Fuck my goddamn digestive system

[Revtim]

Looks like I'm going to have give up spicy Thai food, because of my goddamn stupid digestive system and my goddamn GERD. That was the highlight of my week, when me and my coworkers would go to the local Thai place, and I'd get Pad Thai and load it up with table chili sauce. My mouth is watering right now thinking of it.

But then I started getting acid coming up on me during the night, which then seemed to trigger some kind of apnea and block off my breathing, making me feel like I'm suffocating. Wen tto the doc today, and sure enough, no more Thai food.

FUCK!!!

[tashabot]

I feel your pain, man. Apparently, I am allergic to whatever it is that makes spicy things spicy. My body literally rejects it. It's a recent development and it saddens me greatly because there's nothing more on the planet I'd love to eat than a spicy jalapeno burger from Sonic. Or jalapeno poppers. Or spicy Mexican rice. I grew up (well, for 8 years) in Texas, San Antonio to be precise, and I love spicy food. I can't have it, though, or my throat swells up to the size of my head and I can't breathe.

I miss spicy food. A lot. I feel your pain, man, really, I do (incidentally, I also have acid reflux but my throat would close before I'd get it, so).

~Tasha

[jsgoddess]

That sucks.

I've had to give up pretty much all spicy food, too, and it's wretched. I definitely feel your pain.

[Antinor01]

I'm with you. My IBS decides to react to something different on what feels like a daily basis. It'd be easier if I could predict what to expect, but it seems that is not meant to be. Mostly I just avoid the spicy stuff and hope for the best.

As to your GERD, I've heard high praise for Protonix from several friends that suffer from it. They went from daily suffering to no pain at all in a very short time. One guy is about 65 and has suffered with it for over 40 years, one week of protonix and he is all but pain free already. (obligatory disclaimer, I am not a doctor, this is not medical advice, always consult your doctor for what is best for you, etc)

[Operation Ripper]

Do your symptoms present all day, or just at night?

[teela brown]

Sucks, don't it? I had to give up my trigger foods, too, for awhile. Then the doc put me on Prilosec and ok'd me to take it indefinitely. Now I can eat what I like, as long as I don't eat all my trigger foods all day long (beans, soda, citrus juice, coffee, chocolate). Oddly enough, spicy food never bothered me.

[Jake]

My doctor prescribed Omeprazole for my chronic heartburn and acid reflux.
It really help my problem.
I can eat tacos, hot sauce all that good stuff without any problems.
Life is good again!

[Revtim]

Originally Posted by Operation Ripper

Do your symptoms present all day, or just at night?

I was having heartburn a lot of the day, but the suffocation thing only happened at night.

I'm likely going to see a sleep apnea specialist soon. Man, it sucks getting old...

[Patty O'Furniture]

Omeprazole did wonders for me too. I was puking in my sleep even on 60mg of pepcid. Now I take once-daily Omeprazole, elevate the head of my bed a few inches and don't eat less than 3 hours before bedtime. I can eat almost anything that used to be a trigger and I'm still symptom-free.

Ask your doctor if Omeprazole is right for you!

[EddyTeddyFreddy]

Another reflux sufferer here. Get a slant or wedge pillow to elevate your head. You can put a regular pillow on top of it if that makes you more comfortable. It's made a huge difference for me.

For daytime discomfort OTC ranitidine (Zantac) or cimitadine (Tagamet) are very helpful too, although a trigger food will often burn right through them. I've had to give up raw onions in salad, for example; nothing will quench the flames they ignite.

The recommendation not to eat anything near bedtime is also excellent advice, as I sadly discover when I ignore it.

[Cat Whisperer]

Mine is pizza. Pizza for lunch - okay. Pizza for supper - seems to take about two days to digest. Yeah, getting old does indeed suck.

[gotpasswords]

Maybe you're a candidate for a fundoplication? It's surgery, but fairly simple surgery that's done laparoscopically through three little stab wounds. I was right on the edge of Barrett's, and the pictures from an endoscopy looked like there had been a fire down there.

A little origami folding to the stomach, a reasonably short recovery period, and I went from eating Tums by the handful all day long to not needing them at all.

[hotflungwok]

I found out recently that I'm now lactose intolerant. Yeah, it's not that bad, but having one more thing I have to watch out for and carry pills for is fucking annoying.

The cool thing is, next family reunion I'm having a milkshake and a 3 cheese omlet for breakfast and punishing my brother for years of abuse.

[Autolycus]

That sucks hardcore man. There is no medication or therapy you can take?

[photopat]

My sympathies too. That suffocation feeling in the middle of the night used to cause me serious freakouts.

Luckily, since I lost weight I haven't had any problems, except a couple of times on vacation when I cut loose a bit too much. (Not saying weight is your or anybody else's problem, it just was for me) I went from daily prilosec to not taking it at all. And thank goodness I didn't have to give up Thai food!

[tdn]

Prilosec OTC works wonders for me. It works just as well as the "real" stuff and costs a tiny fraction of it.

Originally Posted by gotpasswords

Maybe you're a candidate for a fundoplication?

My father thought he was a candidate for that, as he was showing the same symptoms as the OP. Turns out it was bronchitis.

[Dolores Reborn]

My husband has reflux real bad, and takes Nexium, after going through all the others first. (Insurance does not like to pay for Nexium.) It works pretty well, as long as he remembers to take it every day.

