How Heartburn And GERD Changed The Course Of My Life Forever

By Lynne

It was a Friday night in April of 2005 and I had gone out to dinner with some friends. When I got home, I was feeling a little bit of heartburn, a little more than what seemed normal, but I went to sleep figuring I would feel better in the morning.

I woke up in the middle of the night with a more intense heartburn, nausea and overall discomfort in my chest and abdomen. I hesitated for a minute, but then knew I had to wake up Chad to take me to the emergency room. We got up and headed over to the hospital, checked in and then waited to be seen.

The doctor who saw me gave me some anti-nausea medication and then decided to “run some tests.” I rested for awhile with Chad right by my side, waiting for some answers from the doctor. The doctor came back to see me and basically told me that he didn’t have an answer for me, that the tests didn’t show that anything was “wrong” and I should follow up with my primary care physician.

I followed up with my doctor within a few days and she decided to send me for yet some more tests. A few days later, my doctor’s office called me with my diagnosis…Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, more commonly known as GERD. So I needed to make an appointment to go back in to see my doctor to find out the treatment plan.

Well, my doctor told me not to eat spicy food and that I should take a prescription called Protonix which would help control my heartburn. So I began taking the medication as directed and began feeling better, right?

Nope.

I felt consistent abdominal pain, nausea from time to time, headaches and just overall discomfort. Also, I felt anxious a lot of the time and couldn’t seem to just relax and enjoy my day to day life. My heartburn seemed controlled at best, but overall I felt terrible.

This went on for some time and continued on into 2006 while Chad and I were planning our wedding.  I spent many months not going out very much and feeling bad about staying in a lot, but I didn’t want to risk going out and then start feeling terrible out of nowhere (at least it seemed out of nowhere!)

I continued taking my medication and was expecting that I would be feeling better over time, but that was not the case. Finally, by the end of 2006 just a couple of months after our wedding, I decided to seek out some other options and look for some answers.

After all, just a couple of years before, I was very healthy and living a relatively normal life.  Now I was feeling terrible no matter what I ate or did, it seemed, and I was frustrated and not feeling any real relief from the medication. Not to mention, that I was 31 at the time (funny how I’m only 29 now ) and didn’t really want to be on “reflux medication” for the rest of my life!

This is the beginning of when things started to really change in my life. This is when I started to change. This is when I started to look for answers, become an advocate and take some responsibility and ownership over my health.

I decided to go see a Naturopathic Doctor for the first time and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. First of all, she was the first doctor to really spend time with me and really listen to what I was telling her and all of the symptoms I had been having. As she listened, she thought about the big picture.

Why was I having heartburn?

What was causing it?

Why was I having so much abdominal pain?

Why did it seem no matter what I ate I didn’t feel well?

Instead of just saying “You have reflux ‘disease’”, she explored  why I was having all of those symptoms and helped me to figure out what the underlying cause of those symptoms were. You see, my reflux was a symptom, not a “disease” as my conventional doctors led me to believe.

She had me tested for food allergies and what do you know…I’m allergic to soy! Well, I guess technically it’s more of an intolerance. I’m not going to die or have to be rushed to the hospital if I eat it, but after consuming it, I will not feel well at all…and after consuming it in unknown quantities for an extended period of time it’s going to cause me quite a bit of discomfort. For example, perhaps heartburn and abdominal pain among other things.

Sound familiar?

By the way, if you’re thinking “What’s soy in anyway?” then may I suggest you take a look at the ingredients of some products at your local grocery store! I was ingesting it day in and day out to the point where my body couldn’t handle it. It was like a toxin wreaking all sorts of havoc on my body thus causing the abdominal pain, heartburn, nausea and other symptoms I was experiencing.

You see, the Protonix that I was taking was only alleviating my heartburn at best, but it wasn’t curing anything or solving the underlying problem so that is why I wasn’t getting better. Once my Naturopathic Doctor helped me to find my soy allergy, and I was aware of it and able to change my diet and eliminate it from my diet, it was just a very short time before I was feeling much better.

Shortly after that, I stopped taking my medication and have never taken it since. Furthermore, I get heartburn about once every 3 months at most! I literally went from feeling terrible almost all of the time back to my old self with my active lifestyle.

I literally feel as though that experience not only saved me from the day to day discomfort that I was feeling then, but it has forever opened my eyes to wanting to understand my body and become an advocate for my own health. I strive everyday to improve my health and continue to learn on a daily basis.

I am sharing this experience with you so that you can understand why I am so passionate about holistic health, about learning and growing, and about sharing my knowledge and experiences with you so that you too can live a happier and healthier life.