Episode 190
Casey Kelley:The Overlooked Connection Between Stress and Your Mystery Symptoms
Casey Kelley:
The Overlooked Connection Between Stress and Your Mystery Symptoms
Join us in this inspiring episode as Dr. Casey Kelley shares her transformative journey from conventional medicine to functional health, driven by her own battle with POTS. Discover why understanding root causes is crucial for healing, and learn practical tips for improving your health in ways you never expected!
First Aired on: May 5, 2025
Episode 190
Casey Kelley:The Overlooked Connection Between Stress and Your Mystery Symptoms
Casey Kelley:
The Overlooked Connection Between Stress and Your Mystery Symptoms
Join us in this inspiring episode as Dr. Casey Kelley shares her transformative journey from conventional medicine to functional health, driven by her own battle with POTS. Discover why understanding root causes is crucial for healing, and learn practical tips for improving your health in ways you never expected!
First Aired on: May 5, 2025
Table of Contents:
Table of Contents:
In this episode:
In this episode:
Introduction
In this episode, I welcome Dr. Casey Kelley, a family medicine physician specializing in functional medicine. Casey shares her inspiring journey from conventional medicine to integrative health, motivated by her own health struggles with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). We dive into the importance of understanding root causes of health issues, particularly in the context of autoimmune diseases, and practical steps everyone can take for better health.
Episode Highlights
Casey's Personal Health Journey
Casey recounts her health struggles during medical school that led to a diagnosis of POTS, inspiring her to seek root causes instead of just treating symptoms.
- Faced debilitating symptoms during medical school.
- Diagnosed with POTS after rigorous testing.
- Frustration with the conventional treatment approach.
The Importance of Root Cause Analysis
We discuss how understanding the root causes of symptoms can lead to effective treatments rather than merely masking issues with medications.
- Common missteps in conventional medicine focus on symptoms.
- Why it’s crucial to dig deeper into underlying health issues.
- How Casey's own diagnosis shaped her practice.
Understanding POTS and Autonomic Dysfunction
Casey explains POTS — a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system — and its cluster of symptoms that can significantly impact daily life.
- Symptoms include rapid heart rate, dizziness, and fatigue.
- The mechanisms behind symptoms related to standing up.
- Broader implications for patients who often feel dismissed.
The Connection Between Stress and Autoimmunity
We touch on the role of chronic stress and infections in exacerbating autoimmune conditions like POTS, making connections to recent health trends.
- Casey discusses stress responses and their effects on health.
- Link between viral infections and POTS onset.
- Discussion on environmental toxins contributing to autoimmune diseases.
Foundational Practices for Health Improvement
Casey shares her framework for improving health based on lifestyle changes, focusing on four core areas that everyone can adopt.
- Nutrition: importance of avoiding gluten, dairy, and sugar.
- Movement: finding ways to incorporate physical activity.
- Stress Management: simple techniques for calming the nervous system.
- Detoxification: guidelines for supporting the body's natural detox processes.
Notable Quotes from this Episode
“What people often don't realize is that their diagnosis is actually a symptom.”
Casey Kelley
Other Resources:
Other Resources:
Connect with Casey Kelley
Connect with Casey Kelley
Watch this interview:
Watch this interview:
Episode Transcript
Julie Michelson: [00:00:00] Welcome to the podcast.
Casey Kelley: Thank you so much for having me.
Julie Michelson: I am so excited for this conversation. Um, but first I wanna know a little bit about your journey. I want listeners to, to get to know you a little bit, share whatever parts you would like, but especially, you know, I always love hearing what inspired people to transition to functional medicine or integrative medicine.
Julie Michelson: Um, and of course, anybody with a healing journey of their own is, we would love to hear a little bit about it.
Casey Kelley: Absolutely. Yeah. No, I was one of those weird little kids who wanted to be a doctor, so I kind of always knew that that is what I wanted to do. And somewhere along the lines of college, I started to feel really tired.
Casey Kelley: I would get really winded. I was, you know, very athletic in high school, track show, choir, all the things. And in college I couldn't do it all anymore. And I actually got diagnosed with asthma. Um. Just 'cause I don't think they knew what to do with me, [00:01:00] uh, and my symptoms and, and just they went with the shortest of breath.
Casey Kelley: And so that's kind of where they ended up. And in med school I started to get, um, more and more issues. I would get really dizzy when I stood up. I'd feel like my heart was racing a marathon when I was just standing there. And it became really hard to focus and concentrate and, and learn the way I used to even, and in medical school.
Casey Kelley: Um, I actually got myself diagnosed with pots, so postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. I had to go through the whole rigmarole, uh, for this. Um, so I went for a tilt table study, which is a pretty or crazy test. Yeah. If you've done this, you can strap to a bed and they. Crank you up and while they're monitoring all of your vital signs and they want you to pass out.
Casey Kelley: 'cause that is a, a positive test. And if you don't do it on the first time, then they crank you down and basically give you speed. [00:02:00] Adrenaline, do it again and see if it's worse. Um, this is very, very yucky test. I kind of passed down through up. It was not a fun thing, but. I got the diagnosis, so I tried several different medications along the way to help just kind of get myself through the intensity that is med school and residency.
Casey Kelley: And while I was in medical school, I really started to get more curious about why people were sick. And I was really frustrated that we weren't really being taught to look for the root cause. We were just. Being taught to, to look for the diagnosis. And then the Mets, you know, here's the met, here's the treatment.
Casey Kelley: And, you know, I would start working with patients and they would have a list of 12 medications and I couldn't tell if what they were feeling was just a symptom of all of those medications. Yep. Um, so I, I started my own journey and I decided to go into family medicine, that the lifestyle and that opportunity to [00:03:00] treat the entire family, but really get to know patients.
Casey Kelley: And their, you know, what makes 'em ticking kinda where they are and who they are really drew me to to that. And in residency I dug further and further and I got myself into, um, some different conferences. Um, back in the day, it was the American Holistic Medical Association, so I'm gonna age myself a little bit there.
Casey Kelley: You look 12, so come on. Yeah. Yeah. It still was around then. I appreciate it. Um, and, but that was really my first foray into there are other people who think like this. Yeah. There are other providers who are curious and looking for this and really want to help people get better and really get to the root cause.
Casey Kelley: And then I did some functional medicine training and other things along the way. Um, and then part, as part of that journey, um, I figured out what was going on with myself. In my pots. Yeah, yeah. You know, and, um, I tried several medications for pots, um, a beta block, block beta blocker, and an alpha agonist.
Casey Kelley: And I, it was like all these [00:04:00] chemicals and things and it just, it put a bandaid on stuff, but it did not fix anything and it caused its own set of issues. So, so in that process, I, you know, was able to. Find out my, the root causes for me were adrenal insufficiency burnout from med school, uh, and residents conquer.
Casey Kelley: Weird how that does that. Um, but then also chronic tickborne infections, ah, drivers for me. So when I got those things taken care of or into remission in a better spot, my pops went away. Um, and that journey through my own whole, you know, pathway really. Honed in on the need to find these root causes. Yeah.
Casey Kelley: And to listen and believe people and understand you can look okay and you can have normal labs, but still be sick and try to really look for that. And once you start doing that, you can't stop.
Julie Michelson: So it's, I was thinking that when you were talking about finding, you know, going to the first conference, I'm like, oh, in the rabbit hole you just, [00:05:00] you can't go back.
Julie Michelson: You can't unlearn. You can't unlearn it. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I love, first of all, congratulations and thank you for also using your wisdom to help others. Um, I, what jumps out at me that I think, like if I, if in one sentence, what people often don't realize is that their diagnosis is actually a symptom.
