Stomach Woes (Part 2)

Before I went to see this new doctor, I saw that he wrote a lot of articles about the gut. He also uses the trans-nasal endoscopy method which is scoping the stomach through the nose. I've never heard of this before!

So the appointment day came and I went to see him. 

He was very attentive, patient and thorough. He asked about my gut history and listened like how Mr. Gastro did when I first saw him. 

Not only did he listen, he explained the works of the gut and how he had to do a endoscopy and colonoscopy to make sure nothing was wrong with my gut before moving on to solving my stomach woes. He drew diagrams and explained how the gut works and how all the digestive parts are interlinked to each other and how symptoms in one part could be totally something else instead. 

The best part was he does not want his patients sedated during the endoscopy and colonoscopy because he wants them to be aware and ask him questions! He wants to educate his patients. 

Wow!

This was the first time I was hearing this. 

He was very alert as he noticed that I was wearing a Medic Alert bracelet. He then asked me about the history of my allergies. 

He is also a doctor who does not want his patients to suffer. Thus, the drinking of the gasoline-tasting-diarrhoea-inducing-drink was not to be taken at night. I was to be in the hospital by 7am and I would start the drinking then. He did not want his patients to be up all night shitting their guts out and then be like the Walking Dead in the morning before the scope has even started. 

The day before the scope, I received a phone call from the nurse. She instructed me to only have porridge the whole day and to stop eating after dinner. I was not to have any fruits, vegetables or dairy products. Only fish or chicken porridge. 

I took an Aerius after lunch to safeguard myself since Lydocaine could no longer be found in Malaysia. I had to have a different numbing spray: Cophenylcaine. This was taught by Dr. Yadav my immunologist/allergist. 

When I arrived at the endoscopy department, the nurse took some blood for tests and left the IV needle in my right hand. They said that the doctor had told them about my allergies and they had prepared hydrocortisone just in case I became allergic to the nasal spray. She then instructed me to finish drinking the 1st bottle of Fortrans within 1 hour! And then I was to proceed with the 2nd bottle. 

Before I was even done with the second bottle, my bowels were cleared. And it was done within two hours.

I then went into the room to be scoped. The nurse placed my Epi-Pens on the table next to me (which was a first time!). 

And then I heard heavy metal music! I wondered whether I had shat my guts out to the point that I was hallucinating. It turned out that this gastroenterologist loves heavy metal music and he played Iron Maiden while he scoped me. 

The doctor then started with the colonoscopy first. He uses the pediatric size scope! Less discomfort and the accuracy and function is as good as the dinosaur-sized scope. Halfway through the scope as the colonoscopy tube was turning in my intestines, I suddenly felt a very sharp pain. I immediately grabbed the railing of the bed like I always did back with Rock Star. This doctor immediately stopped and told me to relax and not grab the railings. By doing so, I would clamp up and that would make the scope painful. He then asked me to point to him the location of the pain. He then pulled the scope out and slowly moved in again on the opposite side of the colon. There was no pain and he continued. It took about a bit more than 10 minutes to finish the colonoscopy. He explained a lot and told me what he was looking for as the scope was going on. I asked a lot of questions too. 

And then the nurses turned the bed around while he changed his gloves and gown. 

He then checked which of my nostrils had a clearer passage. After he had determined that my right nostril was the way the scope would go in, he sprayed Cophenylcaine and waited for 5 minutes for any allergy reaction. Once 5 minutes passed with no allergy reaction, he then sprayed 4 to 5 times at an interval of every 5 minutes. The spray was a decongestant and also a numbing agent. 

He then placed the trans-nasal endoscopy (which is less than 6mm in diameter) into my right nose. I could SPEAK as he did this scope. I did not gag. There was no horrible discomfort of the giant tube going down the esophagus. He showed me the back of my nasal cavities, my voice box, my esophagus and my stomach. 

My stomach was inflamed! It looked like I had measles inside my stomach. 

I had no H pylori, no ulcers and no bleeding. He had no idea why my stomach was inflamed too. It could have been triggered by the chicken pox and my stomach just couldn't heal. All biopsies were clear. 

I was placed on two months of Pariet which is a PPI. And he told me to cut down on VEGETABLES! He believed that the amount of vegetables that I was eating was the culprit to my IBS. I was hesitant as I needed the vegetables to poop. He told me to bulk up on fibre and increase my liquid intake. 

"DRINK LOADS OF WATER!" was his advice. 

With nothing else to lose, I embarked on a 'less-vegetable-diet'. The IBS actually settled! I became almost normal. Plus with the PPI, the upper middle abdomen pain which I had 24/7 for 8 months lessened. As the days and weeks went by, I had bigger pockets of pain-free period. I could eat again. The only set-back was going to the toilet, wasn't as smooth and short as before. The doctor said I had to experiment and find out what works best for me. As I experiment, he would guide me and work together with me to help me get back my life on track. Even if it's not 100%, it would at least be better than what I was. Of course I would be lying if I said I wasn't sceptical. But he said one must have hope. I replied that I've been hoping for so many years now that I've reached the stage of complete burnt out. He told me to take it easy and to try again.

