Acid Anyone?

About two years ago I had the worst stomach pain I had ever experienced in my life. My stomach expanded like a hot air balloon, and I had a permanent seat on the toilet for a couple of weeks. I saw my primary care doctor who prescribed Pepcid, which didn’t help. She was concerned that my ever growing medicine bag was the problem. She said that the enormous amount of medications I was taking had been eating away at my stomach lining and the pain was my stomach rebelling. She suggested that I see a Gastroenterologist that she highly recommended. I made the appointment, however he couldn’t see me for two and a half months. Two and a half months. How disappointing. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do in the interim.The pain eventually became so bad that I had to go to the emergency room. It turned out that I had an ulcer. Well, the medications had done it. They had stripped the lining in my stomach. I was prescribed a stomach coating medicine, which helped immensely. That made living with the ulcer bearable until I could see the specialist.

Time finally came to see him and I had to undergo a procedure to treat the ulcer. He also discovered that Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) was a culprit at work in my symptoms and suggested some lifestyle changes, which I made.

It has been two years since that diagnosis and my eating habits have not been the same since. I am a vegan and have been for 14 years. So there is already a lot that I don’t consume. However, ever since I had the ulcer, things keep falling off the list of things that I can eat. I can no longer look forward to a warm cup of coffee in the morning, a piece of chocolate, any type of spiced tea or spices in cooking. I can’t enjoy tomato sauce or a variety of fruits and vegetables. As a vegan, fruits and vegetables are an essential!

Another problem has arisen though. I believe it to be acid reflux. Every day, no matter what I eat, I am burping all the time. How disgusting is that?!?! As noted above, there is nothing in my diet such as soda or fried foods or spicy foods that should cause that, and everything else has been eliminated because of IBS! I am confused about the root cause of this problem and very uncomfortable. I wake up most morning’s with the feeling of fire burning down my esophagus and throat. Are my medications, assuming I remember to take them, causing the problem again? Has the IBS spiraled out of control? Is something else causing the acid reflux? I desperately want answers to these questions.

I made an appointment with my Gastroenterologist. Any guesses on how long it will be until I get to see him? If you guessed two months, you would be absolutely correct. I will never understand why it takes such a long time to see a specialist. On the one hand, that tells me that they are in high demand which is a good thing. That means they are a quality doctor. However on the other hand, it means patients like me have to wait months to get seen and treated, suffering in the interim. That’s NOT a good thing. Because there is one person in such high demand, I am unsure of what the solution might be, or if there is one at all. What I do know is that this is another uncomfortable problem to add to the ever growing list of medical problems that I have. I would also like to find some relief. I hope that is possible. Because I know that if acid reflux is left untreated, it can lead to throat cancer, and that is a scary possibility.

Until next time,

Sam

Living in a Fog

Picture opening your garage door, and backing down your driveway in your car, only to realize there is a thick white fog cast in the air. You turn on your headlights and try to see through the dense mist. However the fog doesn’t appear to be lifting, but rather appears to be be getting more dense. You feel confused and disoriented.

This is what its like living with my brain. I often forget appointments, names, things I am supposed to do, people I am supposed to call, when bills are due etc. Wait what was I just saying? Even if I have it written down, I usually don’t remember where I put that information. I also forget to take my medication. As someone who was always on the ball, ahead of the game and extremely organized, it is probably clear why this new fog like world is so disappointing. My doctors aren’t exactly sure which illness may be causing this. It could be the fibromyalgia, the pituitary tumor, the possible cushings disease, the sleep apnea, a secondary sleep disorder or something that has yet to be found. There is no better example to illustrate the consistent fog I live in than my experiences today.

I had to wake up at 6:30 this morning to take my husband to work. I was so exhausted per usual. I had an appointment at 10 this morning, so thought it best to stay up so I wouldn’t miss it. However I fell asleep. That is what normally occurs in these types of accounts isn’t it? Well low and behold, I missed my appointment, and it was a very important one. Lucky for me, they rescheduled for later this afternoon. I checked my phone and my husband had called me three times to wake me up. Apparently I even spoke to him! I don’t remember any of our conversation.

I head out on time, and am feeling good on my way to my appointment and even arrive early. Sitting in my car, I check to make sure have everything. This wouldn’t be a good account of someone who has a fog brain though if I had remembered everything. I realize I have left my portfolio at home. I buried my face in my hands. I can’tbelieve it. But thought that couldn’t be the worst thing. I was mistaken looked down and saw what the worst thing was. I never shaved my legs! All of the showers I had taken in the days prior and never took care of that basic hygiene practice? How embarrassing.

Its really discouraging that I can’t remember simple things anymore. Whatever is going on with my health is affecting every aspect of my life. I have weeks that go by where I forget every appointment that is scheduled that week. I hope my doctors’ figure out what is causing this before I forget my own name.

Until next time,

Fog-brained Sam