They Want Me To Eat Green Kryptonite

It’s been a day.

The office is being repainted this week so I’ve been breathing in fumes since Tuesday.  To top it off on Tuesday I forgot to take my morning meds which was like the 3rd or 4th thing I forgot that morning and by that time I really couldn’t go back home again.  It’s been a week of forgetting at least one or two things every morning — stupid time change.

Anyway, normally missing one day doesn’t really affect me.  Missing two in a row is a nightmare.  Well, apparently those days are over with the new blood pressure medicine.  Or it could have been the Italian food I picked up on the way home.  Who really knows at this point?  The real point is that Tuesday night I started feeling sick to my stomach and completely bloated, like stick me with a pin or I’m going to explode bloated.  I cradled my throw-up bucket all night and despite taking my usual night meds, including the ambien, I didn’t get any sleep — and no I don’t think that it had anything to do with being anxious about the elections — and really, what’s with Mainers?  Why wasn’t any money spent on getting Snowe out and why do they love her?  I don’t understand.

But I digress.

So, Wednesday, I was exhausted but feeling less queasy.  I ended up going home early and went straight to bed.  I kind of slept for about 12 hours, but I had the runs so there was a lot of getting up and running to the bathroom.

Today I felt rested and not quite so queasy or “runny” but still bloated and thanks to the paint fumes, I’m feeling like a nice migraine.  Yay.

But that’s not all.  Today I went to meet the GI Specialist.  We discussed my condition, my history, what’s going on, etc.  He thinks it might not be IBS or IBF or Crohn’s or colitis or whatever the previous doctors have labeled me with or whatever is trendy these days.  He thinks there might be something wrong with my stomach muscle.  He said it sounds like my stomach muscle might not be squeezing properly and digesting properly and food might be hanging around way too long in there which would cause the bloating, gassiness, acid reflux, 90% constipation/10% diarrhea episodes.
So how do they determine if this is the case, you might wonder.

Well, they feed you radioactive food after you’ve fasted for 4 hours.  Then they take x-ray pictures every 30 minutes of your insides to see how fast your stomach and digestive system processes it.  Yum.

Having fed on the Green Kryptonite before (only it was white and chalky and tasted very, very nasty no matter what they claimed), I’m fairly sure it’s going to be an unpleasant experience about 4 - 8 hours later.

In the meantime, he wants me to start taking the Prevacid twice a day since it isn’t really working completely anymore.

This would be o.k. except that when I went to get the prescription filled since I’m out of Prevacid, it turns out that my insurance doesn’t agree with the doctor.  It thinks I should only have 30 of those little pink and black capsules in a 30 day period.  Prevacid apparently isn’t cheap either.

Since tomorrow is a holiday and it’s late in the day, I now have to wait until Monday to call the doctor’s office and see what they can do to straighten it out.

The good news is that my BP was only 106/70 a week after switching my med so my mother can stop harassing me about getting it checked.

Tags: wellness, acid reflux, stomach emptying test

Thursday Thirteen Discombobulated Worries This Week (#11)

My brain is way too scattered and full of anxiety to focus on one particular nifty topic this week. So, now you get to see the really true discombobulated, highly anxious me.

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

1. What if the sale on the little red house falls through and I don’t get it?
2. What if the sale on the little red house doesn’t fall through and I do get it and it turns into a money pit?
3. What if those nice flippers are taking advantage of me because I’m a naive first time buyer and I don’t know what I’m doing?
4. What if my dog is depressed? He’s been lethargic and hasn’t been eating at home, but the doggie daycare folks say he’s hyper and playful there. Maybe he just hates me.

More

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, meme, bloghopping, anxiety, home buying, acid reflux, IgAN, autoimmune kidney disease, discombobulated, the puppy

14 comments See also in My Life, Geekery, Blogging & Other Blogs, Wellness, Discombobulated, Anxiety/Depression, The Puppy, Acid Reflux/Gastro B.S., Thursday Thirteen, Memes, Little Red House, IgA Nephropathy

Imagine Waking Up Well

My shrink challenged me last Tuesday to imagine waking up well one morning. Obviously, not completely well, but free of certain symptoms like my GI issues. For instance, I’ve had some sort of GI issue or another since I was 18 years old. I don’t really remember what life was like for my body prior to that.

