After my first appointment with Dr. Chen I started to feel really good. The pain in my right side went away and I was having less problem with reflux. I was confident that Dr. Chen had cured my reflux. Amazing! For the next week or so i got progressively better, then something changed. The pain in my right side slowly came back and my reflux issues came back. It was very distressing. I sent an email to Dr. Chen and asked to go see her. I made an appointment and went to see her that Friday.
After Dr. Chen checked my tongue and took my pulse, she was very unhappy with me and she told me so. She said that I should have gone to see her sooner, my treatment was not complete and now I had relapsed. She gave me a stern lecture about how Western people do not understand how Chinese medicine works. There are no magic bullets or drugs that seemingly make people instantly better. In fact, these things do not exist in Western medicine either but for some strange reason, Western people do believe that these things exists. In Chinese Medicine, you have to stay the course and go through as many acupuncture treatments and take as much herbal medicine as necessary. I listened to her lecture without protest because she was absolutely right. I should have known better because I did know enough about Chinese Medicine to be aware of all of the things that she said. The truth was, I was busy and I felt that the treatments and herbs that she gave were sufficient. One week slipped into two weeks and then three. In truth, the only reason I called her after three weeks was because I could not stand the pain on my right side.
Dr. Chen kept me for almost two hours that evening, by the time I left her office it was past 9:30 PM and she still had another patient after I left. Now that is true dedication! In addition to a thorough acupuncture treatment, she thoroughly questioned me on every aspect of my health and bodily function that anyone could possibly think of. She also did a complete physical examination of my abdominal area. Dr. Chen discovered the scars of my gall bladder operation and realized that I had by gall bladder removed. She seemed to feel that this was significant information and asked why I did not tell her before. I said that it did not occur to me that this was important information. I could clearly see that she was exasperated with me.
She gave me several different medicines to take and gave me explicit directions on how to take them. In Chinese Medicine there is no such thing as off the shelf medicine. Every prescription of herbal medicine is individually tailored to the patients specific illness and condition, so what Dr. Chen gave me and her instructions that she gave me might be completely different for someone else who had a similar ailment.
I felt good after I left her office, it was the effect of the acupuncture. Even without the beneficial effect of the herbal medicine, the acupuncture had a positive effect on my condition. I went home and slept very well that night which was unusual because I was getting up at least one a night to deal with the effects of nocturnal reflux which usually meant going to the bathroom to vomit.
The next morning, I drank Kombucha before I went to practice Qigong. Afterwards I ate a small bowl of congee then I ate breakfast with my wife. Before break fast I drank my herbal medicine in a glass of warm water. I went on to drink my herbal medicine three times a day, before every meal. Dr. Chen also gave me goji berries to eat with my congee in the morning. since the goji berries are dried I soaked them in water before I added them to my congee. I only added to them after I heated up the congee because I didn't want to do anything to diminish the beneficial effects of the goji berries.I followed Dr. Chen's directions explicitly and took the medicine exactly as she prescribed it.
The next day the pain in my side improved but still did not disappear. I was feeling better but all my symptoms had not disappeared. I was looking forward to my appointment with Dr. Chen on the following Tuesday.
Showing posts with label reflux. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reflux. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Monday, March 2, 2015
Reflux and Diet
Acupuncture helped my LPR but I still had it. I had been reading that diet could help. After some searching in the library I found a book with an interesting title, "Dropping Acid: The Reflux Diet, Cookbook and Cure", By Jamie Koufman, M.D. and Jordan Stern, M.D. with French Master Chef Marc Bauer. Dropping-Acid-Reflux-Diet-Cookbook
One of the first things that I learned from this book was that it is not stomach acid that is the problem, it is actually a digestive enzyme called pepsin Pepsin. Pepsin only works when acid is present and it does not care what acid it uses. It will use the acid in our food or it will attack the lining of the throat or esophagus. The authors go on to show the damage that pepsin can do to a body consuming highly acidic foods.
The book gives some steps to get immediate relief from reflux.
1) Don't smoke, it causes reflux.
2) Don't wear tight clothing. especially around the waist.
3) Do not exercise right after eating
4) Do not lie down right after eating, do not eat within 3 hours of bedtime.
5) Elevate the head of your bed if you experience reflux at night.
