Kai Chronicles

Eating, exploring and enjoying life


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Why I stopped taking prescribed medicine for acid reflux

WARNING: Graphic images may frighten some..(lol). 

In my last post, I told you about my most recent aliment: acid reflux.

I was prescribed ®Nexium and had started it on May 9.

I felt a bit better but at one point, got worse, then a little better.

But things changed in the early hours of May 16th.

I woke up at 4am (ish) with incredible burning and blockages in my throat and chest (this was beginning to be the norm).

When I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror (asking why me?), I noticed my left eye was extremely bloodshot. Then I noticed my eyelid was all puffy and a bit droopy.

I thought, ‘wtf?’ but went back to my self pity about the reflux.

In the morning, it looked better but I was concerned.

At my scheduled follow-up appointment with the doctor who had prescribed the meds, I brought it up (after he diagnosed me with severe reflux osophagitis and told me to take ®Nexium for 2 months).

He had a quick look and brushed it off as a touch of conjunctivitis or “maybe you rubbed it in your sleep”.

Okay then.

Fast forward to 4am May 17.

Again, I was up with severe heartburn and the blocked feelings.

This time, I could feel that my eye was swollen and when I looked at myself, I saw that the right eye had decided to get in on the action.

may 17 2014

May 17 4am approx 8.5 hours after taking meds

May 17 4am

May 17 4am shot 2

may 17 630

May 17 730am what I looked like when I got up

When I saw how I looked at 4am, I went straight onto google and sure enough swollen face, lips or other parts of the body are side effects of ®Nexium.

Needless to say, I didn’t take anymore nor have I been back to the doctor.

What I did do was go for a session of Bowen Therapy.

It was my first time and I didn’t know much about it but it was recommended.

I will tell you more about it in a separate post, so stay tuned.

What I know for sure though is that night, without the meds and after Bowen, I began to feel better. I actually did not get up out of bed all night (a first in 2 weeks) and it’s been like that since.

I’m almost sleeping through the night.

I’m still get a bit of heartburn at 9pm so I take 15ml of Gaviscon. Once I’m rid of it for good, I will go back to natural remedies like bicarb and water or apple cider vinegar and water.

I’m still restricting a lot of food and today, I’ve actually started Dr Mark Hyman’s Ultramind Solution 6-week program.

This is very much like the elimination diets I’ve done in the past: no gluten, no dairy, no caffeine, no alcohol, no food from a pack or can, no sugar, no flour of any kind.

I’ve done this so much over the past 3 years but it never stuck for too long before I was abusing and misusing food and booze again.

This time, I’m determined to stick with it to the END and properly re-introduce some of the things I may miss (like flours and sugars so I can still eat my home-baked goodies).

I’ve still not had any coffee and I guess I won’t now for another 6 weeks at least. Who knows, maybe I won’t bother going back to it.

Considering I’ve been on a restricted diet for 2.5 weeks now, the next 6 weeks will not be too hard. I’m looking forward to getting my health, energy, motivation and brain back!!!

 

farmacy

My kind of medicine

food quote

 

 

 

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Why I’m peeing on a stick

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I haven’t been well.

For the past 2 weeks, I have been extremely unwell, physically. And for the 4-6 weeks before that, I was unwell, mentally. Now, I have a nice potpourri of physical and mental health issues.

I’m convinced stress and anxiety have caused my physical issues.

I’ve been doing a lot of whinging to myself. Saying things like, ‘why is this happening?’ and ‘I’m healthy, this shouldn’t be happening’, kind of shit.

Today, I was reminded about the mind-body connection and I had, what Oprah calls an a-ha moment.

I was reminded that I am in control of MY life. I can choose to be healthy and happy, if that’s what I want.

Believe me, it’s bloody hard to do when it feels like you’ve got tennis balls stuck in your throat and stomach.

I’m currently being treated for reflux oesophagitis but even the doctor said this was a guess.

Besides the blockage feelings in my throat and stomach, I have experienced burning in my stomach, jaw pain, low-energy, severe cough, excess mucous and this all escalates at night when I lay down, which makes sleeping very difficult.

So, I’m on a  prescription drug called Nexium (which I was so determined to avoid) for 30 days and on a diet that consists mainly of:

  • oatmeal (porridge) with cinnamon & small drizzle of maple syrup (sorry but plain oatmeal is just gross)
  • banana
  • green soup (zucchini, herbs, garlic, spinach, celery, green beans…)
  • avocado
  • wholemeal bread (one slice a day with the avo)
  • celery
  • Almond milk banana green smoothie
  • a couple almonds/seeds if really hungry
  • ginger & lemon tea
  • rooibos tea
  • green juice (cucumber, celery, lime/lemon, kale, spinach, ginger)
  • water (sometimes with chlorophyll)
  • Pro-biotic supplement and/or drink
  • Nexium
  • Mylanta- if needed
  • I’ll add more alkaline foods to this as I feel better

No food or drink after 630pm.

I’m on day two of this regime. Before that, I was eating other food like chicken, potatoes, eggs, rice, chocolate….just regular but mild stuff.  I was still suffering. I haven’t had a coffee since May 3 and I love my coffee.

I’ve replaced my morning coffee ritual with a morning walk ( I cannot do any high intensity exercise) with Tony Robbins. Tony and I walk for 30-60 minutes. He talks, I listen.

Three days ago, he brought up the acid-alkaline diet.

Now, I’ve heard of this before but never ever looked into it. Tony is very convincing so I googled away.

Next stop, pharmacy for pH strips to test my levels. I figured if I was having so much acid reflux, I must have a high acid reading.

You have to pee on a strip /stick of paper and watch the colours change.

My reading was 5.

Anything below a 7 is acidic.

So, I got straight on to an alkaline diet, which is most of the foods listed above. Of course, there is much more than that on the alkaline list, but I’m also trying to soothe the reflux. That’s why I’m limiting my food intake. I need to eat every 2-3 hours otherwise I get too hungry.

Today (after on 1.5 days on), I feel better and my levels are closer to 7.

But, I felt better all weekend too so I then ate a bucketful of hazelnut chocolates and within 8 hours,felt worse for another 30 hours. I won’t do that again.

So, once again, food is ruling my life and not in a good or delicious way.

I can’t stand the fact that I’m back here in this place of ill-health and uncertainty but I’m determined to build a bridge and get over it.

I’ve just booked an appointment for Bowen Therapy (I’ve never had it) and I’m sticking to this alkaline diet until I feel 110% better.

So, no booze, no coffee, no chocolate, no pizza, no dairy, very little wheat (the bread actually makes me feels good, believe it or not), very few acid foods.

Has stress every morphed into physical illness for you?

 What extremes have you gone to restore your health?