Human Test Tube

Got into see a doc who, based on my history, ruled out bacterial or parasitic infection (no fever or diarrhea) and gallstones (no sharp abdominal pain) and presumes I have viral enteritis (viral flu in the GI tract) and elevated gastric acid production. Rather than performing diagnostic tests to rule out H. Pylori Bacter, she wants me to take 2 weeks worth of prilosec to eliminate the symptoms of belching and sour stomach. I have reluctantly consented to do this, although I am not real keen on the insurance-influenced approach of treat first with OTC drugs that the patient pays for, run more costly diagnostics later if and only if the drugs don't work. In other words, my body is the test tube. What is worse in this scenario is that the Prilosec WILL mask the symptoms of belching and sour tummy because it WILL decrease the production of my gastric acid, but how does that affect my overall digestion and absorption of nutrients?? I will do this for 2 weeks only and if the symptoms recur, I'll go to my regular doctor and insist on at least some stool and blood testing.

While at the medical clinic, I also learned that my weight dropped to 130! Good grief! I have not weighed this little in YEARS. I can't attribute this recent weight loss to The O2 Diet, though. This is all about being afraid to eat much of anything. I CERTAINLY don't want to drop any more pounds, so I just ate a "power snack" of plain nonfat yogurt and some strawberries with a little drizzle of chocolate. Perhaps Keri Glassman would call that a power snack with a conscious indulgence. Whatever. Little by little, day by day, I hope to add elements of the O2 Diet back into my challenged gut. Tonight I will have a salad with artichoke hearts, asparagus and chicken.

Oh yeah, get this: The doc handed me a sheet of paper that says I am to avoid caffeine (yep, green tea, coffee, chocolate), alcohol, pepper, peppermint, spearmint, aspirin and ibuprofen, acidic foods (citrus and tomatoes), "highly spiced foods" (what does that mean? cinnamon and oregano or just chili pepper hot spiced foods? garlic?), and a plethora of other things. Looks like I will be getting my ORAC points through fruits, vegetables and pecans, although I'm going to research to see if cinnamon and oregano, two really high ORAC value spices, trigger acid production. If they don't, I'm gonna need em if I hope to attain my 30,000 ORACS daily!

Perhaps Ms. Glassman could provide some advise for the many many Americans who suffer from increased gastric acid production.....