Episode 68
Erin Donaldson:Reclaiming Your Health through Daily Habits
Erin Donaldson:
Reclaiming Your Health through Daily Habits
In this episode, we are talking about improving health through creating daily habits that support us. Dr. Erin Donaldson joins us to highlight how important listening to your body is, and to share her approach to healing using precision medicine.
First Aired on: Jan 2, 2023
Episode 68
Erin Donaldson:Reclaiming Your Health through Daily Habits
Erin Donaldson:
Reclaiming Your Health through Daily Habits
In this episode, we are talking about improving health through creating daily habits that support us. Dr. Erin Donaldson joins us to highlight how important listening to your body is, and to share her approach to healing using precision medicine.
First Aired on: Jan 2, 2023
Table of Contents:
Table of Contents:
In this episode:
In this episode:
Dr. Erin Donaldson is a board certified Family Medicine Doctor who practices Precision Medicine, using genomics and comprehensive data to co-create health plans with her patients. She believes the majority of health is accomplished through daily habits, which was sparked by her own health journey with autoimmune disease.
Dr. Erin had a seemingly healthy childhood. That is until she suffered with osteomyelitis as an udergrad student in college.
Being a high achiever, Erin went on to pursue her lifelong dream of being a doctor and attended medical school after graduation.
In med school, Erin was working, keeping the stressful med school schedule, and practicing cross fit regularly.
Then she became sick. Struggling with fevers, rashes, and joint pain. Answers were slow to come. Erin had lost so much function, that she had to move back home at one point.
Her Lupus diagnosis was initially a relief, as at least there was an answer...and hopefully a solution.
Like so many of us, Erin's first appointment with the Rheumatologist was crushing. He basically told her to expect decline, and that medications could only hope to slow disease progress.
Erin was raised to question. So she set out for answers, and began her "clunky trial and error."
She was already gluten free because she had previously been diagnosed with Celiac.
She began to change her daily habits:
Combining genetics with in depth lab testing and supporting patients in creating the lifestyle and daily habits that support true wellness is her jam!
Embracing the field of psychoneuroimmunology, Dr. Erin helps patients trust their bodies and the signals they are receiving.
Dr. Erin Health is where you can find her Autoimmune Academy, which will take you through the steps to get started improving your health.
Reach out to Dr. Erin directly to let her know you heard her here to receive a discount on the Autoimmune Academy.
Dr. Erin's 1 Step
SLOW DOWN!
Get into your body and feel what it is telling you!
Dr. Erin had a seemingly healthy childhood. That is until she suffered with osteomyelitis as an udergrad student in college.
Being a high achiever, Erin went on to pursue her lifelong dream of being a doctor and attended medical school after graduation.
In med school, Erin was working, keeping the stressful med school schedule, and practicing cross fit regularly.
Then she became sick. Struggling with fevers, rashes, and joint pain. Answers were slow to come. Erin had lost so much function, that she had to move back home at one point.
Her Lupus diagnosis was initially a relief, as at least there was an answer...and hopefully a solution.
Like so many of us, Erin's first appointment with the Rheumatologist was crushing. He basically told her to expect decline, and that medications could only hope to slow disease progress.
Erin was raised to question. So she set out for answers, and began her "clunky trial and error."
She was already gluten free because she had previously been diagnosed with Celiac.
She began to change her daily habits:
- Practicing emotional release
- Reducing the intensity of her exercise: exchanging cross fit for yoga
- Prioritizing sleep
- Prioritizing recovery
- Reducing stress to increase resilience
- Listening to her body
Combining genetics with in depth lab testing and supporting patients in creating the lifestyle and daily habits that support true wellness is her jam!
Embracing the field of psychoneuroimmunology, Dr. Erin helps patients trust their bodies and the signals they are receiving.
Dr. Erin Health is where you can find her Autoimmune Academy, which will take you through the steps to get started improving your health.
Reach out to Dr. Erin directly to let her know you heard her here to receive a discount on the Autoimmune Academy.
Dr. Erin's 1 Step
SLOW DOWN!
Get into your body and feel what it is telling you!
Other Resources:
Other Resources:
Connect with Erin Donaldson
Connect with Erin Donaldson
Episode Transcript
Julie Michelson:[00:00:00] Welcome back to The Inspired Living with Autoimmunity podcast. I'm your host, Julie Michaelson, and today we're joined by Dr. Erin Donaldson. Precision medicine doctor specializing in autoimmunity. Dr. Erin believes that the majority of health is accomplished through daily habits, and she empowers her patients to take control of their health by optimizing their daily choices.
In today's conversation, we're talking about [00:01:00] those choices and the shifts that allow for true healing.
Dr. Erin, welcome to the podcast.
Erin Donaldson: Awesome to be here. Julie. Excited to be talking with.
Julie Michelson: I am really excited for our conversation and really interested to have you share your journey with autoimmunity. As a person and then as a doctor. Both, we'll, we'll kind of dig into both. But like so many, it's your own health journey that has brought you to this world and, and allowed you to make such a contribution to your patients.
So share your story with us.
Erin Donaldson: Yeah, they've kind of become one in the same. Julie, which took a while. I think I tried to avoid that for a long time and went into traditional healthcare and kind of kept my own, my own health journey more private for a very long time. And. Ultimately they've merged into, into one world and it's been super beautiful.
But yeah, I was a pretty, well, [00:02:00] I thought I was a pretty healthy kid. I actually got sick a lot growing up. Looking back now the more I know, but I was a really happy kid. And I, in my undergraduate got pretty sick with what's called osteomyelitis, if they're familiar or a, it was a resistant bone infection.
It was on tons of an. And had multiple surgeries and that probably played a role in the immune system's stress that came later, knowing what I know now. And then got a lot better, got into med school. Kind of kept driving forward, full speed ahead after a year of pretty significant severe illness and Was doing probably way too much in medical school.
You know, med school is what it is. It's really busy. I was also working most nights, so I held not quite a full-time job, but I worked about. 25 to 30 hours a week in addition and was doing CrossFit and was just really pushing it on all cylinders and in my body one time after a virus just was like, no more, you're done.
And I started to get a bunch of [00:03:00] joint pain and fevers and rashes and I was just absolutely exhausted. You know, after essentially a year or so of testing and just kind of not knowing what was going on, I was ultimately diagnosed with lupus, but at that point, I, I had become so deconditioned in what I was able to tolerate.
I went from like moving on, firing on all cylinders, working full-time med student to moving home with my mom and, you know, barely able to like, move each day instead of going to CrossFit. So it was a super big transition in terms of my functional health throughout that year. But yeah, that's how, that's how things began and that's how the diagnosis started.
Julie Michelson: Wow. So, and it is, it's so interesting that we've gotta do something about the med school model , because so many doctors that I know, you know, their, their illnesses. Peaked in med school because of that. The stress, the physical stress, the emotional [00:04:00] stress. It's like, oh, let's, let's just torture you and see if you can survive to become a doctor.
So, so what did you do when you, you know, your, your back home, your, like you said, you're, your functionality completely did a 180, how, you know, did you stay in that Western Mo I know. Not forever. You didn't stay, you weren't just the, I bet. Taking medicine and, and not getting better. So, you know, how, how did that, what kinds of changes did you make to, to start to move that needle on your health?
Erin Donaldson: Yeah, it's interesting. I really was in the traditional model at first and I was really looking forward to that. Like I felt this really immense relief when there was a diagnosis. I mean, it's really. Scary and sad too. There were certainly those emotions that came up, but I was like, oh, finally there's at least an answer.
We can fix something. Right? Like we can, we can have a path forward at this point. Cuz it had just been, my entire life had [00:05:00] changed and there were no answers for the year prior. And it was, that was more confusing than anything. And, and more scary honestly, without the clarity. And I grew up in Oklahoma in a small town.
I didn't grow. found a lot of functional medicine or, you know, preventative healthcare. I, you know, only even went to do school because my provider in, when I had my osteomyelitis was a do and she was amazing. And it opened me up to this whole new way of learning and I was like, oh, that's cool. I wanna learn like that.
So I, I wasn't super familiar. Anything other than the Western healthcare model. And I had wanted to be a doctor since I was like three years old. And so I was, I really looked up to this whole institution of healers, right. And I had a big surprise coming when I realized from a personal standpoint, how chronic disease is managed.
