kitanzi | Where'd I put the warranty card on this body, anyhow?

Right, long story short(ish), I've been having stomach problems for a couple months now. Two weeks ago I had a EGD done to find out what was going on in my esophagus and stomach. Yesterday I had the follow up visit.

Diagnosis is severe acid reflux, causing considerable erosion to the esophagus, and a sliding hiatal hernia. Treatment between now and another followup visit in four weeks is a strong anti acid medication, diet modification and weight loss. Possible future treatment includes surgery, but let's hope not.

So, ideally, I am now not supposed to eat anything I might actually want to eat - that should make the weight loss easier. As far as I can tell, the ideal diet for this (which I do not expect I will follow perfectly) is bland and fat free, with minimal spice or acidic foods. I should eschew chocolate, alcohol and caffeine. I should eat small amounts, slowly, and chew it as thoroughly as any cow could dream of.

No, I'm not really happy about this, how could you tell?

Neither of these are especially uncommon conditions. Does anyone out there have a good resource for recipes, foods and suggestions that won't leave me wanting to solve the whole problem at the source by simply cutting my throat?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sorry to hear that the Killer Hayfever Season is in sync with your innards problems. Insult to injury you don't need. :( And please leave your throat (and knives) out of it. Your throat isn't the problem, and I expect to hear you singing at ConCertino. :)

I'll mention one thing about the various non-prescription remedies suggested above. One can't always be sure that "it can't hurt" is true. Do some research on-line and / or talk to your doctor first about any OTC stuff you try. Things have side effects, especially when combined with other things. You know the word "contraindicated"?

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is the possibility that the reflux, if it comes up high enough, can go back down the other way, into the lungs. This happened to Lois, who had GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disorder), and it caused an aspiration pneumonia. That's what started her almost three month series of continuous in-patient stays back in 2007 - 2008.
A simple way to help minimize the reflux is to sleep with your head and upper body raised higher than your stomach. An extra pillow or two under your head will help. Lois slept with two pillows and one of those U-shaped pillows on top of them.

I also put wooden blocks under the top three sets of legs of our Queen sized bed - 1" for the next to bottom set then 2" then 3" tall for the top set. Simple physics putting gravity on your side and making it harder for the acid reflux to go as far up from your stomach.

I hope something suggested here and by others above can help make a difference in the reflux, if not in the allergies. I'm afraid I know nothing about hiatal hernias, sliding or otherwise, just that weight loss helps and surgery is a common cure.

Hang in there, my friend. This shit can be dealt with.
Ann O.

Good and fair points, thanks. The aspiration pneumonia sounds rather horrifying. I will be careful and talk to the doctor about OTC stuff, but the suggestions about systematically trying the suspect foods to see what triggers things for me sound solid, if done carefully.

Aspiration pneumonia, AFAIK, isn't really any worse than or different from standard pneumonia, except in how it is caused. In Lois's case, she had a modified barium swallow test the day before and, overnight, some of the barium was still in her stomach somehow and it came up and went down into her lungs. It wouldn't have been that bad a situation except for Lois's chronically challenged lungs and her having GERD.

But still, your lungs are meant for air, not liquids or solids, so anything you can do to keep your stomach's contents in your stomach is highly recommended.

Ann O.

Where'd I put the warranty card on this body, anyhow?

Physics!

Re: Physics!

Re: Physics!