Am I really getting better?

Not long after I posted last, things, well, crashed.

It had been a bit of a hard day, physically. I sang as part of a trio in Relief Society, which proved an ordeal on my stomach. To add to that, there was no AC in the RS room, so as I soon as I was done singing, the stress on my gut and the no cool air shot me straight out of there and back to the primary room. (I was just called as Sharing Time leader, Yea! though I didn't have sharing time that day.) Being in the primary room was better, but not a whole lot. Even sitting down, singing any of the songs proved very hard to get enough air. So once I got home, I ate some lunch and made my way to my bed where I put my feet up and made plans to stay there for the rest of the evening, as much as I would have liked to attend a patriotic musical fireside going on that night.

I eventually pulled together some strength and got on the computer, posted that last one, and did some health research, since my stomach was hurting more and more. And laying down wasn't helping. Then, finally, after trying to get to sleep, around 11:00, after saying  my prayers, I just couldn't get comfortable, so I stood up and before I knew it, I was hyperventilating and doubled over in pain, and gasping for air while I searched the house for a roommate. Fortunately, Sarah was just outside and she rushed me to the emergency room. They weren't able to find anything, but at least they gave me some drugs. Well, the better part of it was that Sarah called some friends in my phone so I was able to have the priesthood come and give me a blessing, which brought a peace and a lot of comfort.

For the proceeding two weeks, things got only slightly better. I wasn't always doubled over, but my stomach really hurt and I had a very hard time standing for very long, or carrying anything. To get to the point quickly, after an ultrasound and a CT scan, a doctor who thought I was low on electrolytes so recommended Gatorade (which didn't help), the GI doctor, for my follow-up, asked me, curiously, if I didn't think the stomach pains were a side effect of the Prilosec. Well, no actually. It hadn't occurred to me that some drug that was supposed to make my stomach feel better would have a side effect of making it worse. Call me crazy. So I asked what the side effects of Prilosec were, and he tilted his head to the side and said, "stomach pains." Oh brother.

Well, as I noted in that last post, I did have a number of other questions, and he answered some and some he deflected--the most irritating was when I asked if there was anything I could take for inflammation since acetaminophen, his previous recommendation to replace ibuprofen, is not anti-inflammatory. In response, he told me to ask my family doctor. What? So you're a doctor who diagnoses diseases that involve inflammation, and you don't know what a person can do for inflammation? I didn't actually ask him that. Instead, I named a couple that I'd found online and at Whole Foods--a turmeric-based supplement and the standard fish oil--and asked what he thought of them. The turmeric only puzzled him, but he did chime in that fish oil was good. Oh dear. I don't think I'll be seeing that doctor again.

Fortunately, his comment about the side effects got me a little curious about what the other side effects were of Prilosec, and so I did a little Google search and found the FDA site where it lists a bunch of things under a heading "for the professional" or something like that. I'm not a professional, but at least I can read and do Google searches for terms I don't know, which is exactly what I had to do. And quite fortunately one other person had had this particular side effect that I needed to know about--I don't remember and don't feel like looking it up again, but it started with an m and had to do with muscles weakening (which I did have to do a Google search on the term to learn), and for this other person, it went away when they went off Prilosec. Guess what I did next?

The next day, I still slept in a long time, but my legs were feeling much, much better off that drug. I was actually feeling quite good. The Prilosec had helped with the esophagitis so my chest was feeling good, and I had strength in my legs. Of course I expected the positive effects to wear off not long after the negative. And based on the stomach pains only, the GI doctor had actually given me Nexium samples to try. But I was reluctant to start those since two other drugs had already proven bad for me, and I had read that Nexium also had a side effect of stomach pains. I don't really want that, thank you.

And indeed, as the days have worn on, the effects of esophagitis have come back, and my chest and eating have those problems again, but I have also found a new source or direction for hope. In God's infinite mercy, he gave me a great supervisor at work, with whom I've been in touch throughout the ordeal and who has been a great blessing. It turns out, her husband sees this doctor in Alexandria who takes a more wholistic approach and uses more natural methods.

I'll confess that I've known herbalists and homeopathic believers, and I have been skeptical of their theories, but I think I must repent of that now. The more I learn about the way modern standard medical practices work, the more I'm disinclined to trust their approach of separating the body into segments that can't possibly have anything to do with each other, and chemical solutions that treat symptoms rather than problems. So Monday morning I went to see this new wholistic doctor, or one of the three in the office I should say, and I was very pleased with the attention they paid to me, listening to all of my conditions and concerns, and the friendliness of the entire staff. I don't have a whole lot of experience with their recommended solutions yet, but I'm appreciating the approach, so here's to taking a step in strange and unfamiliar medical territory.