I mean, it's now the greatest gift. Looking back, knowing, you know, as a provider now, having that lens, I think has been really, really helpful in connecting with my patients. But as a [00:06:00] patient, , I was shocked at how the system actually unfolded before me. Like not only did it take so long for the DI diagnosis, but by the time I got into my rheumatologist, which took a while and I was really looking forward to that appointment.
Of course.
Julie Michelson: Sure it's gonna fix you.
Erin Donaldson: No, exactly. So you've been there, I'm sure. And you know, I get there and it was this gruff guy and I'll just say that he, and. Didn't completely vibe , and I was really, really looking forward to it. I wasn't going in with, with a negative outlook, but he basically said, this is a chronic illness.
It's only gonna get worse here. Take this pill. You know, it'll slow it down, but you're just gonna get sicker. There's nothing you can do. And it was just the most disempowering experience. And I, I think it's a blessing that I came from a background that wasn't healthcare, you know, and I was raised by a.
Spunky mom who, you know, kinda always pushes us to question and make sure we're [00:07:00] doing what's right for us. And so I was like, wait how long do I take this? You know, and, and it's gonna, isn't that gonna shut down my immune system? How am I get gonna go through my clinical rounds and be around infections and, you know, how is this all gonna work?
And he's like, well, you take this forever. Like, that's what you do. That's all you can do. And. I just, my mind, Julie, I was like, it doesn't make sense that my immune system would be created in a way that it would just stop working one
Julie Michelson: break. Yeah.
Erin Donaldson: ly, especially when I'm in my twenties. You know, I had had this otherwise healthy life leading up to it or so I thought, you know, and, and it just didn't make sense to me.
So I was like, well, can I do anything with what I eat or, or how I sleep or how I. Stress coming in, like, does any of that matter? And he just said, absolutely not. There's nothing you can do. Here's your prescription. See you later. And that was my initial, like thrown in the deep end of western medicine, which I don't mean to sound terrible about.
I, [00:08:00] I went on to be a hospitalist for multiple years and Western medicine saves lives and I deeply, deeply respect it. And the chronic disease model is, I learned first, first and foremost is super broken. So
Julie Michelson: And I, I always add that qualifier too. You know, God, if I need surgery or there's an emer, if I need acute care. Western medicine, that's what it's designed for. You know, I'm not going for acupuncture if I need emergency surgery, , you know, or, or meditate. Well, I probably, I would meditate too, but and, and so, because it does, sometimes we can come across like we're bashing and, and it's not, it's just that, like you said, in the, in the chronic illness world, it, it, it doesn't work.
There is no treatment. . It's just symptom management. And I had goosebumps when you were sharing because it's like, oh, people are still being told. I, I just, it brought back memories of when I was, you know, the whole, there's nothing you can [00:09:00] do, you're gonna get worse.
Erin Donaldson: So disempowering.
Julie Michelson: it is, and.
Erin Donaldson: taking people's power right away.
Julie Michelson: And I was older than you, yet they were saying, oh, you're so young.
I was in my early thirties and I had three little kids and I was a single mom. And I'm like, you know, luckily you ha, you were smart enough to question right away. It took me a long time to be like, huh, , maybe there's something else I could do. You know? Dunno.
Erin Donaldson: it's interesting that you say that, Julie, because when I went home that night, I initially felt really defeated when I left. Like I think it's a little over as overzealous to say I was. I. Like, what am I gonna do next? You know, like I was pretty like deer in the headlights for a bit. And, and ultimately I was like, what do other people go through?
Like I have family support, I have, you know, at least enough money to get to the doctor. Like, of course paying med school pay, paying med school loans and doctoral loans isn't fun, but, I had enough financial support to [00:10:00] like live well. I go to the doctor I, you know, was a biology major. I was in medical school.
I had some knowledge behind me and, and I was being told this, you know, like, what do people do that truly like the everyday person that doesn't have that support system or that knowledge base. Cause why would they, you know, they go to their doctor.
Julie Michelson: they take the meds and they decline as they're told. They're going to, I mean, It's what they do. I dunno, this is why we have these conversations because I really, again, not being in the medical world at all, thought I was pretty educated and pretty smart and I was also raised to question and and it's like, oh, but I fell for it.
So this is why I started the podcast because I wish I hadn't really known sooner. That, you know, I could take my power back. And so this is why we're here. So thank you so much for sharing that, that journey. So where did you start? Once you kind of came? [00:11:00] You know, it is, it, it throws you into shock, literally that, that, like you said, there's the relief of the diagnosis, but then there's all the other
Processes, emotional processes about, you know, having the diagnosis and, and when you were given that treatment option. But as you kind of started to come out of that, what did, would you change first?
Erin Donaldson: You know, it was just such clunky trial and error. To be completely honest with you. I wish I could say it was this. Thing that happened and I wasn't, the biggest thing that shifted in me was emotionally and was release of emotional stress and trauma that I didn't even know was there. And I did that probably kicking and screaming.
I wasn't one of those easy patients that just. You know, submitted to the whole, to the whole path. So I have so much empathy for, for that journey with my own patients. But the biggest things, you know, I think initially I changed the intensity of my exercise because I had to, I think [00:12:00] exercise had always been my stress outlet.
And then my body just wouldn't, wouldn't work. Like it wouldn't do it. I couldn't go for, in college I ran 10 miles a day and I did CrossFit all through med school. Like I was a very intense into athletics and now I do yoga every day. Right. You know, it's a very different life now. But I wouldn't have to not.
Intentionally. Maybe if a doctor had told me I would have, but I did that because my body wouldn't do anything else. You know, I couldn't grip a barbell anymore. I couldn't grip a bullet bar. I couldn't go for a run. No way. So, you know, my body physically wasn't cooperating. So I met it where it was and listened, I guess in hindsight, listened to that intuition that my body was like knocking down the
Julie Michelson: was telling you. Yeah.
Erin Donaldson: I think I missed the small,
Julie Michelson: Well, and we do,
Erin Donaldson: small knocks along.
Julie Michelson: We miss those whispers and the body will get louder. But I love that you brought that up first was most people say, you know, and for me it's same thing, like my process was clunky. Right? This is why we do what we [00:13:00] do. It doesn't need to take years and years and years to create wellness.
If you, if you've got the, the structure and the framework laid out and the support So many people don't talk about, and I see it all the time, especially with autoimmunity, the over exercising because. For some, like for you, that was your, that was a stress relief and it was obviously a joy and part of your life.
I see it also in clients where it's like they don't wanna give up that one thing, right? It's like, no, I'm, it's not my, my autoimmunity isn't gonna take this from me. But they don't realize they're just driving inflammation by over exercising and, and so I love that. That's one of the things that you found like, okay, was by, not by choice maybe, but you really connected those dots.
Erin Donaldson: totally. Yeah, and I didn't do it from that control mindset looking back, [00:14:00] which I think was one of the reasons it worked, cuz now when I see patients. Come into any fix with an energy of rigidity and control, it typically doesn't work cuz that, you know, energy behind it is still really driven by that stress response.
If someone would've told me that when I was sick, I would've been like, what are you talking about? What is this voodoo? You know, like I wouldn't have paid attention to it. So I get it when people don't understand. But the next thing I think I did was probably dietary changes. So I had already. . I don't know that this would've been next for me had I not already been diagnosed with Celiac a few years.
Be between my osteomyelitis and my lupus diagnosis, celiac, which now makes so much sense. Like autoimmune disease, baguettes autoimmune disease, and this makes so much. But I had no idea about that then. And I thought I was eating healthy in med school by having like, Diet Coke and Sour Patch kids amidst a gluten-free diet, right?
Like I was, you know, this whole process gluten-free. When I eliminated gluten and I had celiac disease, I gained 20 pounds back. I, you know, my gut started [00:15:00] functioning again. So I already kind of, I, I believed like my cells believed the power of that changing diet could have on our health. So I was like, Hmm, there might be something to this.
What else could I do? And I, so I started to do some research. You know, some other people that had had changes in their diet and what that meant. And I went on a pretty strict paleo diet for a while. I've been paleo ish for, for the last decade or so. So I, I'm not super strict about mush honestly. And that works for my health really well.
I'm strict about gluten free and I never eat like ultra. Fast food, kind of food. Aside from that, I, anything that's a real whole food and not gluten, I, I will eat now and do fine with.
