Bloating is Miserable When Flying

Probably the most uncomfortable flight I ever had was one where I suffered bloating. As soon as the plane got up in the air, minor gas bubbles turned into severe bloating! I spent the entire 5-hour flight in severe pain. Finally when the plane descended the pain subsided.

Read: Bloating and gas are part of air travel.

Ouch! Mouth Sores...

Canker sores, fever blisters, cold sores... whatever they are, they are painful when they erupt on you gums!

One showed up a couple of weeks ago and I pretty much ignored it. (I tend to ignore pain unless it is pretty horrible.) Then a few days ago, another one erupted. That was a wake-up call that I need to do something different.

I found some Gly-oxide in the bathroom cabinet but it was out of date. So I went to the web. Since I wanted a non-commercial site, I first looked at a page from the National Institute of Dental Research (NIH). They have some tips for avoiding the sores:

• Use a lip-sunscreen. (I knew that sun bathing can set off these sores but haven't tried this tip. It makes sense.)
• Some investigators have suggested adding lysine to the diet or eliminating foods such as nuts, chocolate, seeds or gelatin. This is not thoroughly tested but I recently ate walnuts and remember that they set off cold sores before. Guess I will put the rest of them out for the squirrels!
• British studies show that, in about 20 percent of patients, canker sores are due partly to nutritional deficiencies, especially lack of vitamin B12, folic acid and iron.
• In a small percentage of patients, canker sores occur with gastrointestinal problems, such as an inability to digest certain cereals. Patients with food allergies can reduce the frequency of canker sores by avoiding those foods.
• If you have sores, avoid abrasive foods, acidic and spicy foods.

Sores due to herpes are contagious, but canker sores are not. Get a diagnosis if you haven't already.

Read the report here. For another site that includes home remedies, click here.

Eggs Not So High in Cholesterol as Thought

After decades of telling people that eggs are high in cholesterol, experts are finally saying that they aren't! This is good news for egg farmers and for anyone who likes a nutritious breakfast.

Read Dr. Katz's article about eggs in the Huffington Post.

Ivy, A Poem

Recently I found this on a slip of paper. I wrote it many years ago, long before I learned that ivy is considered an invasive plant here. Before I toss out the slip of paper, I want to share this:

Creeping in

like the ivy on the back door sill,

the first doubts.

Shall I cut them off?

No, better to tug them gently,

back to the roots

where they get sustenance from the soil.

Then cut them. Perhaps use the plant to decorate some barren spot.

Perhaps use my knowledge to look at myself

once again and learn.

Am I too high-minded

or too accepting?

Or just too high in expectations?

Ivy is a lovely plant.

Did I not encourage it to grow?

If I were to pull it all out,

I would be depriving myself of something

beautiful.

©2011

More on GERD

I've been trying to figure out why my prescription medications for GERD (reflux) stop working after a week or two. Could it be the herbal teas I drink o some food? I'm allergic to regular tea (both black and green) and coffee contributes to heartburn, so I drink mild herb teas. Only a few kinds actually, because many herb teas give me heartburn too.

I read that St. John's Wort might interact with Nexium, so that could have been why the Nexium stopped working for me. But even the experts don't seem sure about whether it really does or not!

What's definite is that St. John's Wort is a strong herb and can cause problems with some medicines. Read about interactions with both herbs and foods here. (The food list contains some surprises, so everyone on prescriptions should be familiar with it.)

I really like the taste of St. Johns Wort tea but I've given it up for now. The only herbal tea I've been able to drink lately has been Burdock Root tea. It's very mild and unfortunately has very little taste. But at least it doesn't seem to contribute to heartburn or nausea.

Meanwhile I've got a new prescription to pick up. This is the fourth one I've tried for GERD. They all make me feel worse than I did before I was diagnosed with GERD! I'm only getting one week's supply this time because wasted prescriptions are costing me a fortune!

PPI Blues

Two months ago I was diagnosed with GERD. It was a surprise to me but it showed up as irritation to the esophagus when I had an endoscopy.

The doctor gave me samples of Nexium. For about three weeks it worked well. I was able to eat a small amount of spicy food without a problem. (Okay, I had a problem with spicy food for a long time, but I didn't think of it as reflux disorder; I just figured I was sensitive to certain spices.)

Then the Nexium stopped working. I started getting nauseous after almost every meal, even non-spicy low-fat meals. So the doctor prescribed Omeprazole, another proton pump inhibitor (PPI).

It worked for a while but then I started getting nauseous again. Funny thing is I felt worse than before I even had the endoscopy! I called the doctor and he said to increase the dose.

That gave me side-effects: constipation and a sore throat. So they changed my prescription to Prevacid. Again, it worked at first. But it stopped and now I'm suffering with nausea and chest pain. Old-fashioned antacids like baking soda help some. But I wish I had never started on the PPI's!

You Can't See Chronic Pain

I came across a couple of websites of interest to people with "invisible" disabilities. One is the Invisible Disabilities Association. The other is But You Don't Look Sick. Thanks to this blog for the links.

Dogs Can Smell Gluten

USA Today spotlights a hardworking gluten-detection service dog.

I don't suppose my dog could do that... it would be useful. But my problem with hidden wheat is in restaurant food, and I can't imagine taking my dog into restaurants.

Obviously gluten has a distinct odor that dogs can detect. Why can't someone develop an instrument that detects it? Of course, if this were practical, the customs service would have instruments to detect all kinds of contraband. Dogs are awesome!