Natural Remedies for Gastritis & Digestive Issues

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I tried my gluten free diet and I’m done with it.  I didn’t notice any difference in it, if anything it made me feel worse.  Almost every single day I would have these debilitating migraines with nausea.  I don’t know if it was withdrawals, but I could barely function at work so I stopped after a week and a half.  I put gluten back into my diet and it didn’t really affect me negatively, but the headaches stopped.

As I said before, I decided not to take any pharmaceuticals and try the natural approach.  My stomach is slowly but surely getting better.  The thing with natural treatments, is that the healing is slower so you have to be patient.  It’s not an instantaneous thing.

*Disclaimer*  I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. Please consult your physician or naturopath before starting any of these medications to make sure there will be no interactions between these medications and the ones you are taking now.   I am not responsible for what you decide to take, this is just some information on what is helping me.

Natural remedies I’m using now and seem to be working:

1. L-Glutamine: A lot of people use this supplement for weight lifting as it is an amino acid that helps with muscle building. It also helps with digestive issues, healing the stomach lining.  I take 1000mg daily on an empty stomach.  I use the capsules, but I break open the capsules and take them with water.  They do not have a taste.

2. Mastic Gum:  It has been used for a long time to treat gastritis that was caused by H.Pylori.  I do not have H.Pylori but I take it anyway because it helps heal the gut as well.  I take 2 capsules a day on an empty stomach.  I take it for 30 days, and I’m almost done with it.

3. Zinc: I take 50 mg of Zinc a day with meals, if not it can irritate your stomach.  I’ve heard that Zinc plus Carnosine is even better than just Zinc itself.  Once I finish this bottle, I’ll be checking that out.

4. Probiotics: I drink Kefir daily which has many different good bacteria.  I also take 2 probiotics daily with meals.  I believe my gut was severely deficient in the good bacteria.

5. Manuka Honey 16+:  This is really expensive because it’s not like regular honey and it definitely doesn’t taste like it.  You get used to the taste.  I usually take 1 teaspoon twice a day with a banana (which is also good for the stomach lining).

6. Vitamin B Complex: I take 1 sublingual twice a day.  It tastes like utter horror, but who knows?

Things I’ve tried that I don’t think helped that much:
1. DGL Licorice tablets:  Chewable tablets, tasted gross and I almost gagged.  Maybe if I give them another chance.  It was just really really gross.

2. Aloe Vera Juice (the inner filet):  Also very very gross.

3. Digestive Enzymes:  Probably should’ve waited until my stomach healed before trying these.  They were a little rough on my stomach and made the acid reflux a million times worse.

4. Apple Cider Vinegar:   Same as above.

Eventually I hope to be rid of this.  My kidney/bladder thing is done, I’m feeling more energetic definitely.  I also hope to hear back so I know a little bit more when I can have my hip surgery.  That’s kind of been on the back burner since all of this stomach stuff started.

IN OTHER NEWS>>>

ALLIE is back!  She is sooooo funny and awesome and HONEST.
Probably my favorite blog in the world.
Hyperbole and a Half

 

Gluten Free Shopping is Hard.

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Since I am doing a trial period to see if no gluten will help all of my issues, I had to get some new foods.  I went to Sprouts and Whole Foods, which is where I grocery shop anyway, and found some good finds…  I have yet to try the gluten free bread, I bought two different kinds so I’ll put my reviews of both on here later.

The thing about eating lately, is that I don’t really enjoy it anymore, at least most of the time.

I used to get excited about food. Sadly?  I even obsessed about it, which is probably why I’m not in the best shape of my life at the moment, coupled with my lack of exercise due to my hip.

I sometimes find myself putting off eating until I hit the point of absolute hunger.  I know that’s not ideal and not good for my body, but the usual pain and discomfort that comes with eating just sucks.  I think I’ve lost about 5 pounds and I’m not even trying.  Luckily, I need to lose weight so it’s not that big of a deal.  If I was already underweight then it would be a problem.

If anyone has some suggestions on good gluten free blogs, recipes, or products that I should try, let me know!  I’m open to anything!

IN OTHER NEWS…

My dog is ridiculous and cute.

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AND I got my hair colored finally and cut!

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Colonoscopy Time!

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WARNING: If you get grossed out about stuff, you should probably skip this post.
I didn’t include my pictures, so be thankful for that.

I had my 6th colonoscopy yesterday along with an EGD.  I decided to add on the colonoscopy (I know, what was I smoking?) in order to rule out ALL bowel and stomach possibilities.