Julie Michelson: So here pots is a big diagnosis, not easy to get, especially, you know, however many years ago you were diagnosed, um, and you think, oh, there's the answer, but it's like, no, actually that whole thing was a symptom of the other, you know, stressors on your body and your health. And, and so, um, I I love that we, we forget that sometimes.
Julie Michelson: I obviously, you know. Was, I didn't know that for the [00:06:00] longest time. Right. And, and so that whole, like, you know, when I ran around, like, I have ra, you know, it's like this doom and gloom label and it explains like your pain and your, you know, and no, it doesn't actually, it, it explains, you know, what medications the insurance company will pay for, but
Casey Kelley: yeah.
Julie Michelson: Um, so, you know, I, and I always say, I've said it so many times on the. On the podcast. Um, I don't know why we try to kill people who want to be physicians. You, I have interviewed so many doctors who, you know, their, their exacerbation of their symptoms really all came to a head in medical school. 'cause you're not eating well, you're not sleep, you know, it's just, it's crazy.
Julie Michelson: Um, but it, it's. It's worldwide too. It's not even, um, so glad you made it through.
Casey Kelley: I am stubborn. I, I will say that. That's good
Julie Michelson: as long as you can, you know, [00:07:00] like hit tap the brakes.
Casey Kelley: Yeah. I mean, there was more than once where I really thought about quitting. Sure. For sure. I didn't know if I could make it through.
Casey Kelley: I didn't know if it was worth it. Yeah. Um, even up to the very end, you know, is this, is this worth it? Yeah. I'm glad I stuck it out. But, um. It, you know, it, it took years to recover from that. Yeah. That in and of itself, you know, I was a different person before all of that. Yeah. So,
Julie Michelson: wow. We are glad you stuck it out and made it through.
Julie Michelson: For sure. I wanna to kind of start with the basics of, and you, you shared as far as your journey, you know, there's some kind of across the board. Symptoms we think of with pots, but what, what is pots like? Start really like dub it down for us.
Casey Kelley: Sure. So it is a dysfunction of your autonomic nervous system, and the autonomic nervous system is the part of our nervous [00:08:00] system that controls things.
Casey Kelley: We don't have to think about the automatic things. So our heart rate, our breathing, digestion, that kind of stuff that we don't have to to think about. It's also though our fight or flight and our rest and digest. So those are pretty common, sympathetic, parasympathetic aspects that, that we hear about. Um, and.
Casey Kelley: Pods and other autonomic dysfunction. 'cause honestly, there's, it's a big spectrum and they kind of all mush together and there's slight nuances between all of them. But what happens, um, in pods when you stand up, when a normal person stands up, let's say. Your body's gonna compensate for that gravitational shift pretty seamlessly.
Casey Kelley: You're not gonna notice it. You stand up, you're not dizzy. You don't think much, you don't think anything about it, but your heart and your body is changing to compensate, so to, to make sure the blood is still going up to your brain and, and, and otherwise In pots, it doesn't, that doesn't happen. Properly.
Casey Kelley: So when you stand up, it's called postural [00:09:00] orthostatic tachycardia. So when you stand up, orthostatics, postural stand up, tachycardia, fast heart rate. So as soon as you stand up, your heart goes really, really fast and doesn't stop. It doesn't do that, whoop, to compensate that you don't even notice. So it becomes, and it can jump really, really high.
Casey Kelley: Some people will go up to 200 beats per minute just from simply standing up. You know, that's not. That's not normal. No, no. And that makes you feel horrible and you can feel it. It thumps. And then you become really conscious of your heart rate, which we're not normally conscious of, of that. And then you start to worry that your heart's ready and it can cause anxiety.
Casey Kelley: Right. And it that, and all just spirals outta control. Right. Then you can also develop also syncope related to it. So your blood pressure also adjusts for that, that postural change. Um, and in some people, when you stand up and it can dump and drop and so that you, you get, um, a, a, [00:10:00] a low blood pressure and you can pass out and that those peop you know, for that aspect of things too, people, um, can hurt themselves.
Casey Kelley: Sure you can fall your head interest and, and really kind of injure, injure yourself. So for, for some people that could be, this can become really, really debilitating. Mm-hmm. Um, or you can't have a job, you can't go to school, you can't do things because there's this possibility of, of hurting yourself.
Casey Kelley: Yeah. In there. So there's others. There's a lot of symptoms that come along with this too. So it's not just the fast heart rate, but it can get, cause brain fog, you can't think clearly. You have trouble remembering things. Your brain isn't working the way that it used to. Digestion issues as well. It's, it can either be slow digestion or fast digestion.
Casey Kelley: That's that and digest bit gets out of whack. Sleep gets thrown out of whack it, the list goes on. It, it. It's a long list of symptoms that can happen with these autonomic dysfunction disorders in there. But [00:11:00] something is irritating. The immune system. Something is, I was gonna say, sounds a lot
Julie Michelson: like chronic inflammation and autoimmunity when you start to bring in, you know, the fatigue and the brain fog and the, you know, GI disruption and all, all the things.
Julie Michelson: Um, and so I, I. I don't wanna put words into your mouth. Um. We're seeing more and more, you know, listeners like Autoimmunities on the Rise. I, me, you know, I mentioned before we're seeing more young people, college age people come into the clinic with pots, um, looking for help. You know, luckily smart enough at that age or somebody has guided them to like, Hey, let's get to the root cause of this.
Julie Michelson: What do you think is going on? It sounds like in your personal journey, stress, lifestyle. Definitely played a big role. Um, what, what is your theory? [00:12:00]
Casey Kelley: Well, I, you know, pods has been linked to viruses for quite a long time. Um, there's some work, actually a lot of work being done by Dr. Grub and you at the University of Toledo in Ohio.
Casey Kelley: Um, even go back when I was diagnosed with it and, um, so. And it has been also linked to a lot of tickborne infections since then too. But originally that was one of, one of the driving reasons for POTS was a viral infection. So say mono, for example, you could get a mono infection. Uh, I don't know if you, if you remember, but there's a pretty big virus that we had recently that kind of swept.
Casey Kelley: Oh, is it messing with immune stuff? Yeah. I think that virus really has played a role in exacerbating a lot of these issues, and it's perhaps related specifically to, to that virus, but also just kinda waking up these other viruses. I mentioned mono. This is a virus that's pretty ubiquitous. Almost everybody gets it.
Casey Kelley: By the time we're outta high school, not everybody gets full blown [00:13:00] mono from this. It's usually Epstein Barr virus, but there's a couple others that play a role too. But once you get these viruses, you always have the virus. It's like chickenpox away, right? Yep. And so then you get something like covid, it can kinda wake up that viral microbiome and can set it off.
Casey Kelley: Um, and then when you throw tick-borne infections on top of it, Lyme and Bartonella seem to be the two biggest. Um, and Bartonella is really a vector borne infection. It's on all kinds of biting insects. There's some evidence with ticks, but there's more other biting insects and cats and things that can also transmit that.
Casey Kelley: Um, but there are some big correlations with, with those two infections as well. And then you ask a couple on top of it, just the increase in toxicity that we've seen over the, over the decades and how that's affected our world and our humans and, and things too. And so when you couple all those together, it just is.
Casey Kelley: So this perfect brew to create these nervous system dysfunctions or autoimmune disease or immune [00:14:00] dysfunction. Take your pig all of the above, right? Yeah.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. That's my,
Casey Kelley: that's my working theory on why all this stuff is I, I am
Julie Michelson: so glad, and I'm glad you, you added in the, you know, this, this toxic burden that we're all working or you know, just.
