Onward.

Well thankfully my acid reflux sore throat/cold only lasted a week. I've started back on tapering off my PM dose this week, taking the 40mg pantoprazole in the morning, and alternating 40 and 20 every other day in the PM. So far so good, AND I've even snuck in not one but TWO pumpkin spice lattes this week and no problems!! Praise be.

On a spiritual note, I've been helping with the 5 year olds at my church on Sundays and we sing all these old school songs I remember singing when I was a kid. "Trust and Obey" hit me this week-

Trust and Obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

So simple and yet so hard sometimes. Been struggling lately with my attitude and just know that when I don't spend regular time reading the Bible and praying, I drift so easily. So trying to be consistent with that and praying to be more faithful.

When I'm Weak, He's Strong

Oy. So thankfully my throbbing sore throat has dissipated but it's all turned into a full blown cold. This has happened before, a few times last year and it all starts with the acid reflux sore throat and then moves into a cold. Thankfully the throbbing sore throat just lasted a day this week. I've googled this a bunch before and there's definitely a lot of talk out there about GERD symptoms being like a cold. I'm certain this all stemmed from acid reflux but either way I've just got that exhausted feeling you have when you have a cold. I felt like I was moving in slow motion all day.
 
I've been taking my 40mg pill morning and night just to get things under control again. Planning on starting over with tapering down on Sunday and planning on NOT messing up my schedule!

Chewing on Psalm 101:11-12 tonight:
My days are like the evening shadow, I wither away like grass.
But you, O LORD, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations.

I feel so weak tonight- my body is just so tired and I'm reminded how fragile and weak and needy I am as a person, and as a sinner. And yet...YET God is forever and is strong and the rock I need to lean on- and not just when I feel weak, I need Him always. Reminds me of that old hymn...

I need thee, oh, I need thee;

Ev'ry hour I need thee!

Oh, bless me now, my Savior;

I come to thee.

 

 

The Rollercoaster Begins

So I'm trying to get off taking my medication of Pantoprazole 40 mg, 2x/day- in the morning and evening. My plan has been to leave the morning dose alone and just focusing on reducing the PM dose.

The last two weeks I've been taking my 40 mg in the morning and then alternating my PM dose between 40 mg and 20 mg each day. So far so good till Monday morning I accidentally took a 20 mg instead of the 40 mg. I'd taken a 20 mg for my PM dose Sunday night so I was a liiiiittle nervous but curious to see how my body would react.

Horrible. I woke up Tuesday morning at 5 AM with this horrible sore throat, the type I haven't had for about a year. I've seen an Ear, Nose, Throat doctor occasionally over the last year when I'd been having these sore throats- it's not like GERD/heartburn where you feel the burn in your chest, they call it LPR- Laryngopharyngeal reflux. It's horrible because that acid goes all the way up your throat and it's not a sore throat that gets soothed with a nice hot tea or whatnot. It hurts to talk and is just awful.

Sooo now my plan is to go back to the 40's hopefully for just a few days so I can start over and not make the mistake of messing with my AM dose yet! Along with starting to incorporate the 20 mg dosage into my PM regimen, I've also started eating gluten-free the last two weeks. It's actually gone really well. I've quickly lost a few lbs so I'm trying to make sure I'm getting enough calories in. I'm also real strict still about maintaining an acid reflux diet and avoiding alcohol, carbonated drinks, acidic foods like citrus fruits, and anything real heavy or fried. Veggies are my new best friend! I'm also taking a probiotic, multivitamin with iron, and vitamin d each day.

So hopefully I can have a better update once my throat heals up. Till then it's lots of soothing foods...like milkshakes! Thank the Lord dairy doesn't cause me reflux!!

How it all started...

Last year in 2012 I was starting to have acid reflux badly at nighttime. It was horrible. I started hearing about instances that people go to the ER thinking they are having a heart attack when in fact it is heartburn. I know that pain, it is so severe it almost takes your breath away. So I went to my doctor and started taking some medication but had frustrating side effects with different ones so after trying different meds with no great success my doctor decided to do a scope of my esophagus just to check and see how things looked. They did a routine biopsy during the procedure and I basically thought nothing of the procedure and figured my heartburn issue would resolve itself at some point till I got a life changing phone call that began with, "Your test results are abnormal and you need to come in to talk to your doctor". A nurse had called and she told me that I had this Barrett's Esophagus condition that I was vaguely familiar with and knew it was not good. I could write a book on the aftermath of that phone call. I was just devastated and so scared. I almost fell on the floor in my office at work I was crying so hard. What I found out at my doctor appointment was that Barrett's Esophagus is a condition where cells in the esophagus have changed atypically because of acid reflux and the cells can become precancerous. I was grateful to find out that I had what is called "Short" Barrett's which is a segment found that is less than 2 cm and my cells did not have any dysplasia, or signs of becoming precancerous. My doctor was optimistic and encouraging that if I took a strong medication for a good year, it was possible the atypical cells would heal.

And they did!!!!! Praise praise God. I couldn't even believe it when I found out last month. Not that I didn't think it was possible but I just was preparing for the worst I think. The last year has been a rollercoaster but also a wake-up call that I needed. I had been in a funk pretty bad for a number of years and last year I had started praying for some kind of motivation to get my act together. Well, my prayer wasn't answered in the way I would have asked for, but my prayer was answered! It's been difficult to admit at times because it's been a rough year, but the truth is that I accept that this was a trial that I needed and was the answer to my prayer to get motivated. Getting the phone call that I did and wondering over the last year if my condition would potentially worsen and wondering about getting cancer is quite the wake-up call. It put so much in perspective and has made me so grateful for life.

So here I am and here I go with hopefully kicking these meds to the curb!! There is quite a lot of research and a lot of angry people out there on the internet about the frustration of going off the kind of medication I've been on- it's called a proton pump inhibitor (PPI). I've been taking the generic for Protonix, 40 mg 2x/day for about a year now. The medication basically turns off your body from making acid so that your body can heal, but then it's the type of medication that you can't just go cold turkey off of because the body has become accustomed to not producing acid and can go crazy producing far too much acid when trying to go off of it, therefore risking damage all over again.

So I'm planning on taking it slow and steady and trusting my Savior:)