The Prep actually was the best prep I’ve had in years, and I always say that the prep is the worst part of a colonoscopy.  Not eating, drinking clear liquids, drinking salty awfulness, and sitting on a toilet all the time is not my idea of a good day.  As with most things, it’s temporary and it got me closer to an answer on what my dealio is.  The Prep this time was a whole thing of Miralax, which is TASTELESS!!  I was also supposed to drink 10 oz of Magnesium Citrate, but I didn’t.  I’m probably the worst patient ever.  I really am.  Before you start judging me, I didn’t drink the Mag Citrate because my stool was already the color it needed to be (clear yellow.)  IF it wasn’t that color, then I would’ve drank it.  I didn’t figure there would be any harm… and there wasn’t, everything was visualized just fine.

Nicholas went with me since I was to be sedated and needed a driver afterward.  I have sucky veins so after 2 attempts my nurse got my IV in the wrist, which wasn’t pleasant.

Once I got into the procedure room, I was a chatty Cathy, probably because I was a little nervous.  I don’t think the CRNA who was giving me the drugs was in a talky mood so he gave me some Versed real quick.

Next thing I know I’m waking up with my doctor and Nicholas at my bedside and I’m farting passing wind (that’s more lady like) like crazy.  They pump you full of air and it’s imperative you expel that air or you will be in a lot of pain.

Good News:
-No ulcers
-My bowel looked normal, no sign of active Crohn’s anywhere!
-Esophagus looked normal
-Small Intestine looked normal
Bad News:
-Gastritis in the body and antrum of my stomach
He took a biopsy of this, suspecting H.Pylori
- GERD
- Acid Reflux

While all this stuff sucks and it’s painful, I am so blessed that nothing worse showed up.  I’m a hypochondriac so I always think the worst of things.  I was suspecting ulcers, diverticulitis, and maybe even a fistula.  Thank God none of those things were there.

I have a suspicion that my diet is affecting my stomach and I’m beginning to wonder if I have a gluten intolerance.  I know a lot of people are doing it as a fad/diet nowadays, and I know a couple of people who have Celiac disease and they absolutely CANNOT eat gluten.

I’ve decided to do a two week stent of no gluten foods.  I don’t think it’s going to be easy, but I’ll be looking online for recipes and blogs that have gluten free ideas.  If this helps me feel better, then it will be worth it to stick to it.  A small price to pay to not feel sick and be in pain.

In other health news:
++ My hip still feels better after the cortisone shot, it’s weird not having that pain there.  Surgery is still inevitable, but this is nice while it’s lasting.

++ I think my kidney infection might be cleared up or getting close to it.

++ I also have bronchitis now, I can’t resist…. ain’t nobody got time for that.  Well apparently I do now.

THANK you to everyone who has been praying for me and sending good thoughts out.
It means so much that all you people care about me!  I have the best family and friends a girl could ask for!

Deep Breath

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I got my cortisone/lidocaine injection in my right hip joint Friday.  It’s still too early to see if it’ll be effective, sometimes it takes up to 72 hours to see any benefit, if all.  My pain was at a 0 for about the first 3 hours (which I think was thanks to the lidocaine.)  My groin pain came back, but my anterior hip pain has yet to return.

They use this injection to see if the pain is originating from the hip joint.  If it relieves the pain, then it’s coming from the hip joint, if it doesn’t relieve it, it may be from somewhere else.  However, I have read from many accounts that it isn’t completely accurate, just another diagnostic tool and it appeases the insurance to show you’ve done all the conservative measures possible.

Physical Therapy is aggravating my hip still, I’ve cut back to once a week because my insurance isn’t covering a lot of visits.  Another stressor.

Speaking of stressors, on top of my likely stomach ulcer, my back pain, vomiting & fever from last week was not related to that…
After my injection, I had to go to Urgent Care because of my back pain and frequent urination.  Turns out I have WBCs and RBCs in my urine which is indicative for an infection and apparently has caused me to have renal colic and a kidney infection.

Now I’m on antibiotics, which exacerbates my acid reflux because I have to take them on an empty stomach.

When it rains, it pours.  I am really having a hard time staying positive and being happy.  I find myself at times, not taking deep enough breaths, almost like I’m holding it.  Then I take a big deep breath and I relax, if only for a moment.

Don’t get me wrong, it is NOT lost on me that I could be so much worse off.  Sometimes I think maybe God is giving these minor annoyances (they are awful now, but minor in the grand scheme of things), to put things into perspective in my life.

I got so consumed with my hip pain, the imminent surgery, and time off work/finances that it overtook every thought, 24/7.  I never really truly looked to God for this burden.  I took on the brunt of dealing with it, and believe me it doesn’t go well when you try and do it all on your own.  I’m thinking these new onsets of infection and ulcers is God’s way of saying, “Look, this is fixable.  It may not be immediately and it may take awhile to recover.  You are not alone, but life is worth living and you have the ability to overcome this.”

Cheesy or not, it’s really helped me and comforted me in this depressing time.

I look at this scripture (it’s paraphrased) multiple times a day, and the reassurance it brings me is just what I need.
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Stomach Ulcers

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Sorry I haven’t updated lately, I’ve been busy being a sickly 80 year old woman.

