Life Moves Forward
It’s been a couple of months since I’ve blogged and I’ve had some breakthroughs. The biggest discovery I’ve made is that I’m lactose intolerant. I’ve cut out all milk based products and I’ve started to feel so much better. I’ve tried a couple of days without my medicine but you don’t realize everything that has milk in some form in it. This has been the hardest change for me because of my love for cheese and ice cream. I’ve been occasionally slipping in some things I love and it doesn’t bother me as much but overall we’ve made major food changes in the house.
The doctor changed my medicine to Nexium because the insurance company wouldn’t cover the Zegerid without me trying Nexium first. I’ve also been taking magnesium because of some things I’ve read about the potential link between GERD and the lack of magnesium and zinc missing from my body. The verdict is still out on whether or not it’s working so I’ll let you know in another blog post.
My weight has leveled out at about 15 pounds lost which is pretty good. I’ve started walking again this week so hopefully my weight will start to go down again since I’ve got my eating under control and starting to feel better.
A few things the doctors asked me to stop eating were chocolate, sugar and caffeine. I’ve found I definitely can’t have chocolate…even the smallest amount causes a lot of pain. As for sugar and caffeine I’m ok. I can have small amounts of sugar but not every day. I actually had caffeine yesterday for the first time in 4 months and didn’t have a reaction to it; I was so excited. There’s a great new water called Avitae; which has natural caffeine in purified water. It tastes just like regular water to me. I believe it’s the acid in soda pop that causes irritation to people with GERD.
Overall the last 2 months have been successful for me and I’m starting to feel so much better. If I can stop taking the Nexium I definitely will but I’ve come to the understanding I may have to keep taking the medicine and I’m ok with that.
Stay tuned to more GERD adventure.
