Saturday, February 9, 2013
Saturday, December 29, 2012
The Beginning
I've always had issues with my digestive track. From my childhood, I remember always having a 'belly ache'. My mother used to think I was faking it to get out of going to school, until, at age 11, I had to have my appendix out. I'd like to say that resolved the issues, but now I think that was only the beginning....
My first IBS 'attack' I can remember vividly. I was getting ready to go to school and was doing my hair. All of a sudden I had a sharp pain in my gut. It came and went, but kept getting worse until finally I had to go to the bathroom. It was an experience that I would repeat many times over the next ten years.
The worst of it was when I was commuting to work on the subway. Imagine being trapped in a subway car, in a tunnel under the river and you HAVE TO GO. The cramping, the gas, the unbearable urge to go. I can't remember how many times I ran into the office just in time.
It got to the point that I avoided eating anything before getting to work. And that seemed ok for the most part. Of course then I would pig out and get the infamous 'Farmers Breakfast', two pancakes drenches with syrup and two strips of bacon. Lunch would be Chinese or fast food, all washed down with numerous cans of coke. My afternoon snack would be a baby ruth bar (with more coke!). Is it any wonder my insides were revolting? I did go to a doctor to get it checked out and was told it was 'spastic colitis' and I needed to stay on a bland diet. I didn't think much of the doctor and swallowing that barium chalk was gross. It would take me over 20 years to let a doctor look at my stomach issues again.
Overtime, my diet improved, mostly because I also suffered from hypoglycemia and all that sugar wasn't doing me any good. I guess I was before my time when I realized that. However, I still had issues. I was 30 years old, on a first (blind) date when my first GERD episode struck. We went to a coffee bar (remember those). I wasn't much of a coffee drinker, but being there on a date, I felt compelled to have not one, but two big mugs of coffee. By the grace of God, I was in the bathroom, when I felt as if I had to burp, but what happened is that a stomach full of coffee came up and out. I had no idea what had happened. I didn't feel nauseous at all. I assumed that the cream in the coffee went bad and forgot about it.
Over the years, I was ok most of the time, but still having intermittent issues with IBS (the new term for spastic colitis). I mostly just put up with it. It was years later when the GERD issue resurfaced. I was under a tremendous amount of stress at work. It was a horrible situation and looking back now, I don't know how I made it through. But I was on vacation with my husband when it struck. I remember having a drink and eating some BBQ with Carolina sauce (lots of mustard in the sauce). I had such a burning feeling in my chest. It bothered me the whole time we were on vacation. Back at work, I drank a glass of orange juice and thought I was going to die. It felt as if I had drank some lye.
So I finally went to the doctor to get it checked out. For the first time, I was put on acid reducing medication, cimetidine, which is the generic name for Tagament. And hey, that stuff really works! Or so I thought. I was able to get off the meds in a few weeks and felt fine. But it resurfaced. I recall another time, on vacation again...., where I overindulged and again, felt something like a hiccup, but again liquid sprouted up from my stomach and this time, even through my nose. My husband was horrified and still talks about this to this day. I was so embarrassed. We were at the beautiful Biltmore Inn in Asheville NC, on the porch that looks out on the property. I had to clean myself off with the napkin and leave it there. The poor waitress though I was sick and said not to worry about it.
So....back on the meds, this time Prilosec OTC. I figured, I know what the problem is, I'll just treat it myself. I also cut back on a lot of foods that were identified as acid producing. Coffee, red wine (my favorite!) chocolate, tomato sauce. Any and all of these would cause awful burning in my esophagus and stomach if I had them. I had long ago given up on stuff like orange juice, and in fact, avoided all citrus. I did so well eliminating what I thought was causing my GERD that I was able to go off the meds and not have any symptoms. One thing I did noticed was that while on the prilosec, I would still get some refulx, but it wouldn't be acidic and wouldn't burn my throat. I thought that was a good thing.
Forward to about a year ago. I was trying to eat healthy, concentrating on 'whole grains' and low fat foods. Everything I ate was low in fat and high in whole grains. That's good, right? It's healthy, right? Well, maybe not for me. I then started having problems with bloating and gas, very painful. It would start almost immediately after I ate one of my 'healthy' meals. I suffered along for awhile, believing that it couldn't be what I was eating because that was so 'healthy'. Then something happened that put me on a different path. About seven years ago, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, which is an autoimmune disease in which your own body puts out antibodies that attack your thyroid. Eventually the thyroid is so compromised that you are hypo, meaning you don't have enough thyroid hormone being output. This was discovered while I was being treated for prolonged heavy menstrual bleeding, which can be caused by being hypothyroid. My mother and sister are also hypo, and it seems to be genetic, but they aren't really sure what it is caused by (more on this later....). Anyway, in being treated for my thyroid, I would go once or twice a year and have my blood tested and prescription renewed. It was usually a routine visit, once in awhile the doctor would raise the dose or lower it, based on my blood test the week before. But this one visit, the lab apparently did the incorrect test and tested my blood for B12. And guess what, it was WAY low. Normal range is 200-900 pg/ml. Mine was 100. Anything under 200 is B12 deficiency.
