Have you ever had that burning belly feeling?  When I was in college
in the 1980s, I first experienced this sensation of... well, it was
kind of like someone taking a hot match and putting it under a tight
leather belt around my abdomen.  Graphic.  Painful, too.  I was at a
house in the country, and we were sitting around having a few beers.
But I was so very miserable that even though I was a people-pleaser,
I had to have my boyfriend take me home - I hated to ask him to leave
the party.  Well, I've outgrown that kind of insecurity, and I am
glad to say I have also overcome the condition, which was eventually
diagnosed as an ulcer.  

First, I did not go to a doctor for a long time.  Mylanta, bland
food, no booze, no coffee.  These were my strategies learned by trial
and error for handling a condition I was not about to admit at age 20
was an ulcer!  In those days, the belief was that a person who
worried or was under stress developed ulcers.  Otherwise you didn't.
Hah. Turns out, that's pure baloney, but back then 'stress directly
causes ulcers' was taken as gospel truth.

Well, I was kind of type-A, and was under a certain amount of stress
in college, but I really couldn't believe that I had worried myself
sick.  So, I didn't go to the doctor - a good choice as it turns out.
And I did attempt some life-style changes: if my stomach hurt right
away after I ate something, I checked it off the list of available
foods - also a good choice, but what I didn't know about nutrition
back then would fill a book.  I ate starchy foods and dairy - foods
that actually exacerbated the ulcer, but not right away, so I didn't
make the connection.  I avoided fruit (acidic) and raw vegetables.
Oh!  If only I had known.  

By the time I graduated from college and moved to the West coast and
kind of started living like a grown up, I thought I really didn't
have time to mess around with the food-choice issues.  So, I finally
went to a doctor, got a prescription, and started my relationship
with the drug called Tagamet.
 
That went on daily for a year or two, until the symptoms ratcheted
up, and the milligrams went from 400 to 600 to 800.  Still, I liked
my doctor; I could tell he meant well. Dr. Wood was genuinely puzzled
that he didn't know how to help me, but he was educated at medical
colleges, (which are often funded by pharmaceutical companies), and
just didn't have a strategy to suggest aside from drugs.  My mistake
was leaving it up to him to come up with the plan for my health!

Now Dr. Z comes on the scene. I am about 30 years old and getting
tired of never really feeling good.  I'm wondering what's the deal
with this Tagamet drug?  I thought it was supposed to cure me - not
just keep the symptoms at bay.  So, I am in his office, and he is
writing a prescription for the accustomed 800 mg of Tagamet, plus an
additional drug: Reglan. It's something new and having to do with
reflux.  Dr Z says I am developing scar tissue where the esophagus
meets the stomach, and tells me a comforting story about how
sometimes people who've had my condition (truly a dis-ease) for a
long time get to the point where solid food can't get past the scar
tissue into the stomach, and they can only eat liquid food.

I told him I didn't want to take another pill in addition to the
full-strength stuff I was taking.  I wanted to get better!  He said,
"Face it. Your condition is chronic.  Learn to live with it."

I said, "You're fired."

Walking out of his office were my first steps on the journey back to
health. I finally took responsibility for my own well-being.  No more
expecting others to have the answers or pills to be the solution.  I
would change whatever I was doing that needed to be changed.  

It definitely wasn't like in the movies where once you reach the
point of decision, the happy-ending music begins.  It took me two
years to find the right information, the right health care provider,
the solution.  But that was 12 years ago, and I am pain-free now.  It
turns out the ulcer was caused by a food allergy!  (How a food
allergy can lead to an ulcer is the subject of my next article).
Before getting to the point of finding the cure, though, I first had
to understand that each of us is responsible for our own health. And
until I took that responsibility, I suffered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Judith Schwader has written extensively on health topics. She has a
background in social science and addressing chronic health
conditions through nutrition and lifestyle. Judith's articles appear
in:
Q and A Health -  http://QandAHealth.com and
All About Nutrition -  http://AANutrition.com

This article may be reprinted in its
entirety so long as the authors credits, and all links remain intact.