What would it be like to wake up one morning and not have “issues”?

Coincidentally, the last two days, as if God were trying to tell me something, I’ve had horrible stomach issues despite any kind of medication or attempts at bland foods or no foods. There’s been pain and ickiness and acid reflux. It’s been an accute reminder of what I’ve been living with for almost 20 years.

So, it’s been hard to imagine what it’d be like not to live like this, but it’s been easy to wish I didn’t have to. To not have to worry about how far the bathrooms might be or whether or not there might be anything I can have on a menu that won’t send me to one in five seconds. Although lately it seems to have no rhyme or reason. Somedays it’s everything and some days everything’s fine. It’s a random way to live life and it’s not fun.

Unfortunately, imagining not having “issues” for me is as a much of a struggle as I used to have when I tried to imagine myself thin before I lost all of my weight that first time. I just couldn’t fathom that. Now for some odd reason, when I try to picture myself well, I always picture myself thin. Not quite the same but to my mind’s eye, that’s what it represents.

In fact, I kind of believe that maybe once my GI issues are worked out, I’ll be able to eat the healthy foods I like and need to eat to lose weight on a program regularly without discomfort and will be able to stick to it easier. There’s an encouragement to eating wheat pasta, brown rice and more raw veggies and beans when they aren’t so discomforting coming back out 30 minutes to an hour later. I could see that as a benefit.

Anway, last night, I was given the choice to have the surgery or not. It’s not an emergency. The choice is mine as to whether I want to live with the pain and discomfort. I have chosen to have the surgery, though I’m very depressed and scared about the whole thing. My mother will come take care of me and I’m going to try to schedule it for September when it’s cooler, but really I haven’t talked to the surgeon yet. I’m currently waiting for the initial appointment to be set up with the surgeon.

I’m still trying to imagine waking up well. Not sure what that feels like or what I’ll do.

Tags: wellness, gallbladder surgery, acid reflux, GI

My Endangered Gallbladder

I had my ultrasound this morning. My spleen, my kidneys, and my liver didn’t betray me, but my gallbladder…

I’ve always prided myself on being all original parts and all in one piece, except for my wisdom teeth — I had no control over that. My parents were still in co-ownership of my person at that time.

Now, apparently I have gallstones. The tech told me that they’re caused by dairy, which doesn’t make sense to me since dairy is supposed to be one of those things nutritionists tell us we need more of. Granted, WebMD says the gallstones happen when “cholesterol and other substances in the bile form crystals that become hard stones” and cholesterol is a fatty substance found in meat and dairy products. So, the tech was kind of right, I guess.

Anyway, apparently, I have too many of these gallstones, but the good news is that they’ve not travelled anywhere. It’s plain to see that the ducts leading away from the gallbladder haven’t been “dialated” as the tech put it. He said once a stone has been through one, they can’t shrink back down and mine all look normal.

More than likely, my acid reflux and other GI problems are being caused by the irregular release of the bile from my gallbladder because of the stones hanging about in there. They’re just clogging things up. And apparently you can’t break them up once they’ve formed. The only way to get rid of gallstones is to remove the gallbladder.

Or course, my concern was: “Don’t I need my gallbladder?” I mean, God put it there for a reason, didn’t he? I’m always a little wary when anyone starts talking about removing organs because it seems to me that they serve a purpose that I might need if they’re gone.

Apparently, your liver just takes over the functionality — though there are some dietary changes you have to make — or rather, as I recall with Red, there are some you’re supposed to make. With her, there was a lot of “I’m not supposed to eat this, you know!”

And I just know that my mother is dying to tell me “I told you so!” For a month she’s been going on and on about how much simpler gallbladder surgery is now than it was when Red had it, like she’s wishing it on me or something. Damn her. Well, she better be prepared to come take care of me and fetch me comfort food and feed my animals and clean the litter boxes. hehehehehe

Anyway, nothing’s set in stone, so to speak. I still have to go back and discuss it all with my GP, who probably hasn’t even seen the ultrasound pictures yet herself.