Julie Michelson: It's piled on and piled on, and we haven't evolved that fast. We haven't evolved nearly as fast as all of the chemicals around us. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Casey Kelley: So,
Julie Michelson: um, yeah. So, so what, you know, what are your big, I know you have a, a course that probably by the time this airs. Your course will be out. Um, and I, I can tell we're very aligned with, um, you know, this is not that model of diagnosis prescription.
Julie Michelson: Like, okay, if you have pots do this. And if you have a different autoimmune, you do that. And if you wanna be healthy, you do this thing. There are, yeah. Things across the board, um, that support all of us. So, [00:15:00] so tell us a little bit about, you know, what, what are your, I use the word, you know, pillars or framework, um, what are.
Julie Michelson: Kind of the non-negotiables for either starting to move the needle to improve health or protecting for those that are blessed both.
Casey Kelley: Yeah. And spectrum, for sure. Yeah, so the course that I've created is on heal with case.com, and this is the groundwork. Course this is groundwork for healing. And it's all going back to the, to the basics and it's the lifestyle support.
Casey Kelley: And this are, these are the things that all of us can start doing right away to start to see changes. And some of 'em are small, little tweaks, and some of them may be bigger changes just depending on where you are in your health journey. But for me, it really comes down to kind of four core basics and then get an extra bonus on there.
Casey Kelley: Um, food and what you put in your body matters how much you're moving. Which is, you know, especially hard for patients with pots, for example. Um, [00:16:00] how well you are, uh, dealing with stress on there, how well you're sleeping, and then the extra bonus is how well you're detoxing. And supporting that. I love that
Julie Michelson: you call that a bonus.
Julie Michelson: Although they're all, I always say, you know, you can't just pull the thread. They're all interconnected. And so, um,
Casey Kelley: and often if you help one thing, you help the others. You know, if you help your stress, you can help your sleep. Yeah. If you help sleep, you're gonna help your stress. Right. If
Julie Michelson: you're eating well, you're gonna, yeah.
Julie Michelson: And moving and all the things. So I, I love that. Um, yeah, that's,
Casey Kelley: I just wanted to create something so that. Patients could, anywhere, anytime, could get really good actionable tips, start making some changes then and there to, to kind of take their health in their own hands. Mm-hmm. And, and build upon that.
Casey Kelley: Yeah.
Julie Michelson: Let's dive, I'm gonna just pick one. It is not random 'cause it, it ties directly into your story. Um, because. [00:17:00] I'm not even talking about pots. There's so many times as I start working with somebody, and typically it's the women, um, who, you know, at some point it'll come out like, I get dizzy when I stand up or lightheaded.
Julie Michelson: I get lightheaded when I stand up. Um, and I'm like, oh, well, yeah. Already knew your adrenals were taxed. Um, so let's kind of talk about, do you have any. Um, either like must dos or tricks for stress management and, and kind of just nurturing the, the HPA access, the adrenal pa. It just, the, the, to me at like at some point we have to be kind of pampering our adrenals or at least attending to them.
Casey Kelley: Yeah, acknowledging them, right? Yeah. For a lot of people, and I would say. Working moms especially. Mm-hmm. There's a background stress that's [00:18:00] always happening. There's always something to think about. There's always something going on. So even if you don't feel like you are stressed out, yes, you probably are, because you're just used to it.
Casey Kelley: You've become nose blind to it. You know, you're just your new normal, but it's not normal. And then your body forgets how to rest. Right. And our bodies are not designed for that. Our adrenal system, our stress system is designed to, you know, activate when we're being chased by that lion, right? And then when the lion's gone, that's what zebras do.
Casey Kelley: You know, lion's there, lion's gone, you know. But we just live here where the lion's just always chasing us so much that we don't even see the line anymore.
Julie Michelson: Right. Yeah. And there's a million lions, big lions, little lions, like, uh, it's our, our system wasn't designed for the chronic stress. And I, I love, I say that all the time, so I'm so glad you highlighted that.
Julie Michelson: People will [00:19:00] say, you know, they'll tell me about their life, and then they're like. Oh, and we will, I'll say, you know, well, how's your stress level? Oh, I'm not stressed. And I'm like, well, I am after listening to you, you know, like you should, and you're right. It's because it's a, that's a survival skill, right?
Julie Michelson: But we need to, uh, exercise the, the parasympathetic state and, and that muscle. 'cause we do forget, we really do.
Casey Kelley: Forget, and you, you do have to retrain your system to actually allow it to relax. And what I don't wanna do is create extra stress. Right. To make another, to-do list, to make another have to do in order to not be stressed.
Casey Kelley: 'cause that defeats the purpose.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. I had somebody literally tell me this week that she just realized she's been meditating for like 10 years, but she's been doing it like. To check it off on the to-do list, and she just realized like, wow, I probably haven't gotten any value from [00:20:00] that. Maybe I should find a different tool, you know, or approach it differently.
Julie Michelson: So.
Casey Kelley: Yeah, and it's, there's different, different ways for different people, so you have to find out what works for you. But there are one simple way is just to breathe deeply and actually use your diaphragm and, and do, and, and try to remember to do that at simple times, at a, at a stoplight, for example. You know, kinda have that trigger.
Casey Kelley: Not adding, not adding an extra to do. So we've, we, we've gotta find some ways to really passively start to do that. And then once you do that, you can actively build on some more active ways to reduce that stress. Um, but yeah, but we just don't realize it. I, and I think acknowledging it really is one of the first things to do.
Julie Michelson: It's not a strength. I don't know when there was the shift, especially for, like you said, a working mom or, um, of like this badge of honor. I'm so busy. I'm so, you know, and it's like, okay, that's sad. [00:21:00] We need to get back to a little bit about how, you know, how, how we're meant to live. Um, I'm not saying we can't accomplish wonderful things and work hard, um, but there is something to the play hard part too, and, and just those little daily incorporations.
Julie Michelson: I love, I'm a huge fan of stacking. Um, and so I love that you highlight, like, this isn't, you don't need to create an hour routine in your day, but you can breathe while you're at a stoplight or. While you're, you know, if you get good at it, really breathing, you can do it all kinds of times
Casey Kelley: and no knows
Julie Michelson: you're
Casey Kelley: doing anything necessarily.
Casey Kelley: Yeah. You're just, yeah,
Julie Michelson: it's the best. And then it's a great tool for when you feel, you know, you're stress. You can immediately just start breathing, keeps you in control. It's amazing.
Casey Kelley: Yeah. And we're crummy breathers. We all breathe just from our shoulders. We're not really [00:22:00] using our diaphragm. We're not getting our full breath anyway.
Casey Kelley: Yeah. And so just even just learning how to use that full breath can go a long way. Yeah.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Amazing. And do you have any favorite kind? I know you're very interested in longevity and longevity medicine as well. And, and again, to me it's a spectrum, right, of like, oh, here's how we create wellness. And then once we find wellness again, we just wanna keep up, up leveling.
Julie Michelson: Um, so do you have any special kind of breathing techniques? You're a fan of.
Casey Kelley: I keep it. I keep it as simple as possible. So I just remember four and eight because I can do that. So I breathe in through my nose for four, out through my mouth for eight. You know, there are box breathing. I was actually talking to someone about this recently, box breathing, where you breathe in for four, you hold for seven, you breathe out for eight.
Casey Kelley: As a pots person and as a baby, see a person that's holding it made me more anxious.
Julie Michelson: Yeah.
Casey Kelley: Um, so I just do in and out. Whatever works for you, [00:23:00] right? But I can remember for Nate, so I breathe in for four through my mouth. Using my belly and out through mouth for eight. And I try to do that four to eight times in a row, four to eight times a day.
Casey Kelley: And I don't count, I if I don't get an eight, whatever, like that's not the point of it. It's trying to, it's just those numbers that just kind of, that way it sticks in my brain and I remember to do it. Um, but that's how, that's one of the ways I've modified it for me just personally because of my pots history.