And so that's what I have been doing. 

(I did not have any side effects from the spray nor the trans-nasal endoscopy.)

Here is the the LINK to go to if you are in Malaysia and in need of a gastroenterologist.

Click HERE to read his article on 5 Foods You Don't Have to Cut Out From Your Diet in 2018!

Click HERE to read his article on More Than One Way to the Stomach.

Click HERE to read his article on To the Stomach and Beyond - Via the Nostril?

..... to be continued

Trekking On

Today is the 58th day of being free from PPIs. It is the 49th day of being Xyzal free!

I now realise that the garlic which I had thought to have caused me to have gastric/reflux is actually an IBS symptom. Garlic is a definite high on the FODMAP food list. I've also been eating BREAD! Yes, I couldn't resist the temptation of bread. It was like I died and went to bread heaven. Again, this is high on the FODMAP diet. But one needs to know the amount that one can take before the IBS symptoms start to manifest. And the new gastro told me that I have to experiment and know my limit as everyone is different. Most of the time, it was the IBS that pushed the gas up to the stomach which then pushed the acid up to the esophagus. Once I had my food under control, there wasn't any IBS or 'reflux'.

I still get random itches here and there now and then. The good news is that the craving for Xyzal has lessened a lot. I've been consuming quite a lot of food high on the salicylate list. I've had broccoli, spinach, okra, corn, curry, turmeric and etc. I overdid it and my bucket overflowed. I had a nasty reaction two days ago and I had to take two piritons to help settle this episode. Well, it's back to low salicylate diet again for now. But I am so happy that today, I am able to tolerate better high levels of salicylate in food.

Will be working towards experimenting outside food in the future. But for now, it's still maintaining being drug-free and symptom-free.

The beginning of this journey: 1000 Kilometres and Candida

The second part of this journey: Candida & Dr. Yadav

The third part of this journey: Pain & Rock Star No More (Part One)

The fourth part of this journey: Pain & Rock Star No More (Part Two)

The fifth part of this journey: The New Hell Called Steroids!

The sixth part of this journey: Onward, Forward, No Looking Back

The seventh part of this journey: Moving On

Onward, Forward, No Looking Back

I went back to see Dr. Yadav two weeks after I first saw him in April. My results came back negative. I did not have cockroach allergy. He also tested for dust mites and all of them came back negative. My IgE was also at its lowest ever in history: 15. His conclusion was that I was 'extra-sensitive' to the bites. Usually people take about 2 months to overcome this kind of bites. It took me 7 months.

Dr. Yadav said that I've gotten very much stronger and that it was time to wean off Xyzal. I told him that I've attempted to do that many times but it has always failed. He adviced me to taper off slowly. In the past, I've attempted that but somehow no matter how I tried, it always failed. One day of no Xyzal would result in such terrible itching that I would immediately take Xyzal again to stop the maddening itch. I had even tapered from 2 tablets to 1/4 over the course of almost a year and yet I couldn't wean off it. The 'attack of the itch' was so relentless.

Dr. Yadav was worried about how it would affect my liver and kidneys as 8 years is a long, long time to be on Xyzal. No matter how 'safe' the doctors and pharmaceutical industry claim it to be, it is still medication. The liver and kidneys still need to work hard to detoxify. Add Nexium (PPI) (20 years) to the list and my system has been flooded with a very 'toxic' concoction.

This was further confirmed by the new gastro guy that I have to wean off PPIs and only use it when GERD strikes. 20 years is too long a time to be on PPIs. The damage it can cause to the liver, kidneys and bones is terrible. I'm 'lucky' that I am still fine. I hope that I will be fine until the day I die.

What new gastro said made sense but I needed to experiment to see whether he was right in his diagnosis. I became more aware of the FODMAP food that I put in my mouth. I kept a food diary once again and noted down all the reactions concerning my gut.

22nd of May 2017 was the day I stopped the PPI. New gastro guy had switched me to Controlloc for two weeks earlier and it still did not give me relief where reflux was concerned. I avoided all food with FODMAP. And I began scrutinising what I ate.

It suddenly dawned on me what was causing the 'gastric-like' pain and gassiness.

BROWN RICE.

