tons of weird supplements/dietary things
i wrote up a list of things that helped with my heartburn (a very big theme of the first year or so of the newsletter) for d's friend s and here it is in case it's useful to you:
i think the four most important things i did that helped me get to where i am now (i occasionally have mild heartburn, but it's not in any way this intense thing i'm thinking out all the time) were:
"everybody's body is different and also i think there are two or three zones of heartburn:
- heartbun in your esophagus/mid chest,
- heartburn in your stomach/sour stomach
- heartburn in your back and shoulders
and yours might be different than mine (and so respond to different things).
historically, mine was always in my stomach/where it meet my esophagus and i feel like most/all of the medications are targeting things higher up in the body. i tried basically every OTC medication, several prescription strength ones, and tons of weird supplements/dietary things and none of them really did much for me.
- instead of drinking regularly, only drinking very occasionally (and never having more than two drinks in an evening) (i just replaced it with weed)
- b complex supplements (supposed to be good for anxiety too)
- antidepressant / sleeping pill (because a big problem with the reflux for me was sleep deprivation because my stomach was burning and then being awake in the middle of the night is the worst time for anxiety and hypochondria imo so it became this self-reinforcing dynamic that was ruining me)
- find a way to stop catastrophizing it as a sign of something worse because the inflammation from that stress just feeds it and makes it worse
if you're a fast eater (i'm an extremely fast eater) slowing down or trying to chew more is good if you can make yourself do it (i'm not very good at that, but i try to try). keeping a food diary can be good if you think specific food triggers you more. (i don't really do much restriction but i'm aware that too much pizza or especially too much fried food can kind of guarantee mild issues (i try not to overeat these things and to listen to my body, but i do eat them regularly because i love them); beans are also a risky proposition (but i don't really like them so i don't mind).
in terms of over the counter medication, the one that i found most effective and least disruptive in terms of side effects was famotidine; it provided relatively quick relief and seemed to last longer. for more immediate action i think the tums tropical fruit calcium supplements are the most palatable version (they also have a formulation called meltaways which i remember being fine now). proton pump inhibiter medications like nexium/prilosec/prevacid are supposedly some of the most effective in terms of scientific study, but i found they really fucked with my body in terms of side effects and didn't seem to actually help (and the research on them has highlighted some potential problems). if you end up taking some form of calcium (i.e. tums or another supplement), in my experience it may be important to balance that out with magnesium, both for physical and mental health
(and also, try to not try a million things at once so you can see the impact of changing individual variables, but when you feel bad and you have the option it's sometimes hard to resist the kitchen sink approach)
hope this helps"
i'm thankful that i do not have to think about this particular body problem much anymore
On Sat, Jan 9, 2021 at 10:58 AM Justin Wolfe <justin.wolfe@gmail.com> wrote:
zing it as a sign of something worse because the inflammation from that stress just feeds it and makes it worseif you're a fast eater (i'm an extremely fast eater) slowing down or trying to chew more is good if you can make yourself do it (i'm not very good at that, but i try to try). keeping a food diary can be good if you think specific food triggers you more. (i don't really do much restriction but i'm aware that too much pizza or especially too much fried food can kind of guarantee mild issues (i try not to overeat these things and to listen to my body, but i do eat them regularly because i love them); beans are also a risky proposition (but i don't really like them so i don't mind).in terms of over the counter medication, the one that i found most effective and least disruptive in terms of side effects was famotidine. for more immediate action i think the tums tropical fruit calcium supplements are the most palatable version (they also have a formulation called meltaways which i remember being fine now). proton pump inhibiter medications like nexium/prilosec/prevacid are supposedly some of the most effective in terms of scientific study, but i found they really fucked with my body in terms of side effects and didn't seem to actually help (and the research on them has highlighted some potential problems).hope that helps!
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