Casey Kelley: And baby can cause air hunger and so too much of that holding
Julie Michelson: actually
Casey Kelley: made me worse.
Julie Michelson: Makes perfect sense. And I would say even for, for listeners without pots, um, if you have been in that chronic stress state, um, I, I have had a couple of really, I. Full on type A personality kind of clients who just even doing what, four, seven, I'm gentler than you.
Julie Michelson: Four, seven breathing, um, triggered a stress, a [00:24:00] stress response in them. So I love that you say, you know, really personalize for and, and do your own count. Like, don't, you know, when I, when I'm working with clients, with, with breathing, I always start with a, what I feel like is a pretty fast count. 'cause I don't know what their capacity is or when the last time they completely filled their, their lungs.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. So, um, it is, it is an exercise. And you'll notice over time if you're just incorporating it into your day, that all of a sudden it's like, wow, you know what, I'm, I count really slow now. That's great. Or like you said, you know, you can play with if it serves you, some box breathing or any, any other, I, I just say always the one that, that resonates.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Is, is the one to do or to play with.
Casey Kelley: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Amazing. Do you have, I know food was also on your list. Do you have [00:25:00] any because, because you take the same approach as I do as far as personalization, right? Where, where are all individuals? Um, but do you have any across the board, everybody should eat X or should avoid X?
Casey Kelley: Not entirely. 'cause I do make it pretty individualized. I think that the two or three foods that really affect the immune system the most are gluten, dairy, and sugar. So when it comes to kind of focusing on anything, those are the three that I will start with generally speaking. And it depends on the person.
Casey Kelley: We might do FODMAPs or intermittent fasting or ketogenic diets depending on what the needs are. But those are the kinda the big three. And a lot of what I'm dealing with in my clinic is chronic infections. So I'm trying to boost the immune system, not suppress it, and those are the foods that tend to suppress it.
Casey Kelley: So those are the things that we start with to avoid with that. Um, and a lot of it too, I mean, just some of us, a lot of our [00:26:00] populations can't tolerate dairy. I. Yeah, just from the lactose. Um, but there's a lot of sugar and other hormones and things in it, so it's not my favorite. Um, and then I actually think glyphosate is one of our issues too.
Casey Kelley: It's not just the gluten, but I think it's the glyphosate that people are reacting to.
Julie Michelson: I agree. It's one of those you can't separate out. I happen to have Celiac, um, but. I just, I, you know, I know so many people who are, even, even people with celiac or really gluten sensitive people who are fine in Europe, right.
Julie Michelson: So it's like, well, it can't, and, and we do also have a higher gluten content in our, you know, crops grown here in our weed and, and, and intentionally. Um, so it is really hard to separate. And so I, I'm with you. I, I definitely think glyphosate. Plays a huge role. Um, and it's like, well, you know, you can, in my mind, you can't, you [00:27:00] can't separate the two, at least here in the States.
Julie Michelson: And so no, no, no. Just say no. So I love that. So. Tell us a little bit. Is the course fully online? Is it self-paced? How? How does that work? Yeah, yeah.
Casey Kelley: It's fully online, it's self-paced. There are five mo modules or chapters each going with what we talked about, and they're about 20 to 30 minutes each of a video.
Casey Kelley: But then there are also handouts and resources and supplement bundles and things that you can do, actionable tips. You know, I mapped out a diet and with a couple weeks of. Menus and, and recipes and, and, and all of that to add to the mix in there too. So you have tools then that you can use right away.
Casey Kelley: And, you know, picking what makes sense to you, what resonates with you, where, where, where, where you are in life and the things that you can add in there. But yeah, there's a module on. Diet, on movement, on sleep, on stress, [00:28:00] and then on detox. Um, and there'll be more to come, there'll be deeper dive content into detox, into mold, into Lyme.
Casey Kelley: All these other things will be up, um, as we get going. But I wanted to start with the foundations and, and just lay that groundwork because everybody needs that support.
Julie Michelson: We do and, and we often. Like, forget to even ask things like, do you drink water? Or, you know, um, that, that sometimes living in this functional medicine world, you know, we, we forget, we're.
Julie Michelson: People are coming in from. Um, and, and so I love that you're starting with, it sounds like pretty easy to digest and take action, um, with the foundations. I know I watched a video this morning of, um, at first we thought it was a joke and then I realized it wasn't a joke. It was, it was somebody who apparently.
Julie Michelson: You know, produces like food related content on social [00:29:00] media and, and she was building this ama this it took to quote her like, fantastic Kids meal or something like that. And it was a foil pan. Which is what she started with. Filled it with big flour tortillas, filled that with McDonald's, french fries.
Julie Michelson: Then she added an entire bag of, of chicken nuggets, an entire thing of macaroni and cheese. More french fries. Um, I can't even call it cheese, you know, the craft singles, uh, it, it, it was like, it just, it just kept getting worse and worse and worse. And I was like, the only thing that's, that wasn't white was the fake cheese, which, oh no.
Julie Michelson: And I'm like, oh my, who would feed? And I, and this is, and it wasn't a joke, and I'm like, this is what's wrong. This is why we're so sick as a country. Um, and so I, I love that [00:30:00] there is a need for foundations. We all can up level, um, and, and pick that place where we can make one change and, and get a win. And create some momentum.
Casey Kelley: And even those of us who are, who've been in it for a while, sometimes you just need the reminder, oh yeah, I gotta do that. Oh yeah, I should get back to that. Oh yeah, Uhhuh. Um, you know, and you mentioned, you know, trying to get people to wellness and then how do we keep you, well, you know, it's, it's always going back to those foundations.
Julie Michelson: Yeah,
Casey Kelley: how are you moving? How are you sleeping? What's happening with your system and how do we help with that?
Julie Michelson: Yeah, and I love that you said like, even, even we, you and I, and, and all of us in this space, um, not only maybe, you know, did something fall off that was serving us, but life changes and so we need to.
Julie Michelson: Assess on a, on a, you know, frequent basis of like, okay, what is serving me? What would serve me better? [00:31:00] You know, what do I need to shift? Mm-hmm. Um, my life is vastly different this year, being in the clinic almost every day of the week versus working from home almost every day of the week. Very different routines.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Yeah. Um, and some of that stuff that was just built into my day, I had to really be intentional to create. Newly. So I, I think that, that it is important. None of us are beyond the, the needing to, to take a peek at what's going on.
Casey Kelley: Exactly.
Julie Michelson: Yeah.
Casey Kelley: Myself included, oh yeah, I gotta get my sleep in order. You know, like those are constant reminders that we always have to give ourselves.
Casey Kelley: Yeah. And, and
Julie Michelson: we learn like, you know, what's our threshold? Of sleep for me is like, you know, it's, it's important for everybody, but I am very aware of how important it is for me and it's, it is like, I, you know, I can't get three days of bad sleep in a row [00:32:00] or. I feel it. It's not good. Yeah. So
Casey Kelley: with you,
Julie Michelson: well, I, I love the work you're doing.
Julie Michelson: I appreciate what you're putting out into the world and, and how you're helping others heal. Where is the best place for people that are listening on the go right now? Where's the best place to find you?
Casey Kelley: Sure our, our website for the clinic is case integrative health.com. The website for the um, coursework is heal with case.com.
Casey Kelley: We're also on Instagram with Case Integrative Health and Facebook and all those goodies too, where you can connect with us as well. So yeah, reach out. Let's hear from you.
Julie Michelson: I almost disappointed listeners 'cause they know to lean in to, it's for this last little. Tidbit of what is one step? It could be anything that listeners can take starting today to improve health.