Causes of vitamin B12 deficiency include:
Of course being the hypochondriac that I am, I had to look all this up as soon as I got home. At the Drs. office, I was told to take a B12 supplement and come back and get rechecked, and if it didn't improve I would need B12 shots. Since I was already taking a supplement, I was curious as to why I was still low. That's when I began to focus on #2. In reading articles on the subject, I kept reading about low stomach acid being a cause. That shocked me, because with my history with GERD, I was sure I had too much stomach acid and that's why I needed those acid reducers and blockers. Then I read further and one of the causes of low stomach acid and malabsorption are, you guessed it....
Some of the causes of malabsorption include:
That is groundbreaking. So the very medications we are being given to 'cure' the problem actually make it worse. That is modern medicine at its best! Of course, not all the fault can be placed at the door of the doctors or even pharmaceutical companies. After all, you are supposed to only take these medications for a short time and then also make diet and lifestyle changes to ensure that the GERD does not come back. I had done that and had effectively 'cured' myself. I think I new instinctively that having an alkaline stomach wasn't a good thing, just as I knew eating that much sugar wasn't good for me many years ago.
Since I recognized many of the symptoms I've had over time were likely caused by low stomach acid. And what causes that? Age, poor diet, toxins, bacteria. For diet,
My first IBS 'attack' I can remember vividly. I was getting ready to go to school and was doing my hair. All of a sudden I had a sharp pain in my gut. It came and went, but kept getting worse until finally I had to go to the bathroom. It was an experience that I would repeat many times over the next ten years.
The worst of it was when I was commuting to work on the subway. Imagine being trapped in a subway car, in a tunnel under the river and you HAVE TO GO. The cramping, the gas, the unbearable urge to go. I can't remember how many times I ran into the office just in time.
It got to the point that I avoided eating anything before getting to work. And that seemed ok for the most part. Of course then I would pig out and get the infamous 'Farmers Breakfast', two pancakes drenches with syrup and two strips of bacon. Lunch would be Chinese or fast food, all washed down with numerous cans of coke. My afternoon snack would be a baby ruth bar (with more coke!). Is it any wonder my insides were revolting? I did go to a doctor to get it checked out and was told it was 'spastic colitis' and I needed to stay on a bland diet. I didn't think much of the doctor and swallowing that barium chalk was gross. It would take me over 20 years to let a doctor look at my stomach issues again.
Overtime, my diet improved, mostly because I also suffered from hypoglycemia and all that sugar wasn't doing me any good. I guess I was before my time when I realized that. However, I still had issues. I was 30 years old, on a first (blind) date when my first GERD episode struck. We went to a coffee bar (remember those). I wasn't much of a coffee drinker, but being there on a date, I felt compelled to have not one, but two big mugs of coffee. By the grace of God, I was in the bathroom, when I felt as if I had to burp, but what happened is that a stomach full of coffee came up and out. I had no idea what had happened. I didn't feel nauseous at all. I assumed that the cream in the coffee went bad and forgot about it.
Over the years, I was ok most of the time, but still having intermittent issues with IBS (the new term for spastic colitis). I mostly just put up with it. It was years later when the GERD issue resurfaced. I was under a tremendous amount of stress at work. It was a horrible situation and looking back now, I don't know how I made it through. But I was on vacation with my husband when it struck. I remember having a drink and eating some BBQ with Carolina sauce (lots of mustard in the sauce). I had such a burning feeling in my chest. It bothered me the whole time we were on vacation. Back at work, I drank a glass of orange juice and thought I was going to die. It felt as if I had drank some lye.
So I finally went to the doctor to get it checked out. For the first time, I was put on acid reducing medication, cimetidine, which is the generic name for Tagament. And hey, that stuff really works! Or so I thought. I was able to get off the meds in a few weeks and felt fine. But it resurfaced. I recall another time, on vacation again...., where I overindulged and again, felt something like a hiccup, but again liquid sprouted up from my stomach and this time, even through my nose. My husband was horrified and still talks about this to this day. I was so embarrassed. We were at the beautiful Biltmore Inn in Asheville NC, on the porch that looks out on the property. I had to clean myself off with the napkin and leave it there. The poor waitress though I was sick and said not to worry about it.
