Boil, Boil, Toil and Trouble!

Published on Friday, November 6, 2009 by Katherine

gastroparesis cures Those of you who know me certainly have seen me hold my belly and growl, “I HATE my stomach!!” My gastroparesis JUST MAKES ME MAD. We need food to live, correct? Well guess what… when you have a paralyzed stomach, food becomes your body’s enemy.

There is no cure. I’ve already blogged about my gastroparesis, so I won’t repeat myself. But after an amazing TWO WEEKS of eating REAL FOOD without TAKING AN IMPORTED PILL FROM BRAZIL, I am now MAD that my stomach is hurting again. MAD MAD MAD. But oh what a two weeks it has been.

I’m not sure what made me actually try to go without my “magic pill.” But I did. And ate a meal in FEAR. Real fear – not just “I’m writing creatively” fear. Seven minutes is usually the point where I start to feel the pain. So I went past seven minutes. To eight. And nine. Simply amazing. After another meal like this, I honestly became emotional. “I ate FOOD without a PILL!” WOW.

Unfortunately, women with gastroparesis often go up and down in levels of pain and nausea depending on their cycle. Hormones and GP are the very very BEST, or WORST of friends. Hormones go up, let the barfing begin.

But I’ve never been able to eat without that darned pill. And that pill scares me. I am afraid it will give me cancer. So two weeks without that pill was a trip to Disney.

I’ve been eating differently. When you have GP, you will try ANYTHING you read about, just to try to ease some of the symptoms. So I have a somewhat bizarre list of things I’ve been doing. And one of them has been working. Whatever it is can’t beat my current hormone surges, but for at least two weeks at a time I think I will be better than normal. Ready for my bizarre list? Here we go.

I am taking one Align every day.
I am starting my day with yogurt mixed with flax seed and hemp hearts.
I drink one green tea a day.
I take one fish oil pill a day.
I drink aloe twice a day, mixed with unfiltered, raw organic vinegar and a teaspoon of organic honey.
I eat about two tablespoons of nutritional yeast flakes a day for protein.
When I get nauseous I put a Nux Vomica under my tongue or eat a piece of ginger.
I’m working hard to keep pesticides and food additives out of my diet. And when I can afford it, I eat organic.

Kind of makes me sound like a crazy organic hippie lady, no? But like I said, when you have GP, you will try just about ANYTHING. I feel like I should put on a long denim skirt and clogs when I go to the organic health food store! <not>

So, are there any things you eat, drink or take that you would rather do behind closed doors? Do you have your own magic pill, concoction or home remedy that you swear by? Do tell!