Living Proof

"Why are they wearing HAZMAT suits?!?!" Lately, it has been quite the plethora of ailments that either led me into the doctor's office or the emergency room. Sometimes, I have a quiet spell of good luck. Well, that was hardly the case this month. I now just make jokes of it all, but it does get crazy from time to time. My list of ailments this month include: nightly myoclonic jolts, a gigantic boil behind my ear that infected my entire system giving me a high fever of 102, hot grease that was splattered into my left eye and last but not least, heartburn so bad, that it tore up my entire esophagus making it impossible to swallow. I started to vomit half dollar size globs of blood. The pain was so excruciating that there wasn't any way I could possibly sleep. The fact that I couldn't even sip water without it coming back up was a cause for alarm. The round-the-clock NSAIDs I use for my menstraul cramps (Advil) was the main culprit on top of stress. ( Read this a...

They say women are more complicated than men in terms of emotional and intellectual ways. We're over thinkers and obsess more than the average guy. But we're also more complicated in other ways, especially when it comes to a heart attack. For men, they get a chest pain. Bam! Heart attack. Simple. Easy to diagnose. For women, they can have a slight back pain, and that'll be the indicator of a heart attack. It's known as the "silent killer". We also get various other signs: jaw pain, chest pain that radiates in one or both arms and even good ol' heartburn. There's another ailment that plagues many hypochondriacs such as myself like costochondritis, which is an inflammation of a rib or the cartilage connecting a rib. It is a common cause of chest pain. I get this a lot, especially if I sleep on my left side at night. This pain is a sharp stab, usually in the upper left pectoral muscle which periodically hits a nerve that leads right down my arm into my ...

Got a headache? Take an Advil. Sneezing too much? Take some Claritin. Is your child a bit too hyper? Give em' Ritalin. Feeling sad? Take a Prozac. Feeling a bit tense? Take some Xanax. Is your dog down in the dumps too? Well, feel free to give your pooch a little antidepressant as well. I mean ...really? As I write this, I'm digesting two Advils for my headache and a Claritin for my allergies. Oh, I also took 1 mg of Ativan because I have anxiety disorder. The doctors told me to. When I wake up, I take Prilosec for my GERD. I've been on it for ...geesh... four years now, every. waking. morning. The box says no more than two weeks, but the doctor said  . . .  But the truth is, antipsychotics and antidepressants have become a huge part of many people's lives. People are misdiagnosed every single day being flung a prescription after a 15 minute chat about why they feel depressed. I don't think 15 minutes can determine whether or not someone needs medication to deal w...

It’s almost 9am and I’m sitting here with a cup of hot tea with honey and some toast. I can barely swallow because it hurts. I’ve always had a problem with heartburn in my life. I had an ulcer years ago which healed under a doctor’s care, but last night those pangs of agony struck again, as I found myself clutching my neck and chest screaming in pain. It was then I noticed that my scream was more like a loud whisper. I had lost my voice a bit and the burning sensation was awful. I took a Zantac to reduce the acid and it seemed to calm down a tad. Now I’m sitting here with the damaged goods, trying to swallow toast and having a difficult time. Acid Reflux Disease, also know as GERD ( Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease ) is so common among many people, but if left untreated can be actually really dangerous, in fact, even deadly. It can range from having surgery to even esophageal cancer. Most people pop an antacid and forget about it. But, it’s been way too long and I’ve had my shar...

The other day, I was reading what a fellow blogger, Ricardo was going through. He explained that he’s experiencing a lot of stress in his life, mainly work-related, and his doctor had diagnosed him with GERD , (gastro esophageal reflux disease). I know about this all too well because back in the beginning of 2006 up until the beginning of 2008, I was so stressed out, where my stomach starting giving me signs that enough was enough. From heartburn, indigestion, chest pains and severe stomach cramping, I ended up finding out I had GERD. My doctor first prescribed me Aciphex for the reflux. This medication is a potent form of the over-the-counter drug, Zantac. Although it did help, once I stopped the medication, my reflux and stomach problems quickly came back. Not too long afterwards, I started having pain so badly that I was taken to the doctor in an emergency. Once they knew it was an ulcer, they gave me a medication that would coat the ulcer and almost “cement it" so that no sto...