Julie Michelson: and I so love that you said that We have so many similarities in, in journey, except that my Celiac diagnosis came well after my RA diagnosis and, and many years of decline. Obviously the celiac. Was there ? I was, I think 97 pounds when I was 23. So yeah, , [00:16:00] I wasn't absorbing super well back then. But I'd love, I wanna highlight for listeners, because we do tend to get into, you know, when we're finding what diet works for us and what foods flare, inflammation and, and don't it people tend to get stuck and stay rigid.
Like we were talking about rigid with exercise, rigid with diet, and so I love that you're like, you know what? Really, for me, the key is gluten free and real food. Like those, that's, that's what. Keeps Erin healthy and, and well and I tell people that all the time. We want you to eat the most varied diet that serves your body.
But that can, it can be really hard to be brave enough to start reintroducing some of those foods and, and experimenting over time because we get a, we get a little afraid of the flare. So I love that you shared that. You're like, you know what, I'm paleo ish. Like, that's what works for me. I, I [00:17:00] joke I'm paleo except I eat rice
Cause I can Yeah. . So I love
Erin Donaldson: sure.
Julie Michelson: you, I I
Erin Donaldson: the rest of your,
Julie Michelson: s Yeah. Sorry.
Erin Donaldson: go ahead. Go.
Julie Michelson: No, you're gonna, you're, you're, we're going in the same place. I think I was gonna circle back to you didn't use the word mindset, but I, I heard it, you know, that, how important it is. And so I wa I wanted to circle back to that piece, which I have a feeling is what you were gonna say next anyway.
Erin Donaldson: for sure. I mean, the rest of it. You know, really prioritizing sleep and recovery and, you know, shifting my mindset into more of a stress resilient state. I mean, those things were honestly taught to me by my diagnosis. Like I would be lying if I said I sought those things out and, you know, figured them out myself, like I learned to say no.
Which was probably one of the more powerful things I did for my health going [00:18:00] forward, was learning how to put some boundaries down and say no to things that didn't serve me. Because I had to, right? Like, because I no longer had the energy. So my body, you know, put me in this situation where I didn't have inner figure out what were those most important three things in my life and else, so my health could thrive. You know, that. It became just a necessity for me to do that. And then in hindsight, I was like, wow, that was actually the most powerful thing that shifted how I felt altogether. And the, the same thing with sleep. I mean, I had to sleep nine hours a night when I was sick.
Now I can sleep seven and feel great, but my immune system's in a different place. Like I had to listen to my body, which I think is what is what it comes down to with all the patterns. Just listening to those cues as I made. Is what allowed my symptoms to to change.
Julie Michelson: I love that. And it, it's, I, I said it earlier. You know, our, our, our symptoms are, Which is sometimes not the perspective we [00:19:00] hold in the beginning, you know, as they're progressing and they just feel like barriers and roadblocks and, but it's like, no, it's your body telling you. And so that is such a key to learn and I'm sure even now if life, you know, some sleep away from you, you're not gonna let that get too far because, you know, you need to prioritize certain things in order to stay in this good place You.
Erin Donaldson: For sure it was actually, COVID was actually quite a reminder for. For me, so I got win response, and now knowing my checks, I do. For your listener's awareness. I do precision medicine now, which is kind of functionally minded, but we, we take into account genetics and really, really broad labs. And I also mostly just practice in like the non rigid way, like how I'm talking today, but now knowing a lot more about my genetics and covid and genetics, it makes a lot of sense why I got super rocked and why a lot of people with autoimmunity get super rocked by covid and, and the vaccine for some people.
Because of the genetic component to both things, I think the, the autoimmune and, and [00:20:00] the virus. And that was such a reminder to me when I got covid and I was kind of thrown back on my, on my butt for a while and I was like, oh, that haven't felt this way in a while, you know, and it was, it was a reminder to really take a step back.
And I went more strict on the diet for about about 30 to 60 days and. , I did basically like really intense self-care for 60 days. Like I took away all stress. I did yoga every day. I really, really prioritized sleep again, and I, you know, stopped putting so much of those hormetic stressors into my system that.
I had gotten away with a lot more when I had all that resiliency and when there was this other big trigger that came in, I was like, okay, I need to dial it back a little bit. And now that resiliency has built back up and it's, you know, probably stronger than it was before Covid now. But it was a, it was a journey and I think those things are gonna keep coming up.
You know, like my husband and I wanna start a family and who knows how pregnancy will hit me or how, you know, a million things. So, you know, I'm sure there will be [00:21:00] times where things happen in life and my immune system is like, oh, remember you have to, you know, you have to prioritize. And, and I'll take that as it comes.
Julie Michelson: It's so true, and I, I had a very similar experience with my first go round with Covid. I d actually didn't get very sick at all, but I had that postviral you know, about a month later, my r literally all of my RA symptoms came back. I out of, no, you know, I just literally woke up one morning like I was seven years ago.
And same thing. And of course my first response after, you know, I, I think there's a little still P T S D in there, you know, was all, all the things, right? Like, oh my gosh, you know, here I am again. I have this podcast. I talk about how , how well I feel and how we can, you know, and, and it is, it's always a journey.
We're never done. There's always a reset. Also, the flip side, like you said, you're more resilient now. We're always up-leveling. too. Like, [00:22:00] it's not like, oh, I feel good enough here and I'm done. And I, you know, I'll stick to this routine forever. Like you said, like our stressors are changing, our inputs are changing, and I, I'm always trying new things and learning new stuff and, you know, getting new labs done, finding new genetic tests, all all kinds of fun stuff.
And, and so I love that you shared that because we all. Can get knocked back. And, and may need to reprioritize, like you said. And I, I call it a reset. I, I tell my clients all the time, let's just do a reset. It's time. You know? But what, what a gift for you and for your patients that you're, you bring all of this experience and, and knowledge, you know, to, to their care.
And, and clearly you're not approaching your appointments the same way that rheumatologist did. If you said it's like this. It's conversational.
Erin Donaldson: Yeah,
Julie Michelson: it. I love it.
Erin Donaldson: The biggest [00:23:00] thing that I struggle with with patients, Julie, and honestly, that I struggled with myself and didn't even know it, but I feel like I have the time to really like learn the lessons that my body was teaching me. Now we have all this data we can give to patients, and the first time I looked at one of my Precision med reports and looked at my genetics and looked at my labs and and saw like, What can be spit out in 10 minutes of the recommendations for what would make your body thrive?
I was like, oh, wow. I learned that through the school of hard knocks in 10 years. and I could have had this cheat sheet, you know, like it's, it, it made me cry, honestly. Like it was really overwhelming to think about. And then I was like, well, would I have really learned the lesson or would I have just tried to fix it?
Which is that energy that doesn't work. Like that's the energy that's, you know, keeping your heart more sick versus just like surrendering to the fact that your body is giving you information and you trust it and you know, you find a way to heal. Through day-to-day actions. And [00:24:00] those are very different mindsets to come from.
I think there's a way to use the data and bring that, like loving energy into your body to where you're not just trying to be in that fix it sympathetic nervous system mode all the time. But that's been, that's been my journey as a practitioner to try to like find that balance with patients, you know, to let them have their own power and their own journey while still allowing all.
you know, labs and information and data that really, truly can be life changing and so helpful. Cause not everybody has 10 years of energy to spend doing that. You know, they just don't.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. And so how do you support people in. Creating that mindset. I mean, do you start there like, while you're waiting for labs to come back, are you working with people on shifting that? Because I, I, I know I heard you say like, well, if someone had told me, I, I would've been like, that's voodoo
So, you know, because it is so important to, to [00:25:00] actually heal.
Erin Donaldson: What's really cool, I'm sure you're pretty familiar. I've listened to a few of your episodes, so I'm sure you're pretty familiar with the psycho neuroimmunology model. But there's definitely a lot of science to support all of this now, which I feel like. Can hook people that wouldn't maybe necessarily otherwise totally trust their bodies and why would they at that point?
Everything, when you're getting diagnosed with these things, everything feels so murky and you lose trust in your body because it's, you feel like it's betraying you when these symptoms come online. So why would you trust the signals it's giving you? Like I have so much compassion for that. But when I share with people the data behind what actually happens when you're constantly in that sympathetic nervous system, you know what that does to our immune system and our cytokines, and then what that then comes back and does to our mood and our neurotransmitters.