Tags: acid reflux, gallstones, gallbladder surgery

What The Doctor Said

Well, today was the big visit with the doctor. In preparation, I emailed her a few days ago with a list of things that I absolutely needed to talk to her about and why and the two most important issues were the acid reflux and the muscular pain in my legs and elsewhere.

O.K. So I’ve got a new temp prescription for Prevacid but I have to go on Tuesday for bloodwork and when I come back I’ve got to have some tests for ulcers and for my gall bladder. I’m very tender to touch where my gall bladder is but then I’m tender everywhere but she wants to see if I’m just an acid machine or if something’s gone wrong in there; so there’s going to be an ultrasound and also a tube down my throat, which makes me gag just thinking about it, thanks.

She’s also scheduling me for some tests for fibromyalgia when I get back and some bloodwork for that also next Tuesday. This is due to the increase in my muscular pain and the tender points that I have. She noted that my joints do not appear swollen which is the first thing most people think is the problem because I’m overweight. It’s definitely the muscles that hurt.

Anyway, it takes time to get in with a specialist, of course; so they’ll set up the appointment while I’m in England.

In the meantime, she gave me a tranq for the airplane to help relax the muscles since the plane trips seem to aggrevate the problem and I end up in agony and told me to take Tylenol Extra Strength twice a day every day. She also gave me some tylenol with codiene to take with me on the trip in case I have a really bad day. Unfortunately, I should also be taking some sort of anti-inflamatory but because of my stomach, I can’t take Ibuprofen or Alleve.

We think that maybe last year’s car accident might have made whatever it is (if it is fibromyalgia) worse and now that I’m not all fogged down with the depression and actually active, I’m more aware of it.

Oh, and when I come back from England, she is looking in to seeing if my insurance will cover aqua-therapy even before the fibromyalgia work-up. Aqua-therapy is supposed to be really good for your joints and muscles, I’ve heard. Though I think it requires owning and wearing in public a bathing suit and I don’t think that’d be good for anyone…

Anyway, I’ve been chatting off and on with J this evening about fibromyalgia which she calls FM. She was diagnosed 10 years ago and she is what I would call a good role model of what to do right (as opposed to El who refuses to do any of the physical therapy, etc.). Anyway, talking to her has made me feel much more certain that I’m on the right track this time toward a real diagnosis. As I asked her questions about her symptoms and she described things to me, it was as if someone finally understood my pain, like a kindred spirit. She knew exactly what I was talking about when I talked about the weird aches and pains and bizarre symptoms like random limbs falling asleep for no apparent reason and the worsening of the pain in airplanes. I feel kind of relieved to have someone to talk to and ask questions and yet I understand that there’s no diagnosis yet.

Tags: fibromyalgia, acid reflux, Prevacid, depression

Enzy-Me

Well, I think I’m feeling a little better. I’ve been watching what I’ve been eating. It’s been sadly bland. I’ve been drinking more ginger ale than caffeinated soda — just can’t seem to break that habit.

I stopped by Wild Oats the other day and discovered that they sell Aloa Vera juice in several different flavors so I think I’ll be buying my juice from them in the future. I’ve been drinking about 5 or 6oz of that every night right before bed. Supposedly that’s supposed to really help with healing the stomach lining.

But that really wasn’t doing enough. I mean, the problem was that I felt the acid in my throat and could “taste” things later. I couldn’t bend over without a pain in the chest and a sharp “taste” of a previous meal or snack. Life was a constant annoyance. It’s just not ladylike to be burpy all of the time.

So I chatted with the guy in Wild Oat’s homeopathic section and we did some research in their little “library”. I came home with a bottle of Enzyme Complex and have been taking two before each meal. He suggested that if things felt heavy after a meal, I could take 2 more. I tried taking them all day yesterday and today and so far, things have been a little better. I don’t expect things to be better overnight, though I wish, I wish.

