I Never Could Get the Hang of Wednesdays
On Wednesday, June 29th, I had a massage in the morning, then ate a boiled egg at work. Around the time I finished the egg, the upwelling of mucus let me know that my stomach was not pleased with the choice. Over several trips to the bathroom, I eliminated that egg. I tried to have lunch over several hours in the afternoon, but ended up vomiting most of that. We went to the ER that evening, 'cause I had nothing better to do, and they didn't see any urgent issues. I was kind of dehydrated, so they gave me two IV bags of saline. The next day was pretty rough, though I was able to eat some non-offensive mung bean porridge and take a nap.
That Friday, I had an appointment with my gastroenterologist. When I told her I'd been taking meloxicam for chronic inflammation, she immediately recommended against it, due to negative NSAID interactions with the stomach. I stopped taking it, and was able to eat somewhat normally over the long weekend.
The following Wednesday, July 6th, I got to work and had a plate of scrambled eggs. That too led to several hours of mucus reflux and slow ejection of egg from my stomach and esophagus. Noting that the two commonalities between the vomiting episodes were eggs and Wednesday, I added the former to my growing list of speculative dietary restrictions.
In late July, I had a colonoscopy (all indicators normal) and endoscopy. They dilated my esophagus, which led to three blissful days during which I could eat like my former self. Unfortunately, that Friday I had an acid reflux issue while getting off my bike, then a return to the vomiting and mucus problem, and once more to the constricted esophagus. Bah.
That weekend, I started taking curcumin (turmeric) supplements, recommended by my podiatrist as a non-NSAID anti-inflammatory. During the winter and early spring I'd been consuming a bunch of turmeric by way of chai (not to mention a tamarind-turmeric pie or three), but a crock pot of hot liquids is less enticing during hot weather.
On 8/8 I had a medical hat trick: follow-up visits with the podiatrist, gastroenterologist, and rheumatologist. The latter two cautioned against turmeric as an NSAID replacement, noting that it works on the same pathways as NSAIDS. (It's a COX inhibitor.) So I stopped taking the supplement.
This Wednesday I had another bout of "Your next several hours will be punctuated by ejecting mucus," brought on by a delicious side of cardamom rice. "WTF, am I allergic to Wednesdays?" I wondered. I checked the ingredients today, though, and noticed it had turmeric in it.
All righty then. Add turmeric (and by extension curry) to my dietary restriction list, along with eggs, spicy things, bready things, milk, steak, and anti-inflammatory drugs. And maybe be extra careful on Wednesdays?
This evening, I started wondering: if turmeric is a problem, are there other anti-inflammatory foods I should avoid? I found this nice open access paper on natural anti-inflammatory agents which explained the pathway for several of them. COX inhibitors (NSAIDs and turmeric) can produce stomach problems, particularly when they affect COX-1, which "promotes the production of the natural mucus lining that protects the inner stomach and contributes to reduced acid secretion". Fortunately fish oil isn't a COX inhibitor (it sounds like it gets COX to generate anti-inflammatory prostaglandins which in turn inhibit inflammatory cytokines. There are some herbs which inhibit NF-κB-green tea, maritime pine bark, red wine grapes, cat's claw, and chili peppers. It sounds like NF-κB may inhibit COX-2, not sure about COX-1. (There's also frankincense which inhibits 5-LOX, which I don't yet understand.)
After kinda-grokking all that medical jargon, I had a couple insights.
First, if I pursue a pro-inflammatory diet, would that stimulate my COX-1 response and help rebuild my stomach's mucus and reduce acid issues?
Second, maybe my health focus should be finding the ideal anti- and pro-inflammatory mixture. I've got an inflammatory chronic disease, and too much inflammation leads to serious acute problems. But I think I'm learning some of the ways that inflammation serves a vital role in my health. Fortunately I'm a Taoist; I've got the mental framework to wobble down this path.
