//00:43:00] everything adds up. Um, I was never into sports. And, um, walk, you know, exercising. So it's not one of those things that I did on a regular basis. Um, and movement. One, it releases endorphins, you know, your brain chemicals that make you feel better.
Saima Qureshi: And the second thing is that it helps with detox also. So your lymphatics, they move. Your lymphatics don't have the ability to sort of pump the lymph naturally. So movement helps, uh, the lymph
Julie Michelson: they work. You
Saima Qureshi: how they work. Start small, you know, if you're really sick and fatigued and you have a lot of pain, then, uh, you know, it, it could just be moving around the house.
Julie Michelson: Right.
Saima Qureshi: Do what you can, but start moving. Uh, and I mean, these are just some basic things that you can do to start getting better. Um, and baby [Page//00:44:00] steps, you know, you don't have to Just don't jump and do everything, you know in one day or one week, but start where you can that's
Julie Michelson: Yeah. And don't overdo it because that's not going to support you. It'll drive inflammation. So I love, I love that your language is, is the same as mine, that you say movement, you know, because a lot of people, when you say exercise, We all hold a different, whatever the picture is that flies, you know, so we're not talking about CrossFit or, you know, a high intensity, anything or a rope.
Julie Michelson: It's just moving. And, and like you said, it can be just moving around the house. I have to remind people all the time, like, you know, There's so much that we either enjoy that that includes movement and we don't think of it that way, um, or that we're doing in our day. Um, and if we did a little more than we're increasing our movement.
Julie Michelson: So I love that. Yay. So, before we wrap up, where is for people listening on the go, [Page//00:45:00] where's the best place for them to find you.
Saima Qureshi: So my practice is in Florida so currently I can see Patients in Florida. So you have to be physically present in Florida for your first with it Otherwise, I have a
Julie Michelson: Who doesn't want to go to Florida? Come on.
Saima Qureshi: And I'm in the Orlando area, so, and my areas of interest, obviously, narcolepsy, um, mold illness, which is a part of my personal journey, so I do specialize in mold, and then autoimmunity, so all those, um, are conditions that I, uh, treat and specialize in.
Saima Qureshi: And, um, I have a virtual practice, uh, it's called Rebalance Family Health. My website is going through some updates right now, uh, but there is a link, uh, to schedule the call if you're in Florida.
Julie Michelson: Awesome. I love it. Wonderful.
Saima Qureshi: Well,
Julie Michelson: so, so much. You have given us amazing gold today [Page//00:46:00] and I'm really glad we got to explore a whole new topic on the show and learn more about narcolepsy and find out that yet again, this is another thing that by addressing foundations, we get to heal. So
Saima Qureshi: absolutely. And there is an autoimmune connection in all likelihood.
Julie Michelson: A pre, yeah, and hopefully we'll, we'll learn more, you know, as, as research advances and thinking shifts, we'll, we'll connect some more of those dots, but it, it kind of doesn't matter because, you know, from experience and practice that we can heal.
Saima Qureshi: Yes, absolutely.
Julie Michelson: Dr. Syma, thank you so very much
Saima Qureshi: Thank you too, Julie.
Julie Michelson: for everyone listening, remember you can get the transcripts and show notes by visiting inspiredliving. show. I hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. See you next week. [Page//00:47:00]
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My Guest For This Episode
Connect with Dr. Saima Qureshi
Dr. Saima Qureshi
Functional Medicine Physician
Dr. Saima is a board certified Pediatrician and an IFM certified Functional Medicine Practitioner. She used functional and integrative medicine to conquer Narcolepsy when conventional Western medicine failed and her doctors told her that they had no other solutions for her. She recovered completely, got off stimulants and the latest drugs that were leaving her with severe side effects, to live the life of her purpose. She helps people with chronic illness dispel the lie that they are made to believe that they are stuck with their diagnosis and medications which are only a bandaid for their symptoms. Her approach to brain and body transformation includes topics on mindset, nutrition, gut health, detoxification, hormone balance, autoimmunity and exercise.
Dr. Saima practices Functional and Integrative Medicine virtually all over Florida at Rebalance Family Health. Her other certifications include Allison Siebecker SIBO Certification and mold illness recovery mentorship with Dr. Neil Nath
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