I knew that brown rice gave me indigestion when I ate it. But when I went gluten-free 2 years back to heal my stomach, I substituted white rice flour with brown rice flour which I ground myself with the TMX. Brown rice is supposed to be healthier! New gastro guy also did share with me that he had one patient who had diarrhoea for many years a few times a day. He had placed him on FODMAP diet but yet he did not get any better. He went through the old man's food diary and told him to stop brown rice. He was well for the first time in so many years. No more diarrhoea. He could eat whatever he wanted, do whatever he wanted and go wherever he wanted! Brown rice is allowed on the FODMAP diet but yet the old man could not take it. New gastro guy said that each and every one of us is different. We need to experiment what works for us.

The pain, gassiness and IBS symptoms disappeared the moment I stopped using the brown rice flour for my baking. The stomach was so quiet. I adhered to the FODMAP diet. Even without PPIs, I did not have reflux. This meant that new gastro guy's theory was right!

I cut my Xyzal into half and was on half dose since April. On the 31st of May 2017, I stopped my Xyzal. This was actually by accident. I was so busy that I had forgotten to take it. And then 1 1/2 days later, I realised that I wasn't itching. Usually before one day was over, I would be in severe, antagonizing itch.

Don't believe me how bad it can get?

Read this LINK.

Zrytec and Xyzal are related. Zrytec is Cetirizine. Xyzal is Levocetirizine.

Click on LINK.

I thought to myself, since I wasn't itching even after 1 1/2 days have passed, why not go on to see whether I could wean off Xyzal?

I stopped eating eggs, prawns and fish as they are high in histamine. I also stopped every experimentation that I was doing and had planned to do during this time. I went back to living 8 years ago - strict with minimal exposure to chemicals and salicylates.

Day 2

Dear God.

My body decided it was time to protest about the absence of Xyzal. And it decided to do so in a very loud and annoying manner. The itch came like a tidal wave. No. Let me rephrase that. It came like a tsunami. The itch was so terrible that I wanted to gauge my eyes out, yank my hair out, scratch my skin until I could reach the insides of the bones. I wanted to dig my organs out. I had one foot inside the boat of insanity. I was going back and forth to my medication box the whole day.

"Should I? Should I not?"

"Should I? Should I not?"

"Should I? Should I not?"

I felt I was being swallowed alive by a pond of thorns.

My son wanted to hug me. I told him not to even touch me even with one strand of his hair. I felt like I was on FIRE. No words can describe the severe itching that one has to go through while going off this drug. Why did no one tell me about this?????

Never in my entire life had I felt this level of desperation. The battle in my mind was intense. I was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

"God, the itch."

"God, I want to die."

"God, I think I can't wean off Xyzal. I think I'm doomed for life."

"God, I've tried so many times and yet I've failed to get off this drug."

"God, I want to die."

"I am defeated."

I had the 'shakings', cold sweat and desperation like a drug addict. I felt ill. Really ill.

And yet my iron will helped me through. I hung on stubbornly and refused to let go. I've never been off Xyzal for two days during these 8 years. Let's see how Day 3 will go.

Day 3

I felt like I was being surrounded by Batman's Joker. I could hear his voice taunting me. I could feel that I was already in the abyss of insanity.

"Dear God, I think I am already dead."

Back and forth whole day again to the medicine box.

"Should I? Should I not?"

"Should I? Should I not?"

"Should I? Should I not?"

"Should I? Should I not?"

"Dear God, just kill me."

"I'm dead."

I took out Xyzal from the medication box and stared at it. I was defeated. I felt so down.

Remember how I said that whenever I was in a dark tunnel, I would always envision light at the end of the tunnel? I couldn't at this point of time. It was just darkness with Joker's laughter echoing on and on all around me. It felt like I was surrounded by insanity.

And then suddenly at about 4pm, a tiny ray of light shone into the dark tunnel.

There was a short window where the itch had actually stopped.

That gave me enough strength to go on.

I slept through that night and it was a very deep and refreshing sleep.

Day 4

The itch continued to torment me. But the intensity had lessened very much. But my mind was going crazy. I kept going to the medicine box as today every atom, nucleus and fibre in my being were screaming,

"WE WANT XYZAL!"

I felt this severe craving for it. Like a pregnant woman with a severe pica. Everything in me was crying out loud for Xyzal.

But the itch was subsiding and I even had 2 hours plus itch-free. That was a very good sign indeed. I needed to reign in my mind and tell myself that I can do this and it will soon be over. I kept on seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

The body started breaking out in boils at random places. My ear lobes, my scalp, my feet were breaking out in boils. Ulcers too started popping up on the tonsils, at the tip of the tongue and many places in the mouth.

Honestly, I'm drained emotionally and mentally.

We shall see how Day 5 shall go. Keeping fingers crossed.

(...to be continued)

The beginning of this journey: 1000 Kilometres and Candida

The second part of this journey: Candida & Dr. Yadav

The third part of this journey: Pain & Rock Star No More (Part One)

The fourth part of this journey: Pain & Rock Star No More (Part Two)

The fifth part of this journey: The New Hell Called Steroids!