Casey Kelley: Cool. What? Great question. I think we'll circle it back to relaxing and kind of letting let [00:33:00] go. I think trying to play and have fun yes, is a big component of adulthood that gets missed a lot and you know, sometimes you have to actually stop yourself and allow yourself. To play and have fun. Um, and that's, it just does as much a reminder for myself as it is for everybody else.
Casey Kelley: But we need to have fun. We need to laugh, we need to giggle, we need to dance, we need to do fun things, you know, play pickleball, whatever it is for you, right? We've gotta play. And when you're playing, enjoy the play. Kind like roll of all the noise, you know, let the lines down for a bit. They'll be there when you're back.
Casey Kelley: But just really try to enjoy that, enjoy that fun, and, and enjoy your life and try to figure out what's fun for you and what you like to do.
Julie Michelson: Uh, such amazing, amazing advice. I cannot thank you enough. I so appreciate all of the goals that you have given us today.
Casey Kelley: My pleasure. Thank you for having me.
Julie Michelson: For everyone listening.
Julie Michelson: Remember, you can get the [00:34:00] links and the show notes and transcripts by visiting Inspired Living Show. I hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I'll see you next week.
I.
Casey Kelley: Thank you so much for having me.
Julie Michelson: I am so excited for this conversation. Um, but first I wanna know a little bit about your journey. I want listeners to, to get to know you a little bit, share whatever parts you would like, but especially, you know, I always love hearing what inspired people to transition to functional medicine or integrative medicine.
Julie Michelson: Um, and of course, anybody with a healing journey of their own is, we would love to hear a little bit about it.
Casey Kelley: Absolutely. Yeah. No, I was one of those weird little kids who wanted to be a doctor, so I kind of always knew that that is what I wanted to do. And somewhere along the lines of college, I started to feel really tired.
Casey Kelley: I would get really winded. I was, you know, very athletic in high school, track show, choir, all the things. And in college I couldn't do it all anymore. And I actually got diagnosed with asthma. Um. Just 'cause I don't think they knew what to do with me, [00:01:00] uh, and my symptoms and, and just they went with the shortest of breath.
Casey Kelley: And so that's kind of where they ended up. And in med school I started to get, um, more and more issues. I would get really dizzy when I stood up. I'd feel like my heart was racing a marathon when I was just standing there. And it became really hard to focus and concentrate and, and learn the way I used to even, and in medical school.
Casey Kelley: Um, I actually got myself diagnosed with pots, so postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. I had to go through the whole rigmarole, uh, for this. Um, so I went for a tilt table study, which is a pretty or crazy test. Yeah. If you've done this, you can strap to a bed and they. Crank you up and while they're monitoring all of your vital signs and they want you to pass out.
Casey Kelley: 'cause that is a, a positive test. And if you don't do it on the first time, then they crank you down and basically give you speed. [00:02:00] Adrenaline, do it again and see if it's worse. Um, this is very, very yucky test. I kind of passed down through up. It was not a fun thing, but. I got the diagnosis, so I tried several different medications along the way to help just kind of get myself through the intensity that is med school and residency.
Casey Kelley: And while I was in medical school, I really started to get more curious about why people were sick. And I was really frustrated that we weren't really being taught to look for the root cause. We were just. Being taught to, to look for the diagnosis. And then the Mets, you know, here's the met, here's the treatment.
Casey Kelley: And, you know, I would start working with patients and they would have a list of 12 medications and I couldn't tell if what they were feeling was just a symptom of all of those medications. Yep. Um, so I, I started my own journey and I decided to go into family medicine, that the lifestyle and that opportunity to [00:03:00] treat the entire family, but really get to know patients.
Casey Kelley: And their, you know, what makes 'em ticking kinda where they are and who they are really drew me to to that. And in residency I dug further and further and I got myself into, um, some different conferences. Um, back in the day, it was the American Holistic Medical Association, so I'm gonna age myself a little bit there.
Casey Kelley: You look 12, so come on. Yeah. Yeah. It still was around then. I appreciate it. Um, and, but that was really my first foray into there are other people who think like this. Yeah. There are other providers who are curious and looking for this and really want to help people get better and really get to the root cause.
Casey Kelley: And then I did some functional medicine training and other things along the way. Um, and then part, as part of that journey, um, I figured out what was going on with myself. In my pots. Yeah, yeah. You know, and, um, I tried several medications for pots, um, a beta block, block beta blocker, and an alpha agonist.
Casey Kelley: And I, it was like all these [00:04:00] chemicals and things and it just, it put a bandaid on stuff, but it did not fix anything and it caused its own set of issues. So, so in that process, I, you know, was able to. Find out my, the root causes for me were adrenal insufficiency burnout from med school, uh, and residents conquer.
Casey Kelley: Weird how that does that. Um, but then also chronic tickborne infections, ah, drivers for me. So when I got those things taken care of or into remission in a better spot, my pops went away. Um, and that journey through my own whole, you know, pathway really. Honed in on the need to find these root causes. Yeah.
Casey Kelley: And to listen and believe people and understand you can look okay and you can have normal labs, but still be sick and try to really look for that. And once you start doing that, you can't stop.
Julie Michelson: So it's, I was thinking that when you were talking about finding, you know, going to the first conference, I'm like, oh, in the rabbit hole you just, [00:05:00] you can't go back.
Julie Michelson: You can't unlearn. You can't unlearn it. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I love, first of all, congratulations and thank you for also using your wisdom to help others. Um, I, what jumps out at me that I think, like if I, if in one sentence, what people often don't realize is that their diagnosis is actually a symptom.
Julie Michelson: So here pots is a big diagnosis, not easy to get, especially, you know, however many years ago you were diagnosed, um, and you think, oh, there's the answer, but it's like, no, actually that whole thing was a symptom of the other, you know, stressors on your body and your health. And, and so, um, I I love that we, we forget that sometimes.
Julie Michelson: I obviously, you know. Was, I didn't know that for the [00:06:00] longest time. Right. And, and so that whole, like, you know, when I ran around, like, I have ra, you know, it's like this doom and gloom label and it explains like your pain and your, you know, and no, it doesn't actually, it, it explains, you know, what medications the insurance company will pay for, but
Casey Kelley: yeah.
Julie Michelson: Um, so, you know, I, and I always say, I've said it so many times on the. On the podcast. Um, I don't know why we try to kill people who want to be physicians. You, I have interviewed so many doctors who, you know, their, their exacerbation of their symptoms really all came to a head in medical school. 'cause you're not eating well, you're not sleep, you know, it's just, it's crazy.
Julie Michelson: Um, but it, it's. It's worldwide too. It's not even, um, so glad you made it through.
Casey Kelley: I am stubborn. I, I will say that. That's good
Julie Michelson: as long as you can, you know, [00:07:00] like hit tap the brakes.
Casey Kelley: Yeah. I mean, there was more than once where I really thought about quitting. Sure. For sure. I didn't know if I could make it through.
Casey Kelley: I didn't know if it was worth it. Yeah. Um, even up to the very end, you know, is this, is this worth it? Yeah. I'm glad I stuck it out. But, um. It, you know, it, it took years to recover from that. Yeah. That in and of itself, you know, I was a different person before all of that. Yeah. So,
Julie Michelson: wow. We are glad you stuck it out and made it through.
Julie Michelson: For sure. I wanna to kind of start with the basics of, and you, you shared as far as your journey, you know, there's some kind of across the board. Symptoms we think of with pots, but what, what is pots like? Start really like dub it down for us.
Casey Kelley: Sure. So it is a dysfunction of your autonomic nervous system, and the autonomic nervous system is the part of our nervous [00:08:00] system that controls things.
