348: Acid Attack

A storm threatens with dark clouds and a distant rumble. Volcanic eruptions suggest impending doom with spews of ash. Like most calamities kind enough to give off a warning, my acid reflux starts with an unsettling burp that awakens me from a deep sleep.

The attack, as they call it probably because it's always on an offensive, came last week. Unbelievably early, too at 10 PM. Earlier that night I had sweet and sour pork, scrambled eggs, rice, and 7eleven's warm chocolate pudding. I saw them for about five minutes before they disappeared into my stomach.

For years I have carried with me all sorts of antacid and I'm alarmed that I've been doing it on a daily basis. I've tried almost every OTC remedies--Kremil S, Novalucid, Maalox, Pepto Bismol, Gaviscon, etc--and their variants whether it be chewables, tablets, suspension etc.

Hyperacidity can be easily managed with antacid. But there must be something wrong with me because a double dose of the meds can hardly keep up with the acid that burns my stomach.

There are triggers to this fireworks display.  Too much pepper or chilli, alcohol, cola, the list goes on.

(I started the above article last December, on the 30th to be exact, but I never finished it.  I have since found a treatment for my problem and it was effective.  I was on Ranitidine for three months and after that my acid problem was gone.  Until tonight.)

Tonight, the acid is back.  I don't have my usual friends to keep me safe.  I think I can still manage for a few more days before I need to go back to Ranitidine.

I remember the time I decided to go on medication.  I never go to doctors, by the way, which is not smart.  I woke up to an acid attack one night and it was probably the worst one I've had.  I started to puke almost everything.  And when there seemed to be nothing left to puke, I threw up the sole reason why I had the attack in the first place, the deadly hot chilli spice that laced a piece of KFC Hot Shot which I ate a day before.

What followed was an extensive information hunt online for my self-diagnosis.  The treatment pointed to a fairly simple and inexpensive drug.  Ranitidine is not an antacid.  It actually regulates the acid that your body produced such that in time you will no longer need the meds.  I wished then that I had known sooner that what I had was not merely an acid attack but a serious case of GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease).

This post was supposed to be part of a series I dubbed "Living Thirtysomething", a peek of what it means to be thirty.  But since the daily blog is underway, I guess everyday is thirtysomething day. 

Quick Question of the day: What's your drug and for what? 

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