That's a whole different conversation that, that does foster trust in my experience. Also the labs, you know, when we can look at their cortisol and their D H E A and we, we can look at their heart rate variability [00:26:00] and you know, then we can show what changes. If I'm like, you know, just humor me for a month.
Maybe don't do the 10 miles a day, maybe for a month. Do. do yoga Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and otherwise walks like, just humor me and let's see what happens to your numbers. Like, let's just, let's just run an experiment. I feel like people start to get some of that feedback back. They do start to trust the process more and can kind of surrender into, you know, listening to those signals of their body.
Cause it's not a one. All. I mean, we can use the data to help and to leverage, but it's not a one size fits all. It's gonna have to come down to that personal journey of like, for me that was learning how to say no and expressing certain emotions that I had kind of always been like the happy kid and I had never really let out anger and like some of these other emotions that were also very valid and needed to be expressed for my health.
But I didn't ever really realize that and tho that all had to be such a personal journey and does for, for all my patients too. Like I [00:27:00] can't do any of that for them and I can't, you know, I can't really know even would be best for them honestly. So those, that's kind of some of the tools we can use to help along the way.
Julie Michelson: I love that and I love I, I use that same approach of being experimental. Because again, yes, I always say, you know, cuz peop often people show up. I'm sure you get this because that's, How we were trained. Just tell me what to do and I'll do it. And it's like, okay, well, you know, yes, we, I have this knowledge and we have this framework, and then there's your individuality.
So I can't tell you what to do. We're gonna, you know, I, I'll support you. And I lo I, I use being, being experimental all the time because I feel like a yes, it, it. Try this for now. Right? We don't, I'm not saying this is the rest of your life, but for me also, I feel like it's empowering. Like if they're, because even if what they're trying doesn't work, if they have that mindset of this is an experiment, if it's [00:28:00] not moving the needle well, okay, this is one thing that doesn't move the needle.
It's still a win. You're still gathering information and on that pathway of figuring it out. So I love that. I know that you have. Something exciting that actually by the time this airs, we'll be up and live. So share with listeners about the Autoimmune Academy.
Erin Donaldson: Yeah, so I'm a. I'm actually going to be, so I have my own company, Dr. Erin Health, and I will be launching a course on just the early steps of how to support yourself if you've gotten an autoimmune diagnosis or maybe you've had one and you're not sure you know, where to progress in your day-to-day lifestyle.
And I wanna be super clear that it's not an either or with medications and with Western medicine and with these approaches. It's, it can very beautifully be a both and conversation. Like I think there are always room for these lifestyle shifts. There's no shame if you need medication. I've [00:29:00] needed medication throughout certain parts of my journey.
You know, and even if I hadn't, who cares? Like, it's your journey and you know, there are it. It's not only symptom control with autoimmunity once the immune system. enough progressed in an autoimmune state, it can be, you know, really danger mitigation at that point too. So it's super important for some people to be on these medications and even more important during those times to take action in your day-to-day life and support your underlying foundation for your immune health.
So, The reason the course came up is because I found myself saying the vast majority of things to so many people that were the same. And I've also seen, you know, a lot of hurdles financially for patients with alternative types of healthcare that are a little different than just what your insurance will cover.
and I was definitely that that person, like I wouldn't have had thousands of dollars to spend on a functional medicine doctor or precision medicine doctor when I was in medical school and could no longer work. Like that wasn't an option for [00:30:00] me. So I was like, there's gotta be a better way to get some of this education out so that people can empower themselves and then.
it's also a win because then they get to, you know, find their own journey and find what works for them. Cause like we said, it's not a one size fits all. So it really, I, I'm hoping it will just be an empowering process for, for people to get the ball rolling and some of those baby steps that we talked about.
Julie Michelson: I love that. And so it's an online course that you're launching,
Erin Donaldson: Yes, yes. Sorry. Probably a little more, more details about the course would be helpful.
Julie Michelson: No, it's great.
Erin Donaldson: as no. It'll be an online course. Yeah. So Autoimmune Academy, it'll be an online course. It'll be up on my probably my website and my Instagram. My Instagram's the Dr. Erin and my, my website's the dr Erin.com. I'll put the bell before it cause the other ones were taken. But it'll be, it'll be easy to find online and just reach out to me and I've got a contact form on my website or shoot me a DM on my Instagram and if you have any questions about it.
And your listeners are welcome to a discount [00:31:00] 20% off. If they, if they hear it on here, just shoot me a message that you heard it on this podcast and love to offer you a discount and get anyone that needs this set up with it.
Julie Michelson: Which is such an amazing gift, and I, I am excited to, to see once it's, it's launched between now and when this comes out. I know the value's gonna be an. Credible. And that's, that's why we're here, right? We wanna reach as many people as possible. Not everybody, as you mentioned, can afford, you know, a precision medicine doc, a functional medicine doc, a health coach.
And so we're all. In this to reach as many people and empower as many people. I love that that's your goal. I have a course called Take Your Power Back because we know how disempowering it can be . And, and so I'm so grateful for what you're doing. I'm so, and thank you so much. For not only for joining us, but for being willing to say yes.
I kind of reached out to you out of the blue, and I'm so glad that, that you were willing to come on and [00:32:00] share. When I saw the work that you were doing, I knew just what an amazing contribution you would be for our audience. So I'm really, really grateful.
Erin Donaldson: Oh, I, I am. Oh, Julie, I think it's a, it's, it's a bigger community than when you, than we know and realize that's trying to make this shift in healthcare and, and empowering our patients like this. So I do think, you know, finding one another and sticking together is super important. So I am, I'm excited to be a part of your community.
Julie Michelson: Wonderful. So I ask everybody, and I think you're prepared for, because there are so many things and so many things come up in our journeys and our stories and our programs. But what is one step that listeners can take today to start to improve their health? Mm.
Erin Donaldson: Oh, I totally forgot to prepare this and I'm kinda excited I did. Cause I feel like it'll be more authentic this way. You know, I think it would be to just slow down, get outta your head and into your [00:33:00] body. And I think a lot of people in general, and especially a lot of people with autoimmune disease, kind of forget what it feels like to be in your body.
We kind of run life in our heads in this culture in general, I think. But. You could do all the changes in the world for your diet, for your exercise, for your supplements. You could, you could spend thousands of dollars a month on supplements and on, on, you know, the, all the people in your corner for health.
And if you're not listening to those signals from your body or if everything is so busy that you can't hear 'em. then I don't think it's gonna matter. I don't think it's gonna stick. So I, I think if you can just slow down and get, you know, get still enough in yourself and maybe meditation's not always the best way to do this.
Not to be like unpopular opinion,
Julie Michelson: No,
Erin Donaldson: but really like, Listen to the signals that your body's giving you in terms of symptoms like we feel our emotions in our body. And tho those are really, really powerful signals and those signals come a long time before disease happens. In my experience, both personally and [00:34:00] also what I see patients.
So I think when we're able to just take some time and slow down and listen to those signals, then we can start to know what our path is. And that probably. Really obscure to people that are in, in the thick of it right now. It would have to me. But even if you just start with like spending 30 minutes in the morning just on your own quiet and like tuning in whether that's going for a walk in nature and kind of like listening to the signals your body's giving you, like, it'll start to make sense.
Like it'll, it'll start to have traction. Those little bits each day will add up. So even if you feel like you don't know what you're doing, like you do, your body knows and, and it'll start to start to have traction.
Julie Michelson: I love that. That's such great, and I actually do agree with you. I love meditating, but it is not the place to start for most people.
Erin Donaldson: Yeah, you gotta get outta the head
Julie Michelson: You know, I, I watch sometimes when you just say the word meditation and you can see people's stress response. I'm like, okay, let's not go there for you. So I love that.
[00:35:00] Slow down, listen to your body. And I'm glad you came around to that part because for so many, when they're still so in their head when you say, you know, oh, get in your body, they don't even know what that means. Like . So,
Erin Donaldson: And if you don't, I will say, if you don't feel super safe or you really don't know what I'm talking about and you don't know where to start, or if you don't feel super safe being in your body for a good reason, like if you've been through significant traumas, See a trauma-informed therapist, do somatic therapy, do t r e or tapping or you know, there's lots of different pathways to get embodied in a really supported way that can help you with that path.
So I just to throw that out there too, cuz some people are disembodied for super
Julie Michelson: a reason. Yep, absolutely. Absolutely. But I love the, you know, if you're just, even just starting with listening to your body just shift, shift your perspective. Like, what is it telling you? It, it's telling you a lot. I dunno, what is it telling you? So I love that.
