CAN YOU STOMACH IT?

It is difficult to frame a journey that is ongoing. It is also difficult to put a voice to something that impacts so many, and in such drastic and individual ways. It is something that we all have in common, yet no two of us have had the same unpleasant path.

I can’t remember the day it started, but I know that it never has ended. The uncertainty, the length of each battle is undetermined. It is like a storm that you know is building in the background, and you just never know how quick or hard it will come on. The effects of this storm can influence so many parts of your life, and sometimes it can feel like just remembering it is there, can summon it.

My first memories of these issues came prior to grade school. Dealing with what feels like internal sabotage, an attack on my own ability to live life on a daily basis. An obstruction from feeling comfortable around anyone, and of any situation.

It begins with constipation, bloating, and it lead to stomach pain, a pain that would occasionally lead to a trip to the urgent care for a G.I. Cocktail. Sometimes this would result in temporary relief, but it only came after increasing symptoms. After the stomach pain grew to a point of pain, a horrific sulfuric burp would last hours, and eventually lead to throwing up, and then finally the bowels release in a most unpleasant way. It sucks. It’s our reality.

The days, weeks, sometimes months after are a consuming horror of anxiety and unknown. Sometimes fasting helps, sometimes it is a false sense of hope that results in eating again, only to start the whole process over. You attempt to track the foods and drinks that trigger these unpleasant results, but you come up with a list the leaves you feeling like you can’t eat anything. It all seems to be a trigger. The scary reality, it may all be.

While doctors do their best, it honestly seems like they just don’t know how to solve the problem…do they even know what the problem is? After years of being prescribed antacids, having unsuccessful endoscopies done, provided food journals, I was handed a bit of everything but hope.

I had been suspected of having the following:

• H. pylori infection

• Gastritis

• Gastroenteritis

• Gastroparesis

• Peptic Ulcers

• Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)

• Gallstones

• Celiac Disease

• Crohn's Disease

• Ulcerative Colitis

• Irritable Bowel Syndrome

• Diverticulitis

Doesn’t it feel like there is a dart board, and as you are suspected of one thing it’s taken off the board so that the next go around it can just be labeled something else? It is an ongoing mess that drives you crazy and feels like you're stuck on a ferris wheel without an exit. Then you are even harder on yourself when it all goes wrong because you ate or drank something you were certain was on the list.

I have spent 30 years trying to figure it out, you want to know something, I feel like almost there. For the first time in many years, I feel like through endless trial and error I have found some solutions, and I would like nothing more than to help someone else find relief. I’m not a doctor, nutritionist, or anyone with any medical background. It has all been unfortunately self-experimentation. I just hope that some of this information will help someone live a more productive and confident life. An ability to be a part of all of those special moments that have left you unable to be a part of the daily life of friends and family.

Have hope, don’t give up, there are options and while doctors don’t always give us what we want they help us eliminate what it isn’t. Don’t look at this as a cure-all, ask your health professional if they agree with these options. I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t be an option, but it’s always better to be safe.

Each blog post is meant to be read in order from first creation. This blog is designed to be a path towards better health. So, here is to options, hope, and maybe an actually ability to be part of a toast…without these repercussions!