Once again I’m having stomach issues, not with my intestines and I’m not quite certain it’s Crohn’s related.

Sunday night I got sick, projectile vomited in the bathroom (sorry), and continued to be sick until Tuesday where I progressively felt less like death.  Ever since I got sick a month ago or so, my stomach has not been the same.  I have burning under my left rib cage which is now radiating to my back, reflux/regurgitation, and it just feels like my food sits in my stomach.

I’m guessing I have an ulcer, and I think that’s what my GI think because he scheduled me for an EGD (esophagogastroduodenoscopy, which basically means he looks at my esophagus, stomach, and duodenum.) Thankfully I don’t have to have a colonoscopy yet, the procedure isn’t bad, but the prep for it is disgusting.  All my Crohn’s/UC folks know what’s going on with that.  

My procedure isn’t until April 22nd, so he prescribed me some medication that is supposed to help.  It’s called Dexilant, never heard of it, read side effects, not taking it.  I would much rather find a natural way to help my ulcers instead of some crap pharmaceutical which will end up doing worse things to me than what’s going on.  I’m not the best patient.

I’ve been trying to find natural remedies for ulcers, I’ll test the remedies out and once I see how it goes, I’ll post my reviews.

I’m also going to stop eating soy products, because other than STRESS, that’s the only thing that’s really changed in my life.  So it’s back to eating more meat and/or no meat/no soy.

 

Femoroacet… Wait, What?

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Femoroacetabular Impingement.
That’s a mouthful.

What is it and why am I talking about it?

I’m talking about it because this is the cause of my hip labral tear.

In Femoroacetabular Impingement or FAI, bone spurs develop around the femoral head and/or along the acetabulum. The bone overgrowth causes the hip bones to hit against each other, causing a lot of friction in the joint, rather than to move smoothly. Over time, this can result in the tearing of the labrum and breakdown of articular cartilage.

There are three options of FAI:

Pincer: Where there is overgrowth of bone on the acetabulum, in which the labrum can be crushed under that rim during movement.  (This is what I believe I have, I haven’t heard exactly which one I have yet.)

Cam: This is where the femoral head is not smooth, it has extra bone so it cannot move around smoothly inside the joint.  (There is one X-Ray where it could be a possibility that I have this.)

Combined:  Basically it is just both the pincer and the cam type combined.
Print

Here are a few of my X-Rays taken a couple of months ago.  Little did I know that you could see my lady parts until someone pointed it out to me, so they are blocked.

To enlarge them, click on them (if interested, if not interested, nod your head like you know what you are looking at… like I do.)

Pelvis 1-29-2013 (1) RT Hip 1-29-2013 (1) RT Hip 2-1-2013 (1)You can try different things to help alleviate the pain: Rest, NSAIDS, sedentary lifestyle, physical therapy, etc…

However, if these conservative treatments don’t workout, surgery is another option.
They can shave off the extra bone causing the impingement, clean up the labrum and hopefully anchor it back into place.

Here is a video of a surgery to repair a labrum and FAI.  It’s graphic and a little bloody, so if you’re squeamish, don’t watch it.

It amazes me that these surgeons know what they’re looking at, and that people can recover from this…

Just a little education blog post on what’s going on with my body, I hope you guys enjoyed it.

Vegetarian “Beef” Taco Bake

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*Disclaimer*
I am not a food photographer and these photos were taken on my iPhone.  They probably don’t look that good, but the tacos were great despite the crappy photos.

Ingredients:
1 package Lightlife ground meat or your choice of soy meat
1 can of refried black beans
1 package of taco seasoning (if you don’t use the liquid kind *shown below*, and you only use a packet, add 8 oz of tomato sauce.)
1 1/2 cups of cheese
10-12 hard shells
spinach (optional)
sour cream (optional)
Medium size Skillet
9×13 pan

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1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine “meat”, black beans, and taco sauce in skillet, heat thoroughly.

3. Once heated, place mixture in hard shell tacos, lining them up in a row in the 9×13 pan.

4. Add cheese to tacos. (Half of the tacos are with sliced cheese because I got tired of shredding cheese by hand.  Don’t judge.)

securedownload-14. Place in oven uncovered for 20-25 minutes, making sure cheese is melted.

5. Once you place it on the plate, take a really ugly picture of it, put sour cream but don’t show the sour cream because the spinach is covering it and you don’t realize that you did such a thing until it’s too late.
securedownloadYummy?  Yes.

Physical Therapy Pre-Op Day One

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I started Physical Therapy per the Hip Specialist’s recommendations, along with a diagnostic steroid shot in my hip joint (which can’t be done until a couple of weeks due to scheduling.)