Erin Donaldson: I think we feel like we need to like understand all the symptoms and [00:36:00] analyze them. Cause that's just the model in our culture and in our, especially in healthcare. But we don't, I don't know that we really need to understand all the symptoms and analyze it and figure it out, like I think that's part of the issue.
I think if you, just like B, it'll give you the guidance
Julie Michelson: Right It's so true. It's so true. I love that. See, I'm glad you didn't prepare. I, I always think, you know, it's, it's, but I have seen people just go totally blank on that question, , because they've already mentioned so many things. So amazing. I know you, you mentioned them and, and they'll be in the notes as well.
But for those that are listening on the drive, they know at the end I. Ask you to give us that best place to find you, for listeners to find you if they don't wanna actually look at the show notes or it isn't safe to.
Erin Donaldson: Sure. Yeah. I probably Instagram or or my website would both be super easy. I don't spend a lot of time on, on the other social media channels. I don't spend a ton of time on Instagram either, but the Dr. [00:37:00] Erin at both, so TheDoctorErin.com and @on Instagram are my handles and just reach out to me. My contact form just goes right to my email, so reach out to me if you guys have any questions or if you're interested in the course.
Julie Michelson: and guys, definitely check out The Autoimmune Academy and go to her website. And she says she's not on Instagram a lot, but that's how I found her. So check her out. She, she does some great stuff on Instagram. A lot of value there as well. Dr. Erin, thank you so much for joining us today. You've shared some real gold with us.
Erin Donaldson: You're welcome, Julie. Thanks for having me on. It's been an.
Julie Michelson: For everyone listening, remember, you can get the show notes and transcripts by visiting Inspired Living Show, and you can also sign up to get weekly emails with the upcoming episodes as well. I hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I'll see you next week.
In today's conversation, we're talking about [00:01:00] those choices and the shifts that allow for true healing.
Dr. Erin, welcome to the podcast.
Erin Donaldson: Awesome to be here. Julie. Excited to be talking with.
Julie Michelson: I am really excited for our conversation and really interested to have you share your journey with autoimmunity. As a person and then as a doctor. Both, we'll, we'll kind of dig into both. But like so many, it's your own health journey that has brought you to this world and, and allowed you to make such a contribution to your patients.
So share your story with us.
Erin Donaldson: Yeah, they've kind of become one in the same. Julie, which took a while. I think I tried to avoid that for a long time and went into traditional healthcare and kind of kept my own, my own health journey more private for a very long time. And. Ultimately they've merged into, into one world and it's been super beautiful.
But yeah, I was a pretty, well, [00:02:00] I thought I was a pretty healthy kid. I actually got sick a lot growing up. Looking back now the more I know, but I was a really happy kid. And I, in my undergraduate got pretty sick with what's called osteomyelitis, if they're familiar or a, it was a resistant bone infection.
It was on tons of an. And had multiple surgeries and that probably played a role in the immune system's stress that came later, knowing what I know now. And then got a lot better, got into med school. Kind of kept driving forward, full speed ahead after a year of pretty significant severe illness and Was doing probably way too much in medical school.
You know, med school is what it is. It's really busy. I was also working most nights, so I held not quite a full-time job, but I worked about. 25 to 30 hours a week in addition and was doing CrossFit and was just really pushing it on all cylinders and in my body one time after a virus just was like, no more, you're done.
And I started to get a bunch of [00:03:00] joint pain and fevers and rashes and I was just absolutely exhausted. You know, after essentially a year or so of testing and just kind of not knowing what was going on, I was ultimately diagnosed with lupus, but at that point, I, I had become so deconditioned in what I was able to tolerate.
I went from like moving on, firing on all cylinders, working full-time med student to moving home with my mom and, you know, barely able to like, move each day instead of going to CrossFit. So it was a super big transition in terms of my functional health throughout that year. But yeah, that's how, that's how things began and that's how the diagnosis started.
Julie Michelson: Wow. So, and it is, it's so interesting that we've gotta do something about the med school model , because so many doctors that I know, you know, their, their illnesses. Peaked in med school because of that. The stress, the physical stress, the emotional [00:04:00] stress. It's like, oh, let's, let's just torture you and see if you can survive to become a doctor.
So, so what did you do when you, you know, your, your back home, your, like you said, you're, your functionality completely did a 180, how, you know, did you stay in that Western Mo I know. Not forever. You didn't stay, you weren't just the, I bet. Taking medicine and, and not getting better. So, you know, how, how did that, what kinds of changes did you make to, to start to move that needle on your health?
Erin Donaldson: Yeah, it's interesting. I really was in the traditional model at first and I was really looking forward to that. Like I felt this really immense relief when there was a diagnosis. I mean, it's really. Scary and sad too. There were certainly those emotions that came up, but I was like, oh, finally there's at least an answer.
We can fix something. Right? Like we can, we can have a path forward at this point. Cuz it had just been, my entire life had [00:05:00] changed and there were no answers for the year prior. And it was, that was more confusing than anything. And, and more scary honestly, without the clarity. And I grew up in Oklahoma in a small town.
I didn't grow. found a lot of functional medicine or, you know, preventative healthcare. I, you know, only even went to do school because my provider in, when I had my osteomyelitis was a do and she was amazing. And it opened me up to this whole new way of learning and I was like, oh, that's cool. I wanna learn like that.
So I, I wasn't super familiar. Anything other than the Western healthcare model. And I had wanted to be a doctor since I was like three years old. And so I was, I really looked up to this whole institution of healers, right. And I had a big surprise coming when I realized from a personal standpoint, how chronic disease is managed.
I mean, it's now the greatest gift. Looking back, knowing, you know, as a provider now, having that lens, I think has been really, really helpful in connecting with my patients. But as a [00:06:00] patient, , I was shocked at how the system actually unfolded before me. Like not only did it take so long for the DI diagnosis, but by the time I got into my rheumatologist, which took a while and I was really looking forward to that appointment.
Of course.
Julie Michelson: Sure it's gonna fix you.
Erin Donaldson: No, exactly. So you've been there, I'm sure. And you know, I get there and it was this gruff guy and I'll just say that he, and. Didn't completely vibe , and I was really, really looking forward to it. I wasn't going in with, with a negative outlook, but he basically said, this is a chronic illness.
It's only gonna get worse here. Take this pill. You know, it'll slow it down, but you're just gonna get sicker. There's nothing you can do. And it was just the most disempowering experience. And I, I think it's a blessing that I came from a background that wasn't healthcare, you know, and I was raised by a.
Spunky mom who, you know, kinda always pushes us to question and make sure we're [00:07:00] doing what's right for us. And so I was like, wait how long do I take this? You know, and, and it's gonna, isn't that gonna shut down my immune system? How am I get gonna go through my clinical rounds and be around infections and, you know, how is this all gonna work?
And he's like, well, you take this forever. Like, that's what you do. That's all you can do. And. I just, my mind, Julie, I was like, it doesn't make sense that my immune system would be created in a way that it would just stop working one
Julie Michelson: break. Yeah.
Erin Donaldson: ly, especially when I'm in my twenties. You know, I had had this otherwise healthy life leading up to it or so I thought, you know, and, and it just didn't make sense to me.
So I was like, well, can I do anything with what I eat or, or how I sleep or how I. Stress coming in, like, does any of that matter? And he just said, absolutely not. There's nothing you can do. Here's your prescription. See you later. And that was my initial, like thrown in the deep end of western medicine, which I don't mean to sound terrible about.
I, [00:08:00] I went on to be a hospitalist for multiple years and Western medicine saves lives and I deeply, deeply respect it. And the chronic disease model is, I learned first, first and foremost is super broken. So
Julie Michelson: And I, I always add that qualifier too. You know, God, if I need surgery or there's an emer, if I need acute care. Western medicine, that's what it's designed for. You know, I'm not going for acupuncture if I need emergency surgery, , you know, or, or meditate. Well, I probably, I would meditate too, but and, and so, because it does, sometimes we can come across like we're bashing and, and it's not, it's just that, like you said, in the, in the chronic illness world, it, it, it doesn't work.
There is no treatment. . It's just symptom management. And I had goosebumps when you were sharing because it's like, oh, people are still being told. I, I just, it brought back memories of when I was, you know, the whole, there's nothing you can [00:09:00] do, you're gonna get worse.
