I've spent the last 2 hours scouring medical websites in an attempt to do a brain-frazzling thing called "self-diagnosis." Always a walk in the park.
I'm taking action. I refuse to feel like an elderly person with an over-sized pill divider, constantly complaining about my never-ending aches and pains. But that is what I am, or at least it's what I feel like. But I'm not. I'm a young 31 year old woman who has never been diagnosed with any disease, chronic condition, or illness, other than Acid Reflux. So, pray tell, why do I feel less healthy than the 80 year old man and his drug cocktail? Why does not a single day go by where I don't have at least a headache and some kind of stomach issue, usually nausea and, my current frequent companion, stomachache or pain or feeling sick to my stomach. There have been other symptoms added to the mix recently, of which I will spare you the details.
Bottom line: I'm so over this. It's been 2.5 months and frankly, that's roughly 2.5 months longer than I'm willing to deal with this crap. With no end in sight (and in fact, it's getting progressively worse) I am becoming proactive. I don't trust doctors to have enough of a clue as to what's going on inside my body to be able to make a guess, however educated it may be. When it comes to the perpetually unsolved mystery that is my health problems, doctors and guessing have proven to be less than productive. So I'm researching. And I'm tracking my diet; the time, each ingredient, snacks in between, drinks, even gum--and the resulting effects. Because this is where I'm at now: every time I eat, within a half hour, sometimes sooner, I am completely sick to my stomach. Doesn't matter what I eat, it seems, just has to be food to have me curled up in bed wanting to die. Or running to the bathroom because...well, I said I'd spare you that. It's not vomiting, I'll say that much and leave it at that. So the obvious conclusion to draw would be that it's something I'm eating. But so far I haven't found a connecting factor. I do, however, have a list I fashioned of everything I think it could possibly be. Wanna hear it? Here it goes.
My new anti-depressant. Possible side effect is stomach pain and other stomach issues. Also, can cause ulcers.
Sugar--why not? It causes enough other problems.
Gum--peppermint, aspartame (when I was diagnosed with acid reflux, peppermint was on the list of foods they said to avoid.
fatty foods (fried)--also an A.R. no no.
Pop--carbonated drinks can make the A.R. flare up.
Gluten--I keep going back to Celiac again and again.
Vitamin deficiency--maybe something I'm not getting.
Advil, Tylenol--I've always known too much of these can cause stomach issues, even ulcers. Obviously I've practically lived on them my entire life. Maybe my stomach finally said "when".
Acid reflux--maybe my A.R. has just gotten much worse in general.
Excess stomach fat--it took every ounce of courage in me to put this last theory down, but it's not a big secret where I carry most of my weight, as much as I lie to myself that it is. A big secret. I've been thinking about this a lot lately and wondering if it's actually causing me problems other than trying to buy clothes. Like, legitimate medical problems. It seems totally plausible. I feel like everything in there is being pulled down, down, down. Maybe it's messing up my organs, my stomach. Maybe they'll discover this and tell me I absolutely have to get lipo and a tummy tuck right away in order to save my internal organs and I come out of it with a beautiful flat stomach and no more feeling like death on a stick every day of my life...
Oh sorry, I must have dozed off there for a minute. Dreaming again.
Anyway, I think if nothing else, it's a place to start. My plan is to take my list into my doctor and discuss each one as a possibility. And, depending on what they say, I may or may not demand a food allergy test. (but I really want one). It's just not normal. It's just not a way anyone should have to live. And I'm gonna do something about it.
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