I Can’t Stomach It

I Can’t Stomach It was Originally Posted on July 24, 2013 by lavarock

For almost as long as I can remember, I have had stomach problems. Not really upset stomach, rather acid indigestion. I guess it was in the 90’s that I had a doctor prescribe Zantac and all of a sudden, my life changed. Until that time I had heartburn often and certain foods were “killers”. Tomato paste, garlic and many other things kept me in absolute agony. I felt like a dragon who could spit fire. I slept with my head elevated, loose clothes around my waist, didn’t eat close to bed time and so on.

As I first took the Zantac I noticed a funny feeling in my stomach. It reminded me of Thanksgiving when you eat a lot and feel full, but not hurting. I don’t know why that thought came to me, but it did. The next day I had a slice of pizza and the fire wasn’t there. I didn’t overdo it, but there was a definite difference in what I could eat.

I knew that my family had some of the similar problems but we never seemed to speak about it. When I called Mom with this revelation, her answer shocked me. “Oh, the rest of us have been taking Zantac for years”! I wish someone had told me.

Over the years the problem has come and gone and I sometimes switch products. When I take a calcium product such as Tums, I get a terrific burning sensation. There used to be a spongy chewable antacid that worked for me, kinda chalky but did the job. alas, that is no longer in stores that I see.

One product that works quite well is baking soda and water, for almost instant relief. You KNOW it works well if you have ever neutralized battery acid with it. Still, it has lots of sodium in it.

Once when the internet was fairly new I found a new item that had just been announced in JAMA the Journal of the American Medical Association. It concerned taking two medicines at the same time. One reduced the acid and the second helped to close the valve that lets acid seep up into the throat. When I mentioned this to the doctor, he was amazed that I knew about it, having just read about it in his trade magazine that morning. It worked for me, but I think it also contributed tome having troubles swallowing at times. If I get a bit too large of a piece of food, it seems to get stuck in my throat and people notice that I sat there for a second motionless. I am trying to swallow to get the food unstuck. So far, no big problem and I have found that if I just take a drink of water and put up with the feeling of even more stuff stuck for a second, the food drops and I am fine. Still, it is a very odd feeling and I just have to not get anxious as I think that closes the throat a bit more.

So lately, I have been having more indigestion than normal and have switched between Zantac and Gaviscon (well, the generic of each). I even tried a 14 day treatment of another product which worked well while I was taking it but then wore off. I have two more treatments over the next 8 months, but have to wait until November to try the second one.

I tried yogurt and that doesn’t help much as I am lactose intolerant and it seems that even that gives me a bit of problems.

What I will tell you is a giant problem and I wish I had remembered. Chef Boyardee’s Beefaroni! I am not the only person, go Google it and indigestion. There are many people this bothers. I don’t know if it is the acid in the tomatoes of a spice but for some of us, the experience is horrible! So I have cans of this left and being cheap, I have to decide if I give them away or eat them and suffer.

Decisions, decision.