In the diet section of Dropping Acid, the authors go through , "The Best Foods List", "Best Foods for Refluxer", "Notoriously Bad Reflux Foods". There is a chapter on avoiding acidic foods and beverages. I found that chapter to be especially useful, it has list of the pH of good and bad foods.We did not try them all but the recipes that we did try were very good.
I went through their two week "Induction Diet" and I can say that it further helped reduce my symptoms. I was very much aware of what I could eat and what I could not eat. Basically, any food or beverage with a pH pH less than 5 was off limits. That includes a whole lot foods that I used to eat and enjoy. There were some foods that the diet said I couldn't eat but I could eat them, and other things that I was supposed to be able to eat, but made the reflux worse. I came to realize that this disease has some personal characteristics that you can only come to know through trial and error.
Tomatoes are one of the worst things for reflux, not only tomatoes but tomato sauce, tomato paste, salsa, virtually anything that has a tomato base. I never realized how many foods that we eat that are tomato based or have some sauce or aspect of the dish that contains tomatoes. Like many people in North America, we eat pasta. I would say in a normal week, we would eat pasta at least once, maybe twice and it would usually be pasta with tomato sauce. My wife went to great lengths to come up with a viable pasta dish that was not tomato based. I think she did a great job, I really enjoy the dish that she made and I hope you will too.
I would recommend this book to anyone. It is informative and offers a way to manage reflux without taking drugs. Speaking of drugs, I will write about my experience with reflux drugs in my next post.
Linguine with Clam Sauce
1/2 pound linguine or spaghetti
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme or 1/4 tsp. fresh thyme
salt & pepper
1 - 7 oz can of clams
Bring a large pot of water to boil to cook the spaghetti, add about a tablespoon of salt to the water. Cook according to the package directions until the pasta is tender but not fully cooked. Drain.
While the pasta is cooking, in a large saute pan add olive oil. Cooking garlic for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Stir in wine, thyme and clam juice from the can. Cook for about 2-3 minutes until the liquid comes to a boil. Stir in clams, season with salt and pepper to taste. Add pasta and toss with tongs. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
One of the first things that I learned from this book was that it is not stomach acid that is the problem, it is actually a digestive enzyme called pepsin Pepsin. Pepsin only works when acid is present and it does not care what acid it uses. It will use the acid in our food or it will attack the lining of the throat or esophagus. The authors go on to show the damage that pepsin can do to a body consuming highly acidic foods.
The book gives some steps to get immediate relief from reflux.
1) Don't smoke, it causes reflux.
2) Don't wear tight clothing. especially around the waist.
3) Do not exercise right after eating
4) Do not lie down right after eating, do not eat within 3 hours of bedtime.
5) Elevate the head of your bed if you experience reflux at night.
In the diet section of Dropping Acid, the authors go through , "The Best Foods List", "Best Foods for Refluxer", "Notoriously Bad Reflux Foods". There is a chapter on avoiding acidic foods and beverages. I found that chapter to be especially useful, it has list of the pH of good and bad foods.We did not try them all but the recipes that we did try were very good.
I went through their two week "Induction Diet" and I can say that it further helped reduce my symptoms. I was very much aware of what I could eat and what I could not eat. Basically, any food or beverage with a pH pH less than 5 was off limits. That includes a whole lot foods that I used to eat and enjoy. There were some foods that the diet said I couldn't eat but I could eat them, and other things that I was supposed to be able to eat, but made the reflux worse. I came to realize that this disease has some personal characteristics that you can only come to know through trial and error.
Tomatoes are one of the worst things for reflux, not only tomatoes but tomato sauce, tomato paste, salsa, virtually anything that has a tomato base. I never realized how many foods that we eat that are tomato based or have some sauce or aspect of the dish that contains tomatoes. Like many people in North America, we eat pasta. I would say in a normal week, we would eat pasta at least once, maybe twice and it would usually be pasta with tomato sauce. My wife went to great lengths to come up with a viable pasta dish that was not tomato based. I think she did a great job, I really enjoy the dish that she made and I hope you will too.
I would recommend this book to anyone. It is informative and offers a way to manage reflux without taking drugs. Speaking of drugs, I will write about my experience with reflux drugs in my next post.
