I’ve had a bad feeling about something being not-quite-right
in my stomach and to be honest, I was procrastinating making the appointment
for quite some time. It’s only now that things had gotten much worse, I couldn’t
really manage the acid coming up from my stomach anymore. Pepcid Complete/One a
day had worked wonders on me for a long time. The instructions say, do not take
more than 2 chewable tablets in 24 hours. I had been able to get by with just
one for a long time, but some time ago I had to increase my dose to 2 tablets
& much more often.
My dad passed away back in 2006. In his autopsy, they found
out he had a massive ulcer in his stomach. The stomach cavity (?) was filled
with fluid, more than 10liters – how’s that even possible? Anyway, my dad had
been taking massive doses of Burana, Finnish ibuprofen. Nobody ever bothered
looking at the warnings in the package. My mom showed me the autopsy report and
it indicated that my dad had an ulcer in his stomach (among many other organ
problems). That ulcer had burned through
the wall of the stomach. I immediately asked her, if she knew about ibuprofen
potential dangers? And I also asked how many pills was he taking everyday? It
was a lot and mostly on empty stomach, apparently. I was horrified. The more he
took ibuprofen, the worse his pain got. He was a very stubborn man, and to some
degree a bit of a scaredy cat. He didn’t want to see a doctor for any of his
health problems, because he was afraid of what they will tell him. He was
convinced he is seriously ill with cancer of lungs or something, and refused to
see a doctor. You’re wondering why I’m sharing this information with you, I’m
sure. Well – I realized I was going down the same road as my dad, with denial
and fear of knowing what is wrong with me! So I made the appointment with my
gastroenterologist & it was yesterday.
During the first appointment my doctor told me “Motrin is
what keeps me in business!” He understood that I have to take Motrin for my RA,
but he was shocked when I told him I take 3 Motrin’s (600mg of ibuprofen) in
the morning. Sometimes for headache, sometimes for other aches and pains,
sometimes I don’t take it anymore. I laughed, if you only knew how much I’ve
been taking for the past 2 years :D The 3 Motrin’s is nothing , I mean NOTHING,
in comparison! As many of you know, I also take Prednisone for rheumatoid arthritis (bad combination together with NSAIDs). So based on my symptoms, he suspected I may have an ulcer in my
stomach. So I scheduled an appointment for endoscopy and luckily they had 1
space in their schedule for today.
I arrived at 11:50am, my appointment was at 12. They took me
in right away & we went through all the paper work, signatures &
questions. I couldn’t be sedated because I’m allergic to eggs, so the doctor
put some funky bubbly spray in the back of my throat, to numb it. The nurse
& anesthesiologist couldn’t find a vein in my arms. I have deep, slippery
veins plus I wasn’t allowed to drink anything in 12 pre procedure, so I was
dehydrated. Eventually the anesthesiologist found vein in the side of my wrist. Cried from
pain, 6 trials & deep prodding with a needle. He wasn’t the gentlest either
and got me pretty worked up and anxious. Not my idea of fun times, for sure. After he found my vein, he gave me valium. It
was supposed to help me stay relaxed & not feel weird about the camera
being put down my throat. After that I got a bit disoriented & might’ve
fallen asleep for some seconds, who knows, maybe minutes? I only remember that
I started to cough, gag and vomit. The doctor took the equipment out & said
he was done anyway, so it was ok. Then I don’t know, I was drifting on and off
between being awake and being asleep. After that, the doctor came to talk to
me.
He said, I definitely have gastritis (acute and chronic gastritis), but no ulcers! Massive
relief! They took a biopsy of my stomach and he will check if there’s also
bacteria causing trouble. So while I wait for the final results, I’m taking
something called Dexilant. Must be something rather new since my doctor gave me
a discount card for it ;) He said it was so good I came to see him now, rather
than later. Most people apparently wait until the situation has gotten far
worse. So far I feel ok, no side effects, but I’ve only taken one capsule so
far. To be continued :)
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of
principle, stand like a rock.” -- Thomas Jefferson