Erin Donaldson: So disempowering.
Julie Michelson: it is, and.
Erin Donaldson: taking people's power right away.
Julie Michelson: And I was older than you, yet they were saying, oh, you're so young.
I was in my early thirties and I had three little kids and I was a single mom. And I'm like, you know, luckily you ha, you were smart enough to question right away. It took me a long time to be like, huh, , maybe there's something else I could do. You know? Dunno.
Erin Donaldson: it's interesting that you say that, Julie, because when I went home that night, I initially felt really defeated when I left. Like I think it's a little over as overzealous to say I was. I. Like, what am I gonna do next? You know, like I was pretty like deer in the headlights for a bit. And, and ultimately I was like, what do other people go through?
Like I have family support, I have, you know, at least enough money to get to the doctor. Like, of course paying med school pay, paying med school loans and doctoral loans isn't fun, but, I had enough financial support to [00:10:00] like live well. I go to the doctor I, you know, was a biology major. I was in medical school.
I had some knowledge behind me and, and I was being told this, you know, like, what do people do that truly like the everyday person that doesn't have that support system or that knowledge base. Cause why would they, you know, they go to their doctor.
Julie Michelson: they take the meds and they decline as they're told. They're going to, I mean, It's what they do. I dunno, this is why we have these conversations because I really, again, not being in the medical world at all, thought I was pretty educated and pretty smart and I was also raised to question and and it's like, oh, but I fell for it.
So this is why I started the podcast because I wish I hadn't really known sooner. That, you know, I could take my power back. And so this is why we're here. So thank you so much for sharing that, that journey. So where did you start? Once you kind of came? [00:11:00] You know, it is, it, it throws you into shock, literally that, that, like you said, there's the relief of the diagnosis, but then there's all the other
Processes, emotional processes about, you know, having the diagnosis and, and when you were given that treatment option. But as you kind of started to come out of that, what did, would you change first?
Erin Donaldson: You know, it was just such clunky trial and error. To be completely honest with you. I wish I could say it was this. Thing that happened and I wasn't, the biggest thing that shifted in me was emotionally and was release of emotional stress and trauma that I didn't even know was there. And I did that probably kicking and screaming.
I wasn't one of those easy patients that just. You know, submitted to the whole, to the whole path. So I have so much empathy for, for that journey with my own patients. But the biggest things, you know, I think initially I changed the intensity of my exercise because I had to, I think [00:12:00] exercise had always been my stress outlet.
And then my body just wouldn't, wouldn't work. Like it wouldn't do it. I couldn't go for, in college I ran 10 miles a day and I did CrossFit all through med school. Like I was a very intense into athletics and now I do yoga every day. Right. You know, it's a very different life now. But I wouldn't have to not.
Intentionally. Maybe if a doctor had told me I would have, but I did that because my body wouldn't do anything else. You know, I couldn't grip a barbell anymore. I couldn't grip a bullet bar. I couldn't go for a run. No way. So, you know, my body physically wasn't cooperating. So I met it where it was and listened, I guess in hindsight, listened to that intuition that my body was like knocking down the
Julie Michelson: was telling you. Yeah.
Erin Donaldson: I think I missed the small,
Julie Michelson: Well, and we do,
Erin Donaldson: small knocks along.
Julie Michelson: We miss those whispers and the body will get louder. But I love that you brought that up first was most people say, you know, and for me it's same thing, like my process was clunky. Right? This is why we do what we [00:13:00] do. It doesn't need to take years and years and years to create wellness.
If you, if you've got the, the structure and the framework laid out and the support So many people don't talk about, and I see it all the time, especially with autoimmunity, the over exercising because. For some, like for you, that was your, that was a stress relief and it was obviously a joy and part of your life.
I see it also in clients where it's like they don't wanna give up that one thing, right? It's like, no, I'm, it's not my, my autoimmunity isn't gonna take this from me. But they don't realize they're just driving inflammation by over exercising and, and so I love that. That's one of the things that you found like, okay, was by, not by choice maybe, but you really connected those dots.
Erin Donaldson: totally. Yeah, and I didn't do it from that control mindset looking back, [00:14:00] which I think was one of the reasons it worked, cuz now when I see patients. Come into any fix with an energy of rigidity and control, it typically doesn't work cuz that, you know, energy behind it is still really driven by that stress response.
If someone would've told me that when I was sick, I would've been like, what are you talking about? What is this voodoo? You know, like I wouldn't have paid attention to it. So I get it when people don't understand. But the next thing I think I did was probably dietary changes. So I had already. . I don't know that this would've been next for me had I not already been diagnosed with Celiac a few years.
Be between my osteomyelitis and my lupus diagnosis, celiac, which now makes so much sense. Like autoimmune disease, baguettes autoimmune disease, and this makes so much. But I had no idea about that then. And I thought I was eating healthy in med school by having like, Diet Coke and Sour Patch kids amidst a gluten-free diet, right?
Like I was, you know, this whole process gluten-free. When I eliminated gluten and I had celiac disease, I gained 20 pounds back. I, you know, my gut started [00:15:00] functioning again. So I already kind of, I, I believed like my cells believed the power of that changing diet could have on our health. So I was like, Hmm, there might be something to this.
What else could I do? And I, so I started to do some research. You know, some other people that had had changes in their diet and what that meant. And I went on a pretty strict paleo diet for a while. I've been paleo ish for, for the last decade or so. So I, I'm not super strict about mush honestly. And that works for my health really well.
I'm strict about gluten free and I never eat like ultra. Fast food, kind of food. Aside from that, I, anything that's a real whole food and not gluten, I, I will eat now and do fine with.
Julie Michelson: and I so love that you said that We have so many similarities in, in journey, except that my Celiac diagnosis came well after my RA diagnosis and, and many years of decline. Obviously the celiac. Was there ? I was, I think 97 pounds when I was 23. So yeah, , [00:16:00] I wasn't absorbing super well back then. But I'd love, I wanna highlight for listeners, because we do tend to get into, you know, when we're finding what diet works for us and what foods flare, inflammation and, and don't it people tend to get stuck and stay rigid.
Like we were talking about rigid with exercise, rigid with diet, and so I love that you're like, you know what? Really, for me, the key is gluten free and real food. Like those, that's, that's what. Keeps Erin healthy and, and well and I tell people that all the time. We want you to eat the most varied diet that serves your body.
But that can, it can be really hard to be brave enough to start reintroducing some of those foods and, and experimenting over time because we get a, we get a little afraid of the flare. So I love that you shared that. You're like, you know what, I'm paleo ish. Like, that's what works for me. I, I [00:17:00] joke I'm paleo except I eat rice
Cause I can Yeah. . So I love
Erin Donaldson: sure.
Julie Michelson: you, I I
Erin Donaldson: the rest of your,
Julie Michelson: s Yeah. Sorry.
Erin Donaldson: go ahead. Go.
Julie Michelson: No, you're gonna, you're, you're, we're going in the same place. I think I was gonna circle back to you didn't use the word mindset, but I, I heard it, you know, that, how important it is. And so I wa I wanted to circle back to that piece, which I have a feeling is what you were gonna say next anyway.
Erin Donaldson: for sure. I mean, the rest of it. You know, really prioritizing sleep and recovery and, you know, shifting my mindset into more of a stress resilient state. I mean, those things were honestly taught to me by my diagnosis. Like I would be lying if I said I sought those things out and, you know, figured them out myself, like I learned to say no.
Which was probably one of the more powerful things I did for my health going [00:18:00] forward, was learning how to put some boundaries down and say no to things that didn't serve me. Because I had to, right? Like, because I no longer had the energy. So my body, you know, put me in this situation where I didn't have inner figure out what were those most important three things in my life and else, so my health could thrive. You know, that. It became just a necessity for me to do that. And then in hindsight, I was like, wow, that was actually the most powerful thing that shifted how I felt altogether. And the, the same thing with sleep. I mean, I had to sleep nine hours a night when I was sick.
Now I can sleep seven and feel great, but my immune system's in a different place. Like I had to listen to my body, which I think is what is what it comes down to with all the patterns. Just listening to those cues as I made. Is what allowed my symptoms to to change.