Linguine with Clam Sauce
1/2 pound linguine or spaghetti
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme or 1/4 tsp. fresh thyme
salt & pepper
1 - 7 oz can of clams
Bring a large pot of water to boil to cook the spaghetti, add about a tablespoon of salt to the water. Cook according to the package directions until the pasta is tender but not fully cooked. Drain.
While the pasta is cooking, in a large saute pan add olive oil. Cooking garlic for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Stir in wine, thyme and clam juice from the can. Cook for about 2-3 minutes until the liquid comes to a boil. Stir in clams, season with salt and pepper to taste. Add pasta and toss with tongs. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
NOT THE THANKSGIVING THAT I HAD PLANNED FOR
In my first post I wrote about the experience I had during the lunch that my wife and I hosted last September. In the days and weeks after the lunch I continued to have indigestion and an upset stomach from time to time. Often, I would get hiccups during meals to the point where I was having hiccups at almost every meal. I was distressing. Still, I had no idea of what was going on. I thought I was stressed at work which was true but I could not understand how that was affecting my eating.
Jump forward to Thanksgiving. Like everyone else, we make a big deal out of Thanksgiving dinner. The family came for Thanksgiving dinner. I remember that I had spent the better part of the afternoon in my workshop working on a few projects. When I came in before dinner everyone was already engaged in eating appetizers. I was hungry from working in my shop so I dug into the cheese and crackers. I remember that I ate my fill of cheese and crackers before dinner.
As I said, Thanksgiving dinner was a big affair for us. We had roast duck, sweet potatoes with pecans, salad, and bread. We also had a bottle of champagne to celebrate the occasion. About half way through the meal I started to have problems. I could hardly get the food down my throat because of the phlegm coming up my throat. Then, I started to get pains in my right side. I tried not to make a big deal of it because I did not want to ruin everyone's Thanksgiving dinner.
The next morning, the pain had not gone away, in fact, it had gotten worse, a lot worse. Since it was Sunday, we decided to go to the walk-in clinic. We went right after breakfast thinking that I would be in and out with a prescription to cure my indigestion, or whatever was ailing me and that would be that. We were totally unprepared for what happened next.
I did not wait long at the walk-in clinic, there were not that many there on Sunday morning. I was thankful for that. The attending doctor examined me then told me that I had to go to ER.
Here's a recipe from my Thanksgiving Dinner, it went down pretty easy.
6 tablespoons butter, cut into 6 pieces
8 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup water
Pecan Topping
1 1/2 cups pecan pieces, toasted in an oven for 5 minutes
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg white
1/8 teaspoon salt
Melt butter in a large pot, or a deep skillet over medium heat. Add sweet potatoes, brown sugar, salt, pepper and water, bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low; cover. Cooke for 30 to 45 minutes until the potatoes are soft enough to mash. Take the cover off, continue to simmer until all most of the liquid has evaporated. Around 10 minutes more. Mash potatoes and place into a baking dish around 8 x 8 inches.
Topping: Mix everything together for the topping in a separate bowl.
Spread topping over the mashed potatoes. Bake until the pecans are toasted and potatoes are warm. Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes, longer if the potatoes are cold. Serve.
Here's a recipe from my Thanksgiving Dinner, it went down pretty easy.
Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Pecans
6 tablespoons butter, cut into 6 pieces
8 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup water
Pecan Topping
1 1/2 cups pecan pieces, toasted in an oven for 5 minutes
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg white
1/8 teaspoon salt
Melt butter in a large pot, or a deep skillet over medium heat. Add sweet potatoes, brown sugar, salt, pepper and water, bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low; cover. Cooke for 30 to 45 minutes until the potatoes are soft enough to mash. Take the cover off, continue to simmer until all most of the liquid has evaporated. Around 10 minutes more. Mash potatoes and place into a baking dish around 8 x 8 inches.
Topping: Mix everything together for the topping in a separate bowl.
Spread topping over the mashed potatoes. Bake until the pecans are toasted and potatoes are warm. Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes, longer if the potatoes are cold. Serve.
Monday, January 26, 2015
THE BEGINNING OF THE TALE
I first noticed that something was wrong at a luncheon that my wife and I hosted one Saturday in September of 2014. We had a few friends and neighbors at our house for lunch. We had appetizers of cheese and crackers, vegetables and dip, and drinks before lunch. there was lot of conversation and everyone was having a good time, including me.