Now, how am I going to explain the gallon of Aloe Vera juice to Customs on my way into the UK?

Tags: acid reflux, enzymes, homeopathy, aloe vera juice

Stomach Acid & Pink Eye

When it rains, it pours.

No, really. It’s pouring down rain here in Portland today. It’s sad and gloomy. Bleh. Kind of matches how I’m feeling too.

The doctor had me go off of the Prevacid cold turkey to see if I’m any better. I’m not. I can’t have any more until she checks me out on the 16th. My hiatal hernia symptoms came back immediately. I feel nauseated all of the time from the time I wake up until I go to bed and I’m not look forward to the idea of waking up in the middle of the night choking on the stomach acid like I used to before the Prevacid.

I bought a bottle of this Aloe Vera Juice mixture from Sunny who also sells health “elixirs” — she’s into everything, I swear. Anyway, aloe vera juice is supposed to be very good for digestive issues and quite frankly, I’ll try anything right at the moment.

I’ve also been checking out acid reflux “diets” online. I’ve kind of compiled this list of foods from about.com as foods that are safe for me to eat:

• Fruits: Apples (fresh, dried, juice, sauce, etc.), banana
• Vegetables: baked potatoes, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, green beans, peas
• Meat: extra-lean ground beef, London broil steak, skinless chicken breast, egg whites, egg substitute, fish
• Dairy: Cheese (feta, goat, low-fat soy), fat-free cream cheese, fat-free sour cream
• Grains: bread (multi-grain, white), cereal (bran, oatmeal), corn bread, graham crackers, pretzels, rice (brown, white), rice cakes
• Beverages: mineral water
• Fats/Oils: Low-fat salad dressing
• Sweets/Deserts: fat-free cookies, jelly beans, red licorice (YAY Twizzlers!), baked potato chips

And here’s the list of foods I can have “with discression“:

• Fruit: Apple cider, peaches, blueberries, Raspberries, Strawberries, grapes, cranberries (dried)
• Vegetables: Garlic, cooked onions, leeks, sauerkraut (forget it!), scallions
• Meat: lean ground beef, chicken salad, eggs (scrambled, fried), fried fish, tuna salad, hot dogs (ick), ham
• Dairy: Yogurt, Milk (2%, skim), frozen yogurt, low-fat cottage cheese, cheese (cheddar, mozzarella)
• Grains: Garlic bread, muffins, granola cereal
• Beverages: non-alcoholic wine, beer (alcoholic, nonalcoholic), cola, root beer
• Fats/Oils: ketchup
• Sweets/Desserts: Cookies, low-fat

Things I like, things I think make my stomach feel better like milkshakes, mashed potatoes, Mac & cheese, and French Fries apparently are on the list of foods I’m supposed to avoid. And while I was wrong about cranberry juice, I was dead on about orange juice being too acidic.

Anyway, I’ve been challenged to try to make a delicious tofu spaghetti over the weekend, so…I’m going to try to do that, but that’ll be my last red sauce dish for a while. After that, it looks like I’m going bland for a bit.

On top of all of that, my eye allergy which rears it’s ugly head every 18 months or so is acting up and freaking everyone out. Of course, every time anyone sees a really red, pink eye-looking eye, everyone thinks “contagious” and runs for the hills. My allergy is not contagious. We’re all adults. Trust me, I feel way worse than any one of them.

Basically, it is pink eye, but it’s just the allergic variation. I’m the only one who suffers. And it hurts to focus the eye on anything. Bright light hurts. Flashing lights hurt. Blinking hurts. Touching it hurts. It’s cold compresses and eye ointments.

Yesterday I went home early and laid on the couch with a cold wet wash cloth over it because of the deal people made…and because the pressure in the eye socket is making my head hurt…which is part of the problem…my head is hurting too now.

I am glad however that it’s happening now rather than in a few weeks. I’m sure that it’ll be gone before I leave for England so as not to spoil PW’s wedding pictures.

Tags: wellness, pink eye, acid reflux, hiatial hernia, Prevacid, aloe vera juice