Julie Michelson: I love that. And it, it's, I, I said it earlier. You know, our, our, our symptoms are, Which is sometimes not the perspective we [00:19:00] hold in the beginning, you know, as they're progressing and they just feel like barriers and roadblocks and, but it's like, no, it's your body telling you. And so that is such a key to learn and I'm sure even now if life, you know, some sleep away from you, you're not gonna let that get too far because, you know, you need to prioritize certain things in order to stay in this good place You.
Erin Donaldson: For sure it was actually, COVID was actually quite a reminder for. For me, so I got win response, and now knowing my checks, I do. For your listener's awareness. I do precision medicine now, which is kind of functionally minded, but we, we take into account genetics and really, really broad labs. And I also mostly just practice in like the non rigid way, like how I'm talking today, but now knowing a lot more about my genetics and covid and genetics, it makes a lot of sense why I got super rocked and why a lot of people with autoimmunity get super rocked by covid and, and the vaccine for some people.
Because of the genetic component to both things, I think the, the autoimmune and, and [00:20:00] the virus. And that was such a reminder to me when I got covid and I was kind of thrown back on my, on my butt for a while and I was like, oh, that haven't felt this way in a while, you know, and it was, it was a reminder to really take a step back.
And I went more strict on the diet for about about 30 to 60 days and. , I did basically like really intense self-care for 60 days. Like I took away all stress. I did yoga every day. I really, really prioritized sleep again, and I, you know, stopped putting so much of those hormetic stressors into my system that.
I had gotten away with a lot more when I had all that resiliency and when there was this other big trigger that came in, I was like, okay, I need to dial it back a little bit. And now that resiliency has built back up and it's, you know, probably stronger than it was before Covid now. But it was a, it was a journey and I think those things are gonna keep coming up.
You know, like my husband and I wanna start a family and who knows how pregnancy will hit me or how, you know, a million things. So, you know, I'm sure there will be [00:21:00] times where things happen in life and my immune system is like, oh, remember you have to, you know, you have to prioritize. And, and I'll take that as it comes.
Julie Michelson: It's so true, and I, I had a very similar experience with my first go round with Covid. I d actually didn't get very sick at all, but I had that postviral you know, about a month later, my r literally all of my RA symptoms came back. I out of, no, you know, I just literally woke up one morning like I was seven years ago.
And same thing. And of course my first response after, you know, I, I think there's a little still P T S D in there, you know, was all, all the things, right? Like, oh my gosh, you know, here I am again. I have this podcast. I talk about how , how well I feel and how we can, you know, and, and it is, it's always a journey.
We're never done. There's always a reset. Also, the flip side, like you said, you're more resilient now. We're always up-leveling. too. Like, [00:22:00] it's not like, oh, I feel good enough here and I'm done. And I, you know, I'll stick to this routine forever. Like you said, like our stressors are changing, our inputs are changing, and I, I'm always trying new things and learning new stuff and, you know, getting new labs done, finding new genetic tests, all all kinds of fun stuff.
And, and so I love that you shared that because we all. Can get knocked back. And, and may need to reprioritize, like you said. And I, I call it a reset. I, I tell my clients all the time, let's just do a reset. It's time. You know? But what, what a gift for you and for your patients that you're, you bring all of this experience and, and knowledge, you know, to, to their care.
And, and clearly you're not approaching your appointments the same way that rheumatologist did. If you said it's like this. It's conversational.
Erin Donaldson: Yeah,
Julie Michelson: it. I love it.
Erin Donaldson: The biggest [00:23:00] thing that I struggle with with patients, Julie, and honestly, that I struggled with myself and didn't even know it, but I feel like I have the time to really like learn the lessons that my body was teaching me. Now we have all this data we can give to patients, and the first time I looked at one of my Precision med reports and looked at my genetics and looked at my labs and and saw like, What can be spit out in 10 minutes of the recommendations for what would make your body thrive?
I was like, oh, wow. I learned that through the school of hard knocks in 10 years. and I could have had this cheat sheet, you know, like it's, it, it made me cry, honestly. Like it was really overwhelming to think about. And then I was like, well, would I have really learned the lesson or would I have just tried to fix it?
Which is that energy that doesn't work. Like that's the energy that's, you know, keeping your heart more sick versus just like surrendering to the fact that your body is giving you information and you trust it and you know, you find a way to heal. Through day-to-day actions. And [00:24:00] those are very different mindsets to come from.
I think there's a way to use the data and bring that, like loving energy into your body to where you're not just trying to be in that fix it sympathetic nervous system mode all the time. But that's been, that's been my journey as a practitioner to try to like find that balance with patients, you know, to let them have their own power and their own journey while still allowing all.
you know, labs and information and data that really, truly can be life changing and so helpful. Cause not everybody has 10 years of energy to spend doing that. You know, they just don't.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. And so how do you support people in. Creating that mindset. I mean, do you start there like, while you're waiting for labs to come back, are you working with people on shifting that? Because I, I, I know I heard you say like, well, if someone had told me, I, I would've been like, that's voodoo
So, you know, because it is so important to, to [00:25:00] actually heal.
Erin Donaldson: What's really cool, I'm sure you're pretty familiar. I've listened to a few of your episodes, so I'm sure you're pretty familiar with the psycho neuroimmunology model. But there's definitely a lot of science to support all of this now, which I feel like. Can hook people that wouldn't maybe necessarily otherwise totally trust their bodies and why would they at that point?
Everything, when you're getting diagnosed with these things, everything feels so murky and you lose trust in your body because it's, you feel like it's betraying you when these symptoms come online. So why would you trust the signals it's giving you? Like I have so much compassion for that. But when I share with people the data behind what actually happens when you're constantly in that sympathetic nervous system, you know what that does to our immune system and our cytokines, and then what that then comes back and does to our mood and our neurotransmitters.
That's a whole different conversation that, that does foster trust in my experience. Also the labs, you know, when we can look at their cortisol and their D H E A and we, we can look at their heart rate variability [00:26:00] and you know, then we can show what changes. If I'm like, you know, just humor me for a month.
Maybe don't do the 10 miles a day, maybe for a month. Do. do yoga Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and otherwise walks like, just humor me and let's see what happens to your numbers. Like, let's just, let's just run an experiment. I feel like people start to get some of that feedback back. They do start to trust the process more and can kind of surrender into, you know, listening to those signals of their body.
Cause it's not a one. All. I mean, we can use the data to help and to leverage, but it's not a one size fits all. It's gonna have to come down to that personal journey of like, for me that was learning how to say no and expressing certain emotions that I had kind of always been like the happy kid and I had never really let out anger and like some of these other emotions that were also very valid and needed to be expressed for my health.
But I didn't ever really realize that and tho that all had to be such a personal journey and does for, for all my patients too. Like I [00:27:00] can't do any of that for them and I can't, you know, I can't really know even would be best for them honestly. So those, that's kind of some of the tools we can use to help along the way.
Julie Michelson: I love that and I love I, I use that same approach of being experimental. Because again, yes, I always say, you know, cuz peop often people show up. I'm sure you get this because that's, How we were trained. Just tell me what to do and I'll do it. And it's like, okay, well, you know, yes, we, I have this knowledge and we have this framework, and then there's your individuality.
So I can't tell you what to do. We're gonna, you know, I, I'll support you. And I lo I, I use being, being experimental all the time because I feel like a yes, it, it. Try this for now. Right? We don't, I'm not saying this is the rest of your life, but for me also, I feel like it's empowering. Like if they're, because even if what they're trying doesn't work, if they have that mindset of this is an experiment, if it's [00:28:00] not moving the needle well, okay, this is one thing that doesn't move the needle.
It's still a win. You're still gathering information and on that pathway of figuring it out. So I love that. I know that you have. Something exciting that actually by the time this airs, we'll be up and live. So share with listeners about the Autoimmune Academy.
Erin Donaldson: Yeah, so I'm a. I'm actually going to be, so I have my own company, Dr. Erin Health, and I will be launching a course on just the early steps of how to support yourself if you've gotten an autoimmune diagnosis or maybe you've had one and you're not sure you know, where to progress in your day-to-day lifestyle.
And I wanna be super clear that it's not an either or with medications and with Western medicine and with these approaches. It's, it can very beautifully be a both and conversation. Like I think there are always room for these lifestyle shifts. There's no shame if you need medication. I've [00:29:00] needed medication throughout certain parts of my journey.