Casey Kelley: We don't have to think about the automatic things. So our heart rate, our breathing, digestion, that kind of stuff that we don't have to to think about. It's also though our fight or flight and our rest and digest. So those are pretty common, sympathetic, parasympathetic aspects that, that we hear about. Um, and.
Casey Kelley: Pods and other autonomic dysfunction. 'cause honestly, there's, it's a big spectrum and they kind of all mush together and there's slight nuances between all of them. But what happens, um, in pods when you stand up, when a normal person stands up, let's say. Your body's gonna compensate for that gravitational shift pretty seamlessly.
Casey Kelley: You're not gonna notice it. You stand up, you're not dizzy. You don't think much, you don't think anything about it, but your heart and your body is changing to compensate, so to, to make sure the blood is still going up to your brain and, and, and otherwise In pots, it doesn't, that doesn't happen. Properly.
Casey Kelley: So when you stand up, it's called postural [00:09:00] orthostatic tachycardia. So when you stand up, orthostatics, postural stand up, tachycardia, fast heart rate. So as soon as you stand up, your heart goes really, really fast and doesn't stop. It doesn't do that, whoop, to compensate that you don't even notice. So it becomes, and it can jump really, really high.
Casey Kelley: Some people will go up to 200 beats per minute just from simply standing up. You know, that's not. That's not normal. No, no. And that makes you feel horrible and you can feel it. It thumps. And then you become really conscious of your heart rate, which we're not normally conscious of, of that. And then you start to worry that your heart's ready and it can cause anxiety.
Casey Kelley: Right. And it that, and all just spirals outta control. Right. Then you can also develop also syncope related to it. So your blood pressure also adjusts for that, that postural change. Um, and in some people, when you stand up and it can dump and drop and so that you, you get, um, a, a, [00:10:00] a low blood pressure and you can pass out and that those peop you know, for that aspect of things too, people, um, can hurt themselves.
Casey Kelley: Sure you can fall your head interest and, and really kind of injure, injure yourself. So for, for some people that could be, this can become really, really debilitating. Mm-hmm. Um, or you can't have a job, you can't go to school, you can't do things because there's this possibility of, of hurting yourself.
Casey Kelley: Yeah. In there. So there's others. There's a lot of symptoms that come along with this too. So it's not just the fast heart rate, but it can get, cause brain fog, you can't think clearly. You have trouble remembering things. Your brain isn't working the way that it used to. Digestion issues as well. It's, it can either be slow digestion or fast digestion.
Casey Kelley: That's that and digest bit gets out of whack. Sleep gets thrown out of whack it, the list goes on. It, it. It's a long list of symptoms that can happen with these autonomic dysfunction disorders in there. But [00:11:00] something is irritating. The immune system. Something is, I was gonna say, sounds a lot
Julie Michelson: like chronic inflammation and autoimmunity when you start to bring in, you know, the fatigue and the brain fog and the, you know, GI disruption and all, all the things.
Julie Michelson: Um, and so I, I. I don't wanna put words into your mouth. Um. We're seeing more and more, you know, listeners like Autoimmunities on the Rise. I, me, you know, I mentioned before we're seeing more young people, college age people come into the clinic with pots, um, looking for help. You know, luckily smart enough at that age or somebody has guided them to like, Hey, let's get to the root cause of this.
Julie Michelson: What do you think is going on? It sounds like in your personal journey, stress, lifestyle. Definitely played a big role. Um, what, what is your theory? [00:12:00]
Casey Kelley: Well, I, you know, pods has been linked to viruses for quite a long time. Um, there's some work, actually a lot of work being done by Dr. Grub and you at the University of Toledo in Ohio.
Casey Kelley: Um, even go back when I was diagnosed with it and, um, so. And it has been also linked to a lot of tickborne infections since then too. But originally that was one of, one of the driving reasons for POTS was a viral infection. So say mono, for example, you could get a mono infection. Uh, I don't know if you, if you remember, but there's a pretty big virus that we had recently that kind of swept.
Casey Kelley: Oh, is it messing with immune stuff? Yeah. I think that virus really has played a role in exacerbating a lot of these issues, and it's perhaps related specifically to, to that virus, but also just kinda waking up these other viruses. I mentioned mono. This is a virus that's pretty ubiquitous. Almost everybody gets it.
Casey Kelley: By the time we're outta high school, not everybody gets full blown [00:13:00] mono from this. It's usually Epstein Barr virus, but there's a couple others that play a role too. But once you get these viruses, you always have the virus. It's like chickenpox away, right? Yep. And so then you get something like covid, it can kinda wake up that viral microbiome and can set it off.
Casey Kelley: Um, and then when you throw tick-borne infections on top of it, Lyme and Bartonella seem to be the two biggest. Um, and Bartonella is really a vector borne infection. It's on all kinds of biting insects. There's some evidence with ticks, but there's more other biting insects and cats and things that can also transmit that.
Casey Kelley: Um, but there are some big correlations with, with those two infections as well. And then you ask a couple on top of it, just the increase in toxicity that we've seen over the, over the decades and how that's affected our world and our humans and, and things too. And so when you couple all those together, it just is.
Casey Kelley: So this perfect brew to create these nervous system dysfunctions or autoimmune disease or immune [00:14:00] dysfunction. Take your pig all of the above, right? Yeah.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. That's my,
Casey Kelley: that's my working theory on why all this stuff is I, I am
Julie Michelson: so glad, and I'm glad you, you added in the, you know, this, this toxic burden that we're all working or you know, just.
Julie Michelson: It's piled on and piled on, and we haven't evolved that fast. We haven't evolved nearly as fast as all of the chemicals around us. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Casey Kelley: So,
Julie Michelson: um, yeah. So, so what, you know, what are your big, I know you have a, a course that probably by the time this airs. Your course will be out. Um, and I, I can tell we're very aligned with, um, you know, this is not that model of diagnosis prescription.
Julie Michelson: Like, okay, if you have pots do this. And if you have a different autoimmune, you do that. And if you wanna be healthy, you do this thing. There are, yeah. Things across the board, um, that support all of us. So, [00:15:00] so tell us a little bit about, you know, what, what are your, I use the word, you know, pillars or framework, um, what are.
Julie Michelson: Kind of the non-negotiables for either starting to move the needle to improve health or protecting for those that are blessed both.
Casey Kelley: Yeah. And spectrum, for sure. Yeah, so the course that I've created is on heal with case.com, and this is the groundwork. Course this is groundwork for healing. And it's all going back to the, to the basics and it's the lifestyle support.
Casey Kelley: And this are, these are the things that all of us can start doing right away to start to see changes. And some of 'em are small, little tweaks, and some of them may be bigger changes just depending on where you are in your health journey. But for me, it really comes down to kind of four core basics and then get an extra bonus on there.
Casey Kelley: Um, food and what you put in your body matters how much you're moving. Which is, you know, especially hard for patients with pots, for example. Um, [00:16:00] how well you are, uh, dealing with stress on there, how well you're sleeping, and then the extra bonus is how well you're detoxing. And supporting that. I love that
Julie Michelson: you call that a bonus.
Julie Michelson: Although they're all, I always say, you know, you can't just pull the thread. They're all interconnected. And so, um,
Casey Kelley: and often if you help one thing, you help the others. You know, if you help your stress, you can help your sleep. Yeah. If you help sleep, you're gonna help your stress. Right. If
Julie Michelson: you're eating well, you're gonna, yeah.
Julie Michelson: And moving and all the things. So I, I love that. Um, yeah, that's,
Casey Kelley: I just wanted to create something so that. Patients could, anywhere, anytime, could get really good actionable tips, start making some changes then and there to, to kind of take their health in their own hands. Mm-hmm. And, and build upon that.
