The Perfect Storm

I took various PPIs daily for over a decade but quit almost two years ago. I developed microscopic colitis from these drugs. I needed Famotidine for a year to acclimate to life without PPIs. Now I control Gerd by avoiding food and drinks that are offenders. I also had to wean off benadryl-based sleep aids and switch to melatonin. Which took a while but now is actually better.

For me, a lot of these drugs are what I call lifestyle meds .. eat what you want if you take this pill. But there’s a price.

Yes I am med sensitive to a lot of medications .
That med I did not have side effects from .
I’m on my 6 th Gastro Dr in 2 states , NC and FL now . They all stink . No one can fix me . I’ve done all my own research and tried so many different supplements and even holistic treatments. Yes I have many diagnoses but they also say some is Functional and they can’t fix those issues .
My latest Gastro Dr is an hr away and I just did yet another Endoscopy & Colonoscopy w/ biopsies. Same 6/7 things wrong . They did just find I have borderline Crohn’s but my Dr won’t acknowledge it or try me on any of the treatments for it .
She only put me on an antidepressant in Oct that I took 6 months.
I’m so freaking frustrated like you ! Your husband really needs at least bloodwork done ✔️ . That’s a long time not to see any Dr! Do baseline testing too .
I wish you well. Life is so hard being chronic.

Rozy, I need to talk to you. I seem to be having an ah ha moment. I’ve been researching so many things and come across a lot of people with our problem. Last night as I was crying in pain yet again, I was asking God why so much misery and pain in this life and I came across yet another video about hiatal hernia. It’s like a light bulb went off. Please don’t tune out, listen for one minute, please. What can it hurt to try this. You;ve nothing to lose.
Okay - so I think that it’s the hernia that is the root cause. It doesn’t seem to matter what size it is in all the people I’ve listened to. If you have one it causes gastritis, it causes reflux, if it’s not aligned then one can’t swallow right, etc. Look up how to do diaphragm breathing. There is a lady who is called Pam Fox and I really think she’s got the answer. There are exercises that you can do to pull it down from the diaphragm and then there are exercises that tighten up the diaphragm muscle to keep the hernia down. Along with eating good, healthy foods and doing these exercises one can live a normal life. I would still get checked out to see if you have h-pylori which can cause a proliferation of bad bacteria which can cause a lot of our problems, but I would start doing the diaphragm breathing right now. I;ve started. It’s hard at first because we are chest breathers, not stomach breathers. But as soon as I feel tense I notice that I’m clenching my stomach so I make myself relax and do some deep stomach breathing. There are stomach maneuvers but I have to research more on these. The breathing is doable. It can take 2 months but it could also be quicker. Please, please, please give this a try. I hate that you are in so much pain and for so long. My prayers are for you to be given a new lease on life and me too. Huge hugs friend. Here’s to a new day. I will keep you posted on my success. Please keep me posted on yours. That would really make my day great.

I am starting with osteo too. It's in my neck. Getting that dreaded hump. Can be painful some days too. Glad that they found out for you otherwise you could of had permanent damage, like in your kidneys.
I'm 64. I guess that makes me on the old side but I have seen them give surgery to 70 and 80 year olds. You would think they would want to do it when one was younger than that and had a better chance.
Canada is the second highest taxed in the world. Inflation is so bad these days that business has dropped for the last 3 months straight. I can't blame the people. Having a roof over your head and food in your stomachs is more important than buying some little do da.
Both ends - now that's not funny. I had that a long time ago and had to stay home from work for like a month. Never sure what had caused it but my boss at the time told me to put a diaper on and get back to work. I'm sure karma will get her for that remark. People have no idea what another person suffers with. It cost nothing to be kind. You just never know. Magnesium is a good thing. I use the topical one as I have enough trouble putting ANYTHING in this body without a reaction.
You are so not alone. I have met so many people suffering just like us. It's insane how they cannot do a better job at fixing this. Over a billion people suffer reflux. All over the world. There is a swedish doctor I believe who specializes in the stomach who created a new device called RefluxStop. It looks so darn promising. If I had the money I would go over there and have the operation. It's some little gadget put into a pouch at the top of the stomach and it stops ALL reflux. They repair the hernia at the same time. And it doesn't restrict the esophagus so no worries about vomiting or not being able to swallow food. Why can we not have that here. Maybe if enough of us prod our gastro docs they will look into it. I've been trying all week to get the capsule endoscopy. Cannot find anyone in Ottawa. Might have to go to Montreal to get it done. I tell you, the hoops we have to jump through to get things done. I'm also trying to get a ct scan as its safer than an endoscopy but if I do it at a private clinic it will cost me. The wait time here is like 18 weeks otherwise. I might just have to do it myself.

Thank you , I sometimes do those deep breathing exercises with my CALM app . I have been checked many times abd tested for H-plyori and SIBO . Always negative.
I made my Dr. put me on Xifaxan antibiotic for it anyway ( 3 diff x in 6 years).
That was a long time ago . Haven’t been on it again in over 5 years.
The only time I thought it may have helped a little was very first time (14 days you take it , or 10 ).
Didn’t work the 2 x after that .
I will google that lady’s name you suggested.
It’s so sad 😞 to live chronically sick 🤢 daily .
I too , cry 😢 and ask God why and why for so long , a decade lost .
I pray 🙏 one day he heals us . I know he’s busy solving much bigger issues but still . Xo

I guess the treatment we seek depends on ones comfort level with different modalities. The last colonoscopy I had was performed when it was because of some (in hindsight) artifact on (prior) imaging. The Endoscopist saw nothing, so I'm inclined to skip the radiology suite in the future!

If I had the means I'd check out Europe too!

I think Pam Fox said that you have to do those exercises every day. The belly breathing is hard but I’m getting more used to it. When I tried the rib rollover it hurt. So I lightened up because she said to go lightly. I’ve been doing it for 2 days now and today has been a much better day. I heard my stomach gurgling so I think it’s shifting. She said you will definitely know when it drops. Could take a week or 2 or longer but I’m going to keep doing it. This could be a game changer. Will keep you posted. Xxx

Did you buy her course for $69 ?

Yes. I have all ten of her exercises and she explains everything so well. I just keep watching it over and over and gleaning new info. Yesterday was my day off so I was doing some yard work. I know now that raking is a no-no when you have a hernia. Man, it was a rough day today. Sure hope tomorrow is better. Can’t take too many of these days. Super sad and depressed and constant pain. I know you understand Roxy.😭😭😭