Posted 12/21/2015 4:34 PM (GMT 0)
Nate, I definitely feel your pain. At one point I had taken Nexium, Prilosec, Prevacid, and lastly, Dexilant. Only the Dexilant gave me relief, but it was temporary. And after reading what seemed like an endless number of published medical studies and articles by non-mainstream doctors, I decided to wean myself off all medications.
I wasn't getting better, and it was terribly frustrating. After going through several years of horrific pain and experimenting with different diets, I finally came to two conclusions:
1. H2 blockers and PPI drugs were barely addressing the symptoms AND they weren't solving the root cause of my GERD, gastritis, and esophagitis.
2. In my case, the #1 issue was the food I ate and the beverages I drank.
Unfortunately, it took me years to finally realize that I would never get better if I didn't stop drinking alcohol. You see, I'm a big wine collector. I used to belong to several wine clubs from wineries all around the world and I would have boxes of wine delivered to my house every single month.
I also realized that my GERD issues would never get better as long as I ate any kind of processed food, enriched flour, food with soybean oil in it, food with MSG, etc.
So I made the decision to stop taking all medications (H2 and PPIs) and focus on an all natural, organic diet. Since inflammation in our bodies cause a myriad of different health problems I started learning more about it. I stopped eating all foods with MSG in it (it causes inflammation). I also stopped eating gluten and dairy for 90 days and then slowly reintroduce it back into my diet to see how my body responds. I also stayed away from all chocolate, since it is a main source of inflammation for some people.
It was mid-November when I drank alcohol on purpose to aggravate my esophagitis, and it turned out that I also aggravated my gastritis to the point where I was in agony for 3 weeks. But I stayed strong and didn't taken any H2 blockers or PPIs and stuck with eating homemade applesauce, banana slices, and vegetable soup for a month, only drinking filtered or alkaline water and chamomille tea.
It's now the week of Christmas, and I am finally starting to feel better. I can barely wait to see what I am going to feel like 3 months from today. I have never been this disciplined or strict with my diet. With the exception of sushi, all of my meals are made at home and all natural. I don't eat any foods that have coloring, preservatives, or any chemicals of any kind. If it's not from the ground, a tree, or an animal with no antibiotics or growth hormones, it's not going home with me.
Some of my friends and family have said that seems a bit extreme, and a year or so ago I would have agreed with them. But the way I see it is that I have an extreme health problem and it's going take extreme measures to heal them. I wish I would have gone this route sooner, but I didn't have the knowledge I have today back then.
Though I've gone from 186 pounds to 126 pounds in a few short months, I just weighed myself and I'm now at 133 pounds. I'm finally gaining weight again. One of my goals is to be able to eat an In-n-Out Hamburger with grilled onions with a glass of red wine on my birthday, which is 7 months away.
I'm not saying my approach will work for everybody, because it depends on what is the root cause of your GERD or other digestive issues; however, there is something to be said about eating nutritious foods and staying away from processed food as this gives your body a chance to heal. Today's processed foods have thousands of chemicals in them, the vast majority have not been tested in regards to how they affect our digestive system.
The food experiment continues.......