Casey Kelley: Yeah.
Julie Michelson: Let's dive, I'm gonna just pick one. It is not random 'cause it, it ties directly into your story. Um, because. [00:17:00] I'm not even talking about pots. There's so many times as I start working with somebody, and typically it's the women, um, who, you know, at some point it'll come out like, I get dizzy when I stand up or lightheaded.
Julie Michelson: I get lightheaded when I stand up. Um, and I'm like, oh, well, yeah. Already knew your adrenals were taxed. Um, so let's kind of talk about, do you have any. Um, either like must dos or tricks for stress management and, and kind of just nurturing the, the HPA access, the adrenal pa. It just, the, the, to me at like at some point we have to be kind of pampering our adrenals or at least attending to them.
Casey Kelley: Yeah, acknowledging them, right? Yeah. For a lot of people, and I would say. Working moms especially. Mm-hmm. There's a background stress that's [00:18:00] always happening. There's always something to think about. There's always something going on. So even if you don't feel like you are stressed out, yes, you probably are, because you're just used to it.
Casey Kelley: You've become nose blind to it. You know, you're just your new normal, but it's not normal. And then your body forgets how to rest. Right. And our bodies are not designed for that. Our adrenal system, our stress system is designed to, you know, activate when we're being chased by that lion, right? And then when the lion's gone, that's what zebras do.
Casey Kelley: You know, lion's there, lion's gone, you know. But we just live here where the lion's just always chasing us so much that we don't even see the line anymore.
Julie Michelson: Right. Yeah. And there's a million lions, big lions, little lions, like, uh, it's our, our system wasn't designed for the chronic stress. And I, I love, I say that all the time, so I'm so glad you highlighted that.
Julie Michelson: People will [00:19:00] say, you know, they'll tell me about their life, and then they're like. Oh, and we will, I'll say, you know, well, how's your stress level? Oh, I'm not stressed. And I'm like, well, I am after listening to you, you know, like you should, and you're right. It's because it's a, that's a survival skill, right?
Julie Michelson: But we need to, uh, exercise the, the parasympathetic state and, and that muscle. 'cause we do forget, we really do.
Casey Kelley: Forget, and you, you do have to retrain your system to actually allow it to relax. And what I don't wanna do is create extra stress. Right. To make another, to-do list, to make another have to do in order to not be stressed.
Casey Kelley: 'cause that defeats the purpose.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. I had somebody literally tell me this week that she just realized she's been meditating for like 10 years, but she's been doing it like. To check it off on the to-do list, and she just realized like, wow, I probably haven't gotten any value from [00:20:00] that. Maybe I should find a different tool, you know, or approach it differently.
Julie Michelson: So.
Casey Kelley: Yeah, and it's, there's different, different ways for different people, so you have to find out what works for you. But there are one simple way is just to breathe deeply and actually use your diaphragm and, and do, and, and try to remember to do that at simple times, at a, at a stoplight, for example. You know, kinda have that trigger.
Casey Kelley: Not adding, not adding an extra to do. So we've, we, we've gotta find some ways to really passively start to do that. And then once you do that, you can actively build on some more active ways to reduce that stress. Um, but yeah, but we just don't realize it. I, and I think acknowledging it really is one of the first things to do.
Julie Michelson: It's not a strength. I don't know when there was the shift, especially for, like you said, a working mom or, um, of like this badge of honor. I'm so busy. I'm so, you know, and it's like, okay, that's sad. [00:21:00] We need to get back to a little bit about how, you know, how, how we're meant to live. Um, I'm not saying we can't accomplish wonderful things and work hard, um, but there is something to the play hard part too, and, and just those little daily incorporations.
Julie Michelson: I love, I'm a huge fan of stacking. Um, and so I love that you highlight, like, this isn't, you don't need to create an hour routine in your day, but you can breathe while you're at a stoplight or. While you're, you know, if you get good at it, really breathing, you can do it all kinds of times
Casey Kelley: and no knows
Julie Michelson: you're
Casey Kelley: doing anything necessarily.
Casey Kelley: Yeah. You're just, yeah,
Julie Michelson: it's the best. And then it's a great tool for when you feel, you know, you're stress. You can immediately just start breathing, keeps you in control. It's amazing.
Casey Kelley: Yeah. And we're crummy breathers. We all breathe just from our shoulders. We're not really [00:22:00] using our diaphragm. We're not getting our full breath anyway.
Casey Kelley: Yeah. And so just even just learning how to use that full breath can go a long way. Yeah.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Amazing. And do you have any favorite kind? I know you're very interested in longevity and longevity medicine as well. And, and again, to me it's a spectrum, right, of like, oh, here's how we create wellness. And then once we find wellness again, we just wanna keep up, up leveling.
Julie Michelson: Um, so do you have any special kind of breathing techniques? You're a fan of.
Casey Kelley: I keep it. I keep it as simple as possible. So I just remember four and eight because I can do that. So I breathe in through my nose for four, out through my mouth for eight. You know, there are box breathing. I was actually talking to someone about this recently, box breathing, where you breathe in for four, you hold for seven, you breathe out for eight.
Casey Kelley: As a pots person and as a baby, see a person that's holding it made me more anxious.
Julie Michelson: Yeah.
Casey Kelley: Um, so I just do in and out. Whatever works for you, [00:23:00] right? But I can remember for Nate, so I breathe in for four through my mouth. Using my belly and out through mouth for eight. And I try to do that four to eight times in a row, four to eight times a day.
Casey Kelley: And I don't count, I if I don't get an eight, whatever, like that's not the point of it. It's trying to, it's just those numbers that just kind of, that way it sticks in my brain and I remember to do it. Um, but that's how, that's one of the ways I've modified it for me just personally because of my pots history.
Casey Kelley: And baby can cause air hunger and so too much of that holding
Julie Michelson: actually
Casey Kelley: made me worse.
Julie Michelson: Makes perfect sense. And I would say even for, for listeners without pots, um, if you have been in that chronic stress state, um, I, I have had a couple of really, I. Full on type A personality kind of clients who just even doing what, four, seven, I'm gentler than you.
Julie Michelson: Four, seven breathing, um, triggered a stress, a [00:24:00] stress response in them. So I love that you say, you know, really personalize for and, and do your own count. Like, don't, you know, when I, when I'm working with clients, with, with breathing, I always start with a, what I feel like is a pretty fast count. 'cause I don't know what their capacity is or when the last time they completely filled their, their lungs.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. So, um, it is, it is an exercise. And you'll notice over time if you're just incorporating it into your day, that all of a sudden it's like, wow, you know what, I'm, I count really slow now. That's great. Or like you said, you know, you can play with if it serves you, some box breathing or any, any other, I, I just say always the one that, that resonates.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Is, is the one to do or to play with.
Casey Kelley: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Amazing. Do you have, I know food was also on your list. Do you have [00:25:00] any because, because you take the same approach as I do as far as personalization, right? Where, where are all individuals? Um, but do you have any across the board, everybody should eat X or should avoid X?
Casey Kelley: Not entirely. 'cause I do make it pretty individualized. I think that the two or three foods that really affect the immune system the most are gluten, dairy, and sugar. So when it comes to kind of focusing on anything, those are the three that I will start with generally speaking. And it depends on the person.
Casey Kelley: We might do FODMAPs or intermittent fasting or ketogenic diets depending on what the needs are. But those are the kinda the big three. And a lot of what I'm dealing with in my clinic is chronic infections. So I'm trying to boost the immune system, not suppress it, and those are the foods that tend to suppress it.
