E163: Sarah Lakadawala, DNP—GLP-1 Microdosing for Autoimmune Inflammation & Fatigue

Welcome to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast with Dr. Kerry Reller! In this episode, I’m joined by Sarah Lakadawala, DNP, one of our own at Clearwater Family Medicine & Allergy. Sarah shares what it means to earn a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree and breaks down her doctoral quality improvement project exploring GLP-1 therapy (semaglutide) in patients with autoimmune disease—not primarily for weight loss, but for quality of life.We discuss what autoimmune disease is, why inflammation and fatigue are so common, and why Sarah chose to evaluate low-dose and “microdose” semaglutide in this population. She walks through her study design, baseline labs, and the two evidence-based questionnaires she used (Fatigue Severity Scale and PROMIS-29)—plus what improved, what didn’t, and what she’d do differently next time (including narrowing to one autoimmune condition and adding body composition/visceral fat data). We also talk about real-world clinical nuance: steroids, biologics, CRP limitations, and the importance of consistent anti-inflammatory habits.Sarah Lakadawala is a nurse practitioner at CFMA. She earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from the University of South Florida, where her work focused on GLP-1 therapy and autoimmune conditions. 0:28 – Welcome + Sarah’s background (DNP, ICU → urgent care → family medicine)1:31 – What a DNP is and why nurses pursue it3:31 – Her project: GLP-1s in autoimmune patients (beyond weight loss)4:44 – Study type overview: QI vs RCT vs meta-analysis5:47 – Autoimmune disease explained + inflammation/obesity connection7:40 – Study design: baseline labs, CRP, and quality-of-life surveys9:10 – Microdosing semaglutide: starting at 0.125 mg10:45 – PROMIS-29 + Fatigue Severity Scale: what improved11:50 – Why CRP wasn’t statistically significant + meds confounders14:17 – Dose changes (0.125 vs 0.25), fatigue nuance, and switching to tirzepatide19:11 – Med reductions, fewer flares, and what she’d improve next timeConnect with Dr. RellerPodcast website: https://gethealthytbpodcast.buzzsprou... LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerryrellermd/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClearwaterFamilyMedicineInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/clearwaterfamilymedicine/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kerryrellermdClearwater Family Medicine and Allergy website: https://sites.google.com/view/clearwa...Podcast: https://gethealthytbpodcast.buzzsprou...Subscribe to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon music, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Pandora.