People Should Not take Nexium or Prilosec For More than 14 Days…..


Taking Care of the Body First

I knew I had to immediately stop doing some things: Diet Cokes to which I was addicted, fried foods, meats, and anything that hurt my gut going down. Sometimes that was something as odd as watermelon. Yesterday, I read don’t eat fruit with a meal.

If I overeat, I have some kind of bad reaction, like spasms. But I had to go through this feeling terrible and trying to find out how to get myself back for at least three weeks. No instructions from doctors, but listening and learning from the internet and friends.

I have been drinking at least 8-10 Diet Cokes a day for years. This was an addiction. But that day I walked out of the ER, the first thing to go were the Cokes. I tried to figure out why I drank so many and part of it was the coldness. So, I went to Target and got two of those BPH free large mouth water bottles. One is in the ‘frig and one is with me at all times. With the mouths being wide, I can put ice down in them. So, I am drinking a lot more water than I have in years.

I decided that a boiled egg and a piece of toast would be breakfast. I gave myself permission to do one caffeine – morning coffee, Seattle Blend Cinnabon. Doctored up, it tastes really New Orleansy. Lunch for a while was a little tuna fish from the Kroger Deli on 11th and Shepherd. I ate a lot of crackers, sometimes with peanut butter. I ate whatever would not hurt my esophagus going down.

I began to find out what worked for me and what does not. Mother used to say that one should listen to one’s body. She had an odd habit. I would go see her in Tyler, open her bedside table, and see the Hershey’s Kisses. About twice a year, she would have a craving for this candy. She allowed herself to indulge in it, as it usually ended in a week’s time. The rest of it went into the freezer until the next time. She weighted 137 when she died, and was about 5’6. So, listening to my body became a game.

I realized that fats were one thing that started the colon spasm at times.

I don’t knowingly eat sugar like cakes or cookies. I like those real fruit Dreyer’s popsicles. But that was too acidic for that time. So acid was out.

The next thing I read was to elevate my bed 6 inches. I think I got it to 5 inches. I did buy myself a great mattress that is 15” high. I have had to get new sheets because regular sheets won’t fit that. The reason for the elevating the bed is that acid runs down hill. If the sphincter muscle what opens and closes when food is coming down the esophagus is flabby and acid comes back up the esophagus, having the bed elevated causes that acid to run downhill.

Another thing to remember is not to eat for the 3 hours before going to sleep. That was one of the toughest. The deal on that is that it gives the GI system the time for the food to pass on to the colon, and the acid staying in place.

Our bodies need that acid. We don’t have too-acid a body. What the problem is how we eat, when, where, and what. Indian and Thai food don’t bother me, but now Mexican can. That stomach acid is a natural thing for the body to have. We don’t have too much. Most older people have too little acid. But if we eat too much at lunch, on the run, and cram food into our mouths and wash it down with alcohol, the body will have a time trying to digest that and move it on.

I have learned to eat and drink water at the same time. That process washes things on down faster. I remember my Christian Scientists twin aunts used to not eat after 5PM any time they wanted to lose weight. Now I understand what they were doing.

On the box of Prilosec, it says, “Not to be taken for more than 14 days.” That is not to be a cure for heartburn. I have to be adult enough to say, “I have to make changes so I don’t have this,” rather than using Prilosec and cutting down on the acid we need naturally to process food.

I am still working this out. But when an ER doctor says, “You’d better get this under control, or you will be miserable the rest of your life,” I got the message.

A person I want to recommend for you to look at is Brenda Watson, whose program is called H.O.P.E. She had a program on PBS recently. I was told about it and ordered the DVD from Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Formula-Consultation-Featuring-Brenda-Watson/dp/B000QJ0LAO/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1280495266&sr=8-6

 I am learning these days much better by watching and listening. Most of what I am telling you here is from her show. It was a huge eye-opener for me. I had no real idea about how digestion worked, and how to go about fixing it. I differ with her on one thing, colonics.

I have a PhD in Holistic Health Science and never saw any reason for colonics. By the way, in all my graduate work, one thing that was never taught was nutrition. Yet, in India, half of the medical degree work is in nutrition. It is called Ayurvedic.

H.O.P.E. means high fiber, omega 3, probiotics (like Jamie Lee Curtis hawks), and dietary enzymes. I have bought this stuff and most are $10 at Vitamin Shoppe. You have to gradually start taking these products. They are all natural. One other thing I am taking is Vitamin D3, in liquid form, from Vitamin Shoppe. My D was very low as is most older people’s as we are not out in the sun and are lathered up with sunscreen when we are. Notice when Watson says about using coated products, because you want to let that pass down through the acid and get to the colon in the form that does most good. That is why if you have to take aspirin or Ibuprofen, you should use the coated versions.

One time I rescued a Cairn terrier who was about 7 years old. He had chronic diarrhea, which I did not know when I got him. I took him several times to Heights Vet and talked to Dr. Williams about it. Finally, one day, I was so concerned, I called Dr. Williams and said, “I am bringing Hamish to you and he is staying until you figure out what is wrong with him. I do not want him to die.”
Two days later, Dr. Williams called me back and said he had found the problem. Hamish did not have enough enzymes to process his food. The fix was pig enzymes in pill form which I crushed up and put on his food daily. He lived another 5 years and was the love of my life, and adored by my friends.

So, at this point, the question for me was am I willing to grow up and eat what I need and quit killing myself with all this junk, and go through some discomfort getting used to it, or am I going to stay a kid and eat everything I want to just because it feels good.

KVC