This is Mark, Jay's husband, and I am here to tell you that GERD Sucks!
For those of you who know what GERD is, you probably don't need me to tell you why it sucks. But for those of you who don't know, then let me say that GERD stands for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (other wise known as acid reflux or just heartburn), and the reason it is worthy of your contempt is because it just eats away at you (literally) day by day, making your life worse.
But for me, I have found something of a cure, which I would like to share with you in a moment. But first, a little story about my battle with GERD.
About a year or so ago I get waking up in the morning and having coughing fits that lasted about two or three minutes. They were usually productive coughs, accompanied by a runny nose and runny eyes. Occassionally they would be accompanied by dizziness and a racing heart. It felt like my body wanted to throw up, but since my stomache was empty, nothing would come up.
Sometimes at night within about five minutes of dinner I would start to feel nausious and either start coughing again, vomit my dinner, or both (hey, I old you that GERD sucks). Sometimes I would get dizzy and feel like I was having a heart attack, but that happened mostly in the morning.
After seeing about three different doctors over a period of several months, I was told that it could be anything from TB to allergies to wooping cough. I was given a wide range of medications and basically told to figure out which one worked. In a sort of reverse engineering, they figured that whatever medicine worked, I must have had the disease that medicine was supposed to cure.
When it came time to start trying the medicines for GERD it seemed like I was starting to get a bit better. Some of the symptoms were reduced (but not eliminated), and by taking more than the recommended dosage, I was able to control the disease. However, I was taking THREE TIMES the recommended dosage to keep the symptoms in check, and apart from any possible side effects that I was inviting by taking triple the dose, I was also spending triple the amount of money on medications. Ouch!
I also tried some natural remedies in a hope to save my stomache and my wallet, but they only had minimal positive effect. I tried both digestive enzymes as well as Apple Cider Vinegar, seperately and together. Neither way seemed to help much. Neither did drinking herbal teas or licorice or other natural remedies.
However, I did do one thing that finallly appears to have helped. I gave up caffiene!!! You see, I used to be a Tripple Raspberry Mocha fiend, lining up at my local Starbucks every morning. I couldn't make it through the morning without my coffee, much less the rest of the day. I think 20-plus years of hard (coffeee) drinking finally caught up with my.
Now that I am off caffiene, my symptoms are minimal. Occasionally, I will wake up with a "sour stomache" or have a little bit of a cough after a meal, but now it rarely lasts more than, say, five or ten seconds. If I have a really bad fit, it may last about 20 to 30 seconds at the very most, but those are quite rare. And I have gotten these resutls despite the fact that I have cut way down on my medicine dosage; nowadays I rarely take one or two pills a week, down from 21 plus per week.
So why am I telling you all this? After all, our web site is supposed to be dedicated to news and culture from Asia and around the world, right?
Well, yes, you are right. But I know that GERD is being increasingly diagnose (and increasingly mis-diagnosed), and I know there are other people who must be suffering from it the way I was. And to all you good people out ther, I hope that you will try to give up caffiene if you already haven't and see if ou don't start feeling better within three days.
If you are interested in learning more about GERD, please click the following links:
GERD Information Resource Center
Heartburn, Hiatal Hernia, and Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
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