Then it was time to sit for lunch. It was quite a healthy lunch, my wife and I are mostly vegetarian so we served a variety of vegetables and other items. We started with a green salad, sliced roast beef and salami for our guests (just because we eat vegetarian there is no reason that our guests have to!), cheese and olive bread, butternut squash soup, smoked salmon and a freshly baked raspberry tart for dessert along with tea and or coffee.
I first noticed that I gagged on the freshly made raspberry dressing for the salad. The salad actually stuck in my throat just when someone asked me a question. It took a while to clear my throat before I could speak. I thought it was odd at the time but I did not think more of it. The soup went down without any problem and I had a small piece of salmon that was absolutely delicious and easy to swallow. However, I a some preserved fig on a piece of bread. As soon as the fig hit the back of my throat and I tasted the vinegary flavor my throat closed up. I picked up my glass of wine to wash the fig down but it only made the matters worse. I actually had to get up from the table and go to the bathroom to clear the phlegm from my throat.
The entire episode was a mystery to me. I thought that I cold or something like that was causing all of this congestion and phlegm to collect in my throat. I had no idea of where this was going to lead me and how long it would be before I found help for my issue.
This blog is a collaboration between my wife and I. I will provide the story about my ordeal with reflux Gastroesophageal_reflux_disease and how I eventually got help with my condition. My wife will provide recipes with every post because as you will see in subsequent posts, the food that I eat will be critical to my ability to deal with reflux.
In the next post I will continue the story about my life with reflux.
Here is a recipe that my wife make for that is easy on the stomach and is easily digestible. It is relatively easy to make.
Plain Congee
1/2 cup rice
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 cups water or broth
soy sauce to taste.
In a dutch oven place all the ingredients except for the soy sauce. Bring the mixture up to a boil and turn the heat down to simmer and cook until the rice is very soft and the whole mixture has thickened. About 1 to 2 hours.
Variation: Ground Beef or Ground chicken can be added. Vary the amount of meat to suit your taste, you can add as much or as little according to your own taste. Along with sliced green onions as a garnish.
Then it was time to sit for lunch. It was quite a healthy lunch, my wife and I are mostly vegetarian so we served a variety of vegetables and other items. We started with a green salad, sliced roast beef and salami for our guests (just because we eat vegetarian there is no reason that our guests have to!), cheese and olive bread, butternut squash soup, smoked salmon and a freshly baked raspberry tart for dessert along with tea and or coffee.
I first noticed that I gagged on the freshly made raspberry dressing for the salad. The salad actually stuck in my throat just when someone asked me a question. It took a while to clear my throat before I could speak. I thought it was odd at the time but I did not think more of it. The soup went down without any problem and I had a small piece of salmon that was absolutely delicious and easy to swallow. However, I a some preserved fig on a piece of bread. As soon as the fig hit the back of my throat and I tasted the vinegary flavor my throat closed up. I picked up my glass of wine to wash the fig down but it only made the matters worse. I actually had to get up from the table and go to the bathroom to clear the phlegm from my throat.
The entire episode was a mystery to me. I thought that I cold or something like that was causing all of this congestion and phlegm to collect in my throat. I had no idea of where this was going to lead me and how long it would be before I found help for my issue.
This blog is a collaboration between my wife and I. I will provide the story about my ordeal with reflux Gastroesophageal_reflux_disease and how I eventually got help with my condition. My wife will provide recipes with every post because as you will see in subsequent posts, the food that I eat will be critical to my ability to deal with reflux.
In the next post I will continue the story about my life with reflux.
Here is a recipe that my wife make for that is easy on the stomach and is easily digestible. It is relatively easy to make.
Plain Congee
1/2 cup rice
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 cups water or broth
soy sauce to taste.
In a dutch oven place all the ingredients except for the soy sauce. Bring the mixture up to a boil and turn the heat down to simmer and cook until the rice is very soft and the whole mixture has thickened. About 1 to 2 hours.
Variation: Ground Beef or Ground chicken can be added. Vary the amount of meat to suit your taste, you can add as much or as little according to your own taste. Along with sliced green onions as a garnish.
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