I'm on Prevacid, and it works great! My reflux isn't has bad as my husband's, or yours, Revtim.

Get on medication, and as long as you're careful, you can eat spicy food again. IANAD, of course...

[Revtim]

Originally Posted by Autolycus

That sucks hardcore man. There is no medication or therapy you can take?

Yeah, should have mentioned that I've started Nexium, prescribed by the doc.

The problem is, if it was just heartburn, I'd go ahead and try eating Thai once the Nexium kicks in, but it's not just heartburn, it's damn near suffocation. I don't know if it really is life-threatening, but it sure feels that way. I don't know if I want to take the chance.

[bouv]

Originally Posted by Dolores Reborn

My husband has reflux real bad, and takes Nexium, after going through all the others first. (Insurance does not like to pay for Nexium.) It works pretty well, as long as he remembers to take it every day.

Did he try Prilosec (omeprazole) before Nexium? I ask because Nexium and Prilosec are almost identical. See, Prilosec is omeprazole, which has a stereoisomer (the R and the S) Thing is, the body can only use the S enantiomer, the R enantiomer is completely ignored, so essentially half the medication is being wasted (I'm not sure why both the R and the S were there...perhaps it was just the way it's manufactured?)

Nexium, on the other hand, is JUST the S-enantiomer of omeprazole, (esomeprazole.) Now, mg for mg, Nexium IS twice as effective, but that's just because you're getting twice the dose of the EXACT SAME active ingredient. It's basically like saying a 100mg capsule of Tylenol is twice as effective as a 50 mg one...of course it is!

So if your insurance doesn't cover Nexium, maybe it would be cheaper to get a prescription for Prilosec (or the generic version), or even just buy it OTC. It might take a double-dosage (they make stronger doses, I'm pretty sure,) but it could still be cheaper.

I actually was recently given a script for Nexium and was half-temped to ask the doc why he chose Nexium over Prilosec. But if my insurance doesn't cover it (or has too high of a co-pay,) I'll either say "Screw it" and suffer the GERD, or buy some omeprazole if it's cheaper.

[Dolores Reborn]

Thanks, Bouv! I'm not sure if he took Prilosec - the one before this was Asiphex. I'll tell him what you said. Our co-pay for both Nexium and Prevacid is $30 freakin' dollars. I was thinking of doing without. I didn't take one this morning, so we'll see, since I had a tomato-centric meal tonight. (Stuffed peppers, mmm!)

Good luck, fellow sufferers.

[ladyfoxfyre]

Originally Posted by bouv

So if your insurance doesn't cover Nexium, maybe it would be cheaper to get a prescription for Prilosec (or the generic version), or even just buy it OTC. It might take a double-dosage (they make stronger doses, I'm pretty sure,) but it could still be cheaper.

Prilosec comes in prescription of 20 and 40 mg, the 20 mg coming in generic Omeprazole. As many have said, the OTC prilosec is pretty much the same identical drug. Aciphex and Nexium is usually third-tier on most insurance plans, meaning that they require prior authorization which can take a couple days to complete.

OTC Prilosec usually runs about $28 for 42 tabs, $18 for 28 and $12 for 14 if I remember correctly.
Feel lucky that you only pay $30.

[Carl Corey]

Wow. That's the worst request for anal I've ever seen.

[Dangerosa]

I gave up gluten in January, the change to the amount of reflux, acid, gas, etc., has been astounding. I have fewer headaches and less joint pain as well. And the IBS has completely disappeared.

Lactose is another common culprit.

I was on half a dozen medications for gas, screened for an ulcer, given a flex sig, told I had IBS and would have to "live with it," told to give up spicy foods.....but gluten - it was gluten.

(I used to think spicy foods triggered it - but Thai is now wonderful cause its rice noodles. Have to watch soy sauce, though fortunately I seem to be "gluten intolerant" and not "allergic to wheat" or have actual celiac sprue. I can have a little gluten and do OK. I can even spurge for something once in a while - and be miserable for a few hours, but fine later.

[threnodyangelfire]

Originally Posted by Revtim

Looks like I'm going to have give up spicy Thai food, because of my goddamn stupid digestive system and my goddamn GERD. That was the highlight of my week, when me and my coworkers would go to the local Thai place, and I'd get Pad Thai and load it up with table chili sauce. My mouth is watering right now thinking of it.

I'm sorry to hear that Revtim. If it's any consolation I made Tom Yum Goong soup tonight for dinner with fresh prawns, shallots, mushrooms and fresh chilli.

[Cat Whisperer]

I had some meatloaf for lunch, and my belly is quite painful now (I seem to have lost my ability to eat red meat in the last year or so). Feeling a lot of sympathy here.

[RTFirefly]

Originally Posted by Carl Corey

Wow. That's the worst request for anal I've ever seen.

You sure he was being specific about which end?

I deeply sympathize, Revtim. I love spicy foods of practically every kind - Thai, Indian, Mexican, Ethiopian, Jamaican, you name it. If I had to give that up, life would be immeasurably poorer.

[Carl Corey]

Yeah, all kidding aside I want to say that sucks. I can't eat spicy food like I used to either.

It burns! It burns!

[bbs2k]

We've been pitting our own organs a lot, haven't we?

(apologies to the OP)