You know, and even if I hadn't, who cares? Like, it's your journey and you know, there are it. It's not only symptom control with autoimmunity once the immune system. enough progressed in an autoimmune state, it can be, you know, really danger mitigation at that point too. So it's super important for some people to be on these medications and even more important during those times to take action in your day-to-day life and support your underlying foundation for your immune health.
So, The reason the course came up is because I found myself saying the vast majority of things to so many people that were the same. And I've also seen, you know, a lot of hurdles financially for patients with alternative types of healthcare that are a little different than just what your insurance will cover.
and I was definitely that that person, like I wouldn't have had thousands of dollars to spend on a functional medicine doctor or precision medicine doctor when I was in medical school and could no longer work. Like that wasn't an option for [00:30:00] me. So I was like, there's gotta be a better way to get some of this education out so that people can empower themselves and then.
it's also a win because then they get to, you know, find their own journey and find what works for them. Cause like we said, it's not a one size fits all. So it really, I, I'm hoping it will just be an empowering process for, for people to get the ball rolling and some of those baby steps that we talked about.
Julie Michelson: I love that. And so it's an online course that you're launching,
Erin Donaldson: Yes, yes. Sorry. Probably a little more, more details about the course would be helpful.
Julie Michelson: No, it's great.
Erin Donaldson: as no. It'll be an online course. Yeah. So Autoimmune Academy, it'll be an online course. It'll be up on my probably my website and my Instagram. My Instagram's the Dr. Erin and my, my website's the dr Erin.com. I'll put the bell before it cause the other ones were taken. But it'll be, it'll be easy to find online and just reach out to me and I've got a contact form on my website or shoot me a DM on my Instagram and if you have any questions about it.
And your listeners are welcome to a discount [00:31:00] 20% off. If they, if they hear it on here, just shoot me a message that you heard it on this podcast and love to offer you a discount and get anyone that needs this set up with it.
Julie Michelson: Which is such an amazing gift, and I, I am excited to, to see once it's, it's launched between now and when this comes out. I know the value's gonna be an. Credible. And that's, that's why we're here, right? We wanna reach as many people as possible. Not everybody, as you mentioned, can afford, you know, a precision medicine doc, a functional medicine doc, a health coach.
And so we're all. In this to reach as many people and empower as many people. I love that that's your goal. I have a course called Take Your Power Back because we know how disempowering it can be . And, and so I'm so grateful for what you're doing. I'm so, and thank you so much. For not only for joining us, but for being willing to say yes.
I kind of reached out to you out of the blue, and I'm so glad that, that you were willing to come on and [00:32:00] share. When I saw the work that you were doing, I knew just what an amazing contribution you would be for our audience. So I'm really, really grateful.
Erin Donaldson: Oh, I, I am. Oh, Julie, I think it's a, it's, it's a bigger community than when you, than we know and realize that's trying to make this shift in healthcare and, and empowering our patients like this. So I do think, you know, finding one another and sticking together is super important. So I am, I'm excited to be a part of your community.
Julie Michelson: Wonderful. So I ask everybody, and I think you're prepared for, because there are so many things and so many things come up in our journeys and our stories and our programs. But what is one step that listeners can take today to start to improve their health? Mm.
Erin Donaldson: Oh, I totally forgot to prepare this and I'm kinda excited I did. Cause I feel like it'll be more authentic this way. You know, I think it would be to just slow down, get outta your head and into your [00:33:00] body. And I think a lot of people in general, and especially a lot of people with autoimmune disease, kind of forget what it feels like to be in your body.
We kind of run life in our heads in this culture in general, I think. But. You could do all the changes in the world for your diet, for your exercise, for your supplements. You could, you could spend thousands of dollars a month on supplements and on, on, you know, the, all the people in your corner for health.
And if you're not listening to those signals from your body or if everything is so busy that you can't hear 'em. then I don't think it's gonna matter. I don't think it's gonna stick. So I, I think if you can just slow down and get, you know, get still enough in yourself and maybe meditation's not always the best way to do this.
Not to be like unpopular opinion,
Julie Michelson: No,
Erin Donaldson: but really like, Listen to the signals that your body's giving you in terms of symptoms like we feel our emotions in our body. And tho those are really, really powerful signals and those signals come a long time before disease happens. In my experience, both personally and [00:34:00] also what I see patients.
So I think when we're able to just take some time and slow down and listen to those signals, then we can start to know what our path is. And that probably. Really obscure to people that are in, in the thick of it right now. It would have to me. But even if you just start with like spending 30 minutes in the morning just on your own quiet and like tuning in whether that's going for a walk in nature and kind of like listening to the signals your body's giving you, like, it'll start to make sense.
Like it'll, it'll start to have traction. Those little bits each day will add up. So even if you feel like you don't know what you're doing, like you do, your body knows and, and it'll start to start to have traction.
Julie Michelson: I love that. That's such great, and I actually do agree with you. I love meditating, but it is not the place to start for most people.
Erin Donaldson: Yeah, you gotta get outta the head
Julie Michelson: You know, I, I watch sometimes when you just say the word meditation and you can see people's stress response. I'm like, okay, let's not go there for you. So I love that.
[00:35:00] Slow down, listen to your body. And I'm glad you came around to that part because for so many, when they're still so in their head when you say, you know, oh, get in your body, they don't even know what that means. Like . So,
Erin Donaldson: And if you don't, I will say, if you don't feel super safe or you really don't know what I'm talking about and you don't know where to start, or if you don't feel super safe being in your body for a good reason, like if you've been through significant traumas, See a trauma-informed therapist, do somatic therapy, do t r e or tapping or you know, there's lots of different pathways to get embodied in a really supported way that can help you with that path.
So I just to throw that out there too, cuz some people are disembodied for super
Julie Michelson: a reason. Yep, absolutely. Absolutely. But I love the, you know, if you're just, even just starting with listening to your body just shift, shift your perspective. Like, what is it telling you? It, it's telling you a lot. I dunno, what is it telling you? So I love that.
Erin Donaldson: I think we feel like we need to like understand all the symptoms and [00:36:00] analyze them. Cause that's just the model in our culture and in our, especially in healthcare. But we don't, I don't know that we really need to understand all the symptoms and analyze it and figure it out, like I think that's part of the issue.
I think if you, just like B, it'll give you the guidance
Julie Michelson: Right It's so true. It's so true. I love that. See, I'm glad you didn't prepare. I, I always think, you know, it's, it's, but I have seen people just go totally blank on that question, , because they've already mentioned so many things. So amazing. I know you, you mentioned them and, and they'll be in the notes as well.
But for those that are listening on the drive, they know at the end I. Ask you to give us that best place to find you, for listeners to find you if they don't wanna actually look at the show notes or it isn't safe to.
Erin Donaldson: Sure. Yeah. I probably Instagram or or my website would both be super easy. I don't spend a lot of time on, on the other social media channels. I don't spend a ton of time on Instagram either, but the Dr. [00:37:00] Erin at both, so TheDoctorErin.com and @on Instagram are my handles and just reach out to me. My contact form just goes right to my email, so reach out to me if you guys have any questions or if you're interested in the course.
Julie Michelson: and guys, definitely check out The Autoimmune Academy and go to her website. And she says she's not on Instagram a lot, but that's how I found her. So check her out. She, she does some great stuff on Instagram. A lot of value there as well. Dr. Erin, thank you so much for joining us today. You've shared some real gold with us.
Erin Donaldson: You're welcome, Julie. Thanks for having me on. It's been an.
Julie Michelson: For everyone listening, remember, you can get the show notes and transcripts by visiting Inspired Living Show, and you can also sign up to get weekly emails with the upcoming episodes as well. I hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I'll see you next week.
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Erin Donaldson
Dr. Erin Donaldson is board certified in Family Medicine and completed a fellowship in Precision Medicine. She practiced Hospital Medicine before settling into her true love of Precision Medicine and disease prevention. She now practices full-time with Wild Health, where she specializes in autoimmune disease support and uses genomics and comprehensive data to co-create a health plan with her patients. She believes the majority of health is accomplished through daily habits, a philosophy sparked by her own health journey with autoimmune disease. She practices by empowering patients to take control of their health outcomes through optimizing daily choices. She is passionate about educating patients and providers alike, to improve the healthcare system. Above all, she believes joy feeds health. When not practicing medicine, you can find her hanging out with her dogs, practicing yoga, adventuring in the outdoors, or laughing with her friends and family!
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