In physical therapy, I am noticeably more weak in my right hip, particularly my abductors
(Gluteus Maximus, Gluteus Medius, Gluteus Minimus, TFL)
Abductor Muscles2*source

I have a lot of problems with a tight groin and adductors, which is what my PT called the Agonist Antagonistic effects with muscles, which could happen to any number of muscles.
adductortendinopathy*source

He asked me some questions, did some stretches and mobilizations of different joints, and then showed me a couple of strengthening exercises to do at home.

Clam shell exercises, which I’ve done in the past, but without resistance this time.
This exercise strengthens my abductors.  10 reps x 3.
1203-clamshell_0After doing only 10 reps, I felt a pretty intense burn.  He said that it shows that I definitely need some work in that area.

Triangle Exercise  I can’t find a picture or a video that has it, but I’ll try and explain it to the best of my ability.

1. Stand on one leg.
2. Lift the other leg out to the side and contract side of hip muscles/butt.
3. Move the lifted leg back a little bit, stay contracted.
4. Go back to the center.

Do 10 reps x 3.   Another great burn.

I do these strengthening exercises every other day, and I see him on Friday.

I’m not sure how much these physical therapy appointments are, I have to pay 40% so I’m sure it’s not going to be cheap.

I did have an uplifting conversation with him, and this probably was the first time I actually had REAL hope about running again.  He has worked with hips and labral tears for 6 years.  I asked him with his experience, has he seen people able to go back to running and sports after their hip scope.

He said, “Oh yeah, especially people younger like you, they bounce back pretty fast, within 12 weeks.  It seems like when they are older, maybe after they hit 40, it’s harder for people to rebound.”

I am not going to be unrealistic about it, and I know things can happen and not everything is perfect, but to know that there truly is hope of me being able to function and not live a sedentary lifestyle is so magical to me…

I have to stay positive, because it is so easy to get down and depressed.  I’ve had my share of down days, and I’m going to try to keep looking in the upward direction.

That Ex of Yours

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This is how I view running now:

That ex-boyfriend (running) that you just broke up with.  You ended things on somewhat good terms, but you still feel bitter about the break up.

You see that ex-boyfriend in the park, having a great time without you.
You see that ex-boyfriend with other people (other runners), hanging out without a care in the world.
You see your ex-boyfriend’s best friends in a clothing store (running clothes), they’re nice to you but you know you can’t still be friends with them.
You see your ex-boyfriend with a new girlfriend and all you want to do is break her legs.

One day, you hope to get back with that ex-boyfriend.  You’d rather him not forget about you.  You had a lot of good times together, not everything was perfect, but you made each other happy.  The only thing standing in the way was your bum hip and he resented you for it…

Screen Shot 2013-03-18 at 2.21.10 PMAs you can see, I’m still dealing with my bitterness issues.

In the Beginning Part 2

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When I first decided to make an appointment with a somewhat local doctor, I had posted on Twitter about going to him.  Several people who happened to be previous patients of his contacted me begging me not to go to him because their lives were ruined by what he did to their hip.  I consider it an act of God that He was watching over me and protected me from something bad happening to my hip.

These women I still speak to and they help me with questions I have.  I am also a part of a Facebook support group for Hip Impingement that assists me with making the right decision.  After reading those Facebook boards and talking to the patients who have gone through it, I decided I needed to find the best surgeon for me.  That means to look elsewhere (all over the country.)

I decided to send my diagnostics, X-Rays, MRA, and medical records to four different surgeons around the country who came highly recommended.  It was a lengthy process:photo

If you would like information on what doctors I decided to send my stuff to, feel free to contact me and I will help you out any way I can.

I finally received a verdict from each doctor, some helpful and some not:
Doctor 1: Didn’t even open my stuff, just referred me to the guy everyone warned me against.  I’m sure he blew me off because I was so far away.

Doctor 2: Office called and stated they needed this and that, but I sent them all of the things, so they just lost half my stuff.  I didn’t bother resending it, this is exhausting.

Doctor 3: Stated that he sees a Hip Labral tear, not just thinning, and that I have Femoroacetabular Impingement (I’ll get to what that means later.)  He also said that I’d be a good surgical candidate.

Doctor 4 (My preferred choice): Wants me to get a diagnostic injection in the hip and do Physical Therapy for 6 weeks before we move on to surgery.

I’m going to do what Doctor 4 said, since he is one of the pioneers of Hip Arthroscopy.  We will see if those two things help remotely and maybe I can avoid surgery?  I have to go see my Primary Care Doctor and see if I can talk him into prescribing these things to me, because I refuse to go back to my local Orthopedic Surgeon who just wanted to cut on my hip.  I’ll be updating you on the progress.

 

Those that found this blog through google search, if you look at my BLOGROLL tab at the top, you will find a link to other blogs of people with the same kind of hip problems.  This will help give you an idea what to expect, what you need to do, etc…