Casey Kelley: So those are the things that we start with to avoid with that. Um, and a lot of it too, I mean, just some of us, a lot of our [00:26:00] populations can't tolerate dairy. I. Yeah, just from the lactose. Um, but there's a lot of sugar and other hormones and things in it, so it's not my favorite. Um, and then I actually think glyphosate is one of our issues too.
Casey Kelley: It's not just the gluten, but I think it's the glyphosate that people are reacting to.
Julie Michelson: I agree. It's one of those you can't separate out. I happen to have Celiac, um, but. I just, I, you know, I know so many people who are, even, even people with celiac or really gluten sensitive people who are fine in Europe, right.
Julie Michelson: So it's like, well, it can't, and, and we do also have a higher gluten content in our, you know, crops grown here in our weed and, and, and intentionally. Um, so it is really hard to separate. And so I, I'm with you. I, I definitely think glyphosate. Plays a huge role. Um, and it's like, well, you know, you can, in my mind, you can't, you [00:27:00] can't separate the two, at least here in the States.
Julie Michelson: And so no, no, no. Just say no. So I love that. So. Tell us a little bit. Is the course fully online? Is it self-paced? How? How does that work? Yeah, yeah.
Casey Kelley: It's fully online, it's self-paced. There are five mo modules or chapters each going with what we talked about, and they're about 20 to 30 minutes each of a video.
Casey Kelley: But then there are also handouts and resources and supplement bundles and things that you can do, actionable tips. You know, I mapped out a diet and with a couple weeks of. Menus and, and recipes and, and, and all of that to add to the mix in there too. So you have tools then that you can use right away.
Casey Kelley: And, you know, picking what makes sense to you, what resonates with you, where, where, where, where you are in life and the things that you can add in there. But yeah, there's a module on. Diet, on movement, on sleep, on stress, [00:28:00] and then on detox. Um, and there'll be more to come, there'll be deeper dive content into detox, into mold, into Lyme.
Casey Kelley: All these other things will be up, um, as we get going. But I wanted to start with the foundations and, and just lay that groundwork because everybody needs that support.
Julie Michelson: We do and, and we often. Like, forget to even ask things like, do you drink water? Or, you know, um, that, that sometimes living in this functional medicine world, you know, we, we forget, we're.
Julie Michelson: People are coming in from. Um, and, and so I love that you're starting with, it sounds like pretty easy to digest and take action, um, with the foundations. I know I watched a video this morning of, um, at first we thought it was a joke and then I realized it wasn't a joke. It was, it was somebody who apparently.
Julie Michelson: You know, produces like food related content on social [00:29:00] media and, and she was building this ama this it took to quote her like, fantastic Kids meal or something like that. And it was a foil pan. Which is what she started with. Filled it with big flour tortillas, filled that with McDonald's, french fries.
Julie Michelson: Then she added an entire bag of, of chicken nuggets, an entire thing of macaroni and cheese. More french fries. Um, I can't even call it cheese, you know, the craft singles, uh, it, it, it was like, it just, it just kept getting worse and worse and worse. And I was like, the only thing that's, that wasn't white was the fake cheese, which, oh no.
Julie Michelson: And I'm like, oh my, who would feed? And I, and this is, and it wasn't a joke, and I'm like, this is what's wrong. This is why we're so sick as a country. Um, and so I, I love that [00:30:00] there is a need for foundations. We all can up level, um, and, and pick that place where we can make one change and, and get a win. And create some momentum.
Casey Kelley: And even those of us who are, who've been in it for a while, sometimes you just need the reminder, oh yeah, I gotta do that. Oh yeah, I should get back to that. Oh yeah, Uhhuh. Um, you know, and you mentioned, you know, trying to get people to wellness and then how do we keep you, well, you know, it's, it's always going back to those foundations.
Julie Michelson: Yeah,
Casey Kelley: how are you moving? How are you sleeping? What's happening with your system and how do we help with that?
Julie Michelson: Yeah, and I love that you said like, even, even we, you and I, and, and all of us in this space, um, not only maybe, you know, did something fall off that was serving us, but life changes and so we need to.
Julie Michelson: Assess on a, on a, you know, frequent basis of like, okay, what is serving me? What would serve me better? [00:31:00] You know, what do I need to shift? Mm-hmm. Um, my life is vastly different this year, being in the clinic almost every day of the week versus working from home almost every day of the week. Very different routines.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Yeah. Um, and some of that stuff that was just built into my day, I had to really be intentional to create. Newly. So I, I think that, that it is important. None of us are beyond the, the needing to, to take a peek at what's going on.
Casey Kelley: Exactly.
Julie Michelson: Yeah.
Casey Kelley: Myself included, oh yeah, I gotta get my sleep in order. You know, like those are constant reminders that we always have to give ourselves.
Casey Kelley: Yeah. And, and
Julie Michelson: we learn like, you know, what's our threshold? Of sleep for me is like, you know, it's, it's important for everybody, but I am very aware of how important it is for me and it's, it is like, I, you know, I can't get three days of bad sleep in a row [00:32:00] or. I feel it. It's not good. Yeah. So
Casey Kelley: with you,
Julie Michelson: well, I, I love the work you're doing.
Julie Michelson: I appreciate what you're putting out into the world and, and how you're helping others heal. Where is the best place for people that are listening on the go right now? Where's the best place to find you?
Casey Kelley: Sure our, our website for the clinic is case integrative health.com. The website for the um, coursework is heal with case.com.
Casey Kelley: We're also on Instagram with Case Integrative Health and Facebook and all those goodies too, where you can connect with us as well. So yeah, reach out. Let's hear from you.
Julie Michelson: I almost disappointed listeners 'cause they know to lean in to, it's for this last little. Tidbit of what is one step? It could be anything that listeners can take starting today to improve health.
Casey Kelley: Cool. What? Great question. I think we'll circle it back to relaxing and kind of letting let [00:33:00] go. I think trying to play and have fun yes, is a big component of adulthood that gets missed a lot and you know, sometimes you have to actually stop yourself and allow yourself. To play and have fun. Um, and that's, it just does as much a reminder for myself as it is for everybody else.
Casey Kelley: But we need to have fun. We need to laugh, we need to giggle, we need to dance, we need to do fun things, you know, play pickleball, whatever it is for you, right? We've gotta play. And when you're playing, enjoy the play. Kind like roll of all the noise, you know, let the lines down for a bit. They'll be there when you're back.
Casey Kelley: But just really try to enjoy that, enjoy that fun, and, and enjoy your life and try to figure out what's fun for you and what you like to do.
Julie Michelson: Uh, such amazing, amazing advice. I cannot thank you enough. I so appreciate all of the goals that you have given us today.
Casey Kelley: My pleasure. Thank you for having me.
Julie Michelson: For everyone listening.
Julie Michelson: Remember, you can get the [00:34:00] links and the show notes and transcripts by visiting Inspired Living Show. I hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I'll see you next week.
I.
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My Guest For This Episode
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Connect with Casey Kelley
Casey Kelley
Since the beginning of her medical career, Dr. Casey Kelley, M.D. continually asked questions about health, longevity, and healing that conventional medicine didn’t answer. Seeking those answers, she began studying Functional Medicine to complement her traditional medical studies. Utilizing this multidisciplinary approach, Dr. Kelley has been at the forefront of Integrative Medicine, devoting her career to treating patients in a highly personalized manner that focuses as much on overall health and wellness as it does on specific issues and diagnoses.
Board Certified in Family Medicine, Dr. Kelley was among the first physicians to add a board certification in Integrative Medicine as well. She has studied the causes, effects, and treatments of Lyme Disease extensively, and lectures nationally on this and other topics.
Dr. Kelley graduated from The Ohio State University College of Medicine and completed her residency in Family Medicine at St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago.
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