So....back on the meds, this time Prilosec OTC. I figured, I know what the problem is, I'll just treat it myself. I also cut back on a lot of foods that were identified as acid producing. Coffee, red wine (my favorite!) chocolate, tomato sauce. Any and all of these would cause awful burning in my esophagus and stomach if I had them. I had long ago given up on stuff like orange juice, and in fact, avoided all citrus. I did so well eliminating what I thought was causing my GERD that I was able to go off the meds and not have any symptoms. One thing I did noticed was that while on the prilosec, I would still get some refulx, but it wouldn't be acidic and wouldn't burn my throat. I thought that was a good thing.
Forward to about a year ago. I was trying to eat healthy, concentrating on 'whole grains' and low fat foods. Everything I ate was low in fat and high in whole grains. That's good, right? It's healthy, right? Well, maybe not for me. I then started having problems with bloating and gas, very painful. It would start almost immediately after I ate one of my 'healthy' meals. I suffered along for awhile, believing that it couldn't be what I was eating because that was so 'healthy'. Then something happened that put me on a different path. About seven years ago, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, which is an autoimmune disease in which your own body puts out antibodies that attack your thyroid. Eventually the thyroid is so compromised that you are hypo, meaning you don't have enough thyroid hormone being output. This was discovered while I was being treated for prolonged heavy menstrual bleeding, which can be caused by being hypothyroid. My mother and sister are also hypo, and it seems to be genetic, but they aren't really sure what it is caused by (more on this later....). Anyway, in being treated for my thyroid, I would go once or twice a year and have my blood tested and prescription renewed. It was usually a routine visit, once in awhile the doctor would raise the dose or lower it, based on my blood test the week before. But this one visit, the lab apparently did the incorrect test and tested my blood for B12. And guess what, it was WAY low. Normal range is 200-900 pg/ml. Mine was 100. Anything under 200 is B12 deficiency.
Causes of vitamin B12 deficiency include:
- Not enough vitamin B12 in diet (rare except with a strict vegetarian diet)
- Diseases that cause malabsorption (for example, celiac disease and Crohn's disease)
- Lack of intrinsic factor
- Above normal heat production (for example, with hyperthyroidism)
- Pregnancy
Of course being the hypochondriac that I am, I had to look all this up as soon as I got home. At the Drs. office, I was told to take a B12 supplement and come back and get rechecked, and if it didn't improve I would need B12 shots. Since I was already taking a supplement, I was curious as to why I was still low. That's when I began to focus on #2. In reading articles on the subject, I kept reading about low stomach acid being a cause. That shocked me, because with my history with GERD, I was sure I had too much stomach acid and that's why I needed those acid reducers and blockers. Then I read further and one of the causes of low stomach acid and malabsorption are, you guessed it....
Some of the causes of malabsorption include:
- AIDS and HIV
- Biliary atresia
- Celiac disease
- Certain medications (cholestyramine, tetracycline, some antacids, some medications used to treat obesity, colchicine, acarbose, phenytoin)
This is an especially paradoxical pattern to experience. On one hand you have stomach acid reaching unprotected areas of the esophagus, causing burning pain. Then if you take an anti-acid the pain usually goes away. Therefore if A=B and B=C it is easy to make the jump to A=C. In this case, it’s easy to assume that high stomach acid levels cause heartburn or GERD. But that is simply untrue.
The modern media and drug marketing campaigns have brainwashed us to believe that acid reflux, or GERD, is due to high stomach acid levels. This is nothing more than propaganda from people who make money when you believe their message. In 2009 there were 110 million prescriptions filled for acid suppressing drugs! Would Mother Nature create a situation in which almost 1 out of 3 people created too much acid to be healthy? I don’t think so.
I’ve talked about GERD / heartburn before but I want to give you a quick summary. A leading theory of GERD goes like this. Insufficient stomach acid leads to a host of conditions that encourage the increase in intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) when IAP increases it pushes against the lower esophagealsphincter (LES). When the LES opens because of the pressure and even a microscopic amount of acid touches the inside of your esophagus it can produce large amounts of pain and burning. This is because the esophagus is not protected like the stomach from high acid levels.
As someone who formerly suffered from heartburn and acid reflux, I know how painful and distracting it can be. Please know that no one needs to suffer from acid reflux or GERD
That is groundbreaking. So the very medications we are being given to 'cure' the problem actually make it worse. That is modern medicine at its best! Of course, not all the fault can be placed at the door of the doctors or even pharmaceutical companies. After all, you are supposed to only take these medications for a short time and then also make diet and lifestyle changes to ensure that the GERD does not come back. I had done that and had effectively 'cured' myself. I think I new instinctively that having an alkaline stomach wasn't a good thing, just as I knew eating that much sugar wasn't good for me many years ago.
Since I recognized many of the symptoms I've had over time were likely caused by low stomach acid. And what causes that? Age, poor diet, toxins, bacteria. For diet,
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