At a family reunion for the Minnesota-Norwegian branch of my tree last month, one of my dad's cousin said there was a high incidence of autoimmune disorders in the Peterson family. Yet also, all the great aunts and uncles either died suddenly at 72 or lived into their late 90s, with two or three centenarians. They grew up on a farm and spent their lives eating flour and lard. Maybe I need to work pastries back into my diet. If only I didn't have trouble swallowing bready substances…
That Friday, I had an appointment with my gastroenterologist. When I told her I'd been taking meloxicam for chronic inflammation, she immediately recommended against it, due to negative NSAID interactions with the stomach. I stopped taking it, and was able to eat somewhat normally over the long weekend.
The following Wednesday, July 6th, I got to work and had a plate of scrambled eggs. That too led to several hours of mucus reflux and slow ejection of egg from my stomach and esophagus. Noting that the two commonalities between the vomiting episodes were eggs and Wednesday, I added the former to my growing list of speculative dietary restrictions.
In late July, I had a colonoscopy (all indicators normal) and endoscopy. They dilated my esophagus, which led to three blissful days during which I could eat like my former self. Unfortunately, that Friday I had an acid reflux issue while getting off my bike, then a return to the vomiting and mucus problem, and once more to the constricted esophagus. Bah.
That weekend, I started taking curcumin (turmeric) supplements, recommended by my podiatrist as a non-NSAID anti-inflammatory. During the winter and early spring I'd been consuming a bunch of turmeric by way of chai (not to mention a tamarind-turmeric pie or three), but a crock pot of hot liquids is less enticing during hot weather.
On 8/8 I had a medical hat trick: follow-up visits with the podiatrist, gastroenterologist, and rheumatologist. The latter two cautioned against turmeric as an NSAID replacement, noting that it works on the same pathways as NSAIDS. (It's a COX inhibitor.) So I stopped taking the supplement.
This Wednesday I had another bout of "Your next several hours will be punctuated by ejecting mucus," brought on by a delicious side of cardamom rice. "WTF, am I allergic to Wednesdays?" I wondered. I checked the ingredients today, though, and noticed it had turmeric in it.
All righty then. Add turmeric (and by extension curry) to my dietary restriction list, along with eggs, spicy things, bready things, milk, steak, and anti-inflammatory drugs. And maybe be extra careful on Wednesdays?
This evening, I started wondering: if turmeric is a problem, are there other anti-inflammatory foods I should avoid? I found this nice open access paper on natural anti-inflammatory agents which explained the pathway for several of them. COX inhibitors (NSAIDs and turmeric) can produce stomach problems, particularly when they affect COX-1, which "promotes the production of the natural mucus lining that protects the inner stomach and contributes to reduced acid secretion". Fortunately fish oil isn't a COX inhibitor (it sounds like it gets COX to generate anti-inflammatory prostaglandins which in turn inhibit inflammatory cytokines. There are some herbs which inhibit NF-κB-green tea, maritime pine bark, red wine grapes, cat's claw, and chili peppers. It sounds like NF-κB may inhibit COX-2, not sure about COX-1. (There's also frankincense which inhibits 5-LOX, which I don't yet understand.)
After kinda-grokking all that medical jargon, I had a couple insights.
First, if I pursue a pro-inflammatory diet, would that stimulate my COX-1 response and help rebuild my stomach's mucus and reduce acid issues?
Second, maybe my health focus should be finding the ideal anti- and pro-inflammatory mixture. I've got an inflammatory chronic disease, and too much inflammation leads to serious acute problems. But I think I'm learning some of the ways that inflammation serves a vital role in my health. Fortunately I'm a Taoist; I've got the mental framework to wobble down this path.
At a family reunion for the Minnesota-Norwegian branch of my tree last month, one of my dad's cousin said there was a high incidence of autoimmune disorders in the Peterson family. Yet also, all the great aunts and uncles either died suddenly at 72 or lived into their late 90s, with two or three centenarians. They grew up on a farm and spent their lives eating flour and lard. Maybe I need to work pastries back into my diet. If only I didn't have trouble swallowing bready substances…