Startng diet for gastroesophageal healing
 

Just checking in on the food front... i have just started a semi-diet to try to help my stomach and oesophagus heal from NSAID-injury.

this means NO:

• NSAIDs
• acidic things especially
  • citrus fruits (and we've been getting these superb oranges! :()
  • tomato in any form
  • grape and other fruits
  • fruit juices
  • vinegar/pickled anything
• irritating spices including but not limited to
  • pepper - black or white
  • cayenne (yum! :()
  • raw garlic or garlic powder (yum! :()
  • raw onion or onion powder (yum! :()

it technically also means NO

• alcohol
• coffee
  --- and not sure about this one ---
• dairy?

i have not eliminated those last three, and will be very hard pressed for coffee and dairy.

dairy -- typically i don't have much but i do have some in combination with other foods, plus the odd yogurt. now go figure, lately i've begun having cereal with milk because mom bought a cereal she can't eat. :o

coffee -- i just don't think i can give up my coffee. it doesn't seem to bother my stomach at all but it still might be better if i didn't have it. as a compromise i could possibly have it without sugar :o since sugar makes it more acidic. i am not ready to have it minus milk yet. i don't know if they sell caffeine pills here, LOL! :D (i'd seriously have to resort to that!)

alcohol -- i don't drink often or much, but lately, i've been into having the odd beer when i get a reprieve (i do not drink during migraine, or migraine-risk periods so i was already very limited). this i may have to forgo altogether because alcohol anesthesizes the stomach so i'd not be able to tell if it were hurting me.

well we'll see how it goes. i need to look up the role of dairy for ulcer recovery (i don't have an ulcer, but that is the type of diet this is);

wish me luck! :o 6-8 weeks of this, then i start introducing some of the "challenging" foods and see how things go.

:grouphug:
~ waves ~

good luck my friend.
sorry that your tummy is ill.
Are you needing any more probiotics, I think I remember you said you are already taking a good one.
hang in there we will be here the whole time encouraging you.
bizi

Bizi - good thinking
 

Dear Bizi

Thanks bunches! :):hug::hug::hug:

I do a ~10 day cycle of probiotics only when there's a particular need, e.g. in case of antibiotic use or lower GI trouble w/ diarrhea.

I do not know if they would have any effect on healing of the tissues of the stomach & oesophagus, but I sure will look into that! Thanks for the tip! :)

edited to add - i wonder if you thought of probiotics because my title said gastrointestinal healing - i just corrected it to say gastroesophageal... all the same will look into possible role of probiotics here. ;)

yes i will need some encouragement, thank you! especially now that my dad has decided to start drinking wine again! arghhh! :eek::rolleyes: ... last night when we had rainbow trout with spinach he had a nice rose' out which I kept ogling but dared not touch.:( Wine is just too acidic - any wine. No can do. :Noooo::Bawling:

~ waves ~

plan for healing
 

Waves,

I write this because I am confused a about some foods and not others. I admit to not knowing much about this part of the body.
Is yogurt ok?
This web site says safe fruits include bananas and watermelon.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/30...tts-esophagus/
This one says apples are ok. http://gerddiet.net/treating-acid-re...erd-naturally/ I suppose you know your own body. Maybe you can experiment a tiny bit.

I wish you had a way to take caffeine. Can you get whole coffee beans and swallow as one would a pill? Sorry. Dumb question. Sorry.
(Some of those foods would be hard to give up . . . I do not eat oranges but your mention of them sounded good. . . . A few items, (like the spices you want to give up for now) you could manage more easily if you were by yourself and not sharing a kitchen of course.

Does the timing of these foods on your list make a difference?

Think of this as one day at a time if that helps. Maybe break the plan into manageable two or three day plans.

Do you have some teas that are healing? They will not substitute for something you take out, but sometimes adding something to a routine helps you keep from being deprived. Is there something safe to eat that you like that you normally do not eat?

You can do this.
'Sending you good energy for healing.

Mari

Dear Mari - dairy, links, bananas, caffeine, oranges
 

lol. i think so, but not sure. it sets itself apart from other dairy, but it is acidic. i am experimenting with dairy and it doesn't seem to bother me in most cases. the other day however i had a slice of bread with probably too much cream cheese (acidic) and my stomach got growly. it didn't happen the day before, with the same snack - but smaller amount of cream cheese. so moderation perhaps.

Thanks so much for finding these links. That is extremely helpful as it is hard for me to do research on the web right now. I yet to go read them, because i've been out of it a lot with the gabapentin... between pdoc and investigating bus routes for the neuro (they changed all the buses in that area...sigh!)

I don't generally eat apples (i wonder if i can start. I sometimes eat bananas and we always have plenty of those, so it's good to know they are ok. :) Bananas are such an easy, no muss no fuss fast snack, yet so amazingly nutritious! i'm going bananas! :D

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3027/...376c65ea_o.png

Hey, i just googled "going bananas" for that silly picture, and found this article: Going Bananas Over Bananas ... excerpts follow but it has other interesting stuff!

Quote:

... “A Banana A Day Keeps The Doctor Away.” A Banana A Day Keeps The Doctor Away? Wait, wait. Isn’t that supposed to be “an apple a day…?” True. But today, the new apple is banana. Here’s why, says the article: “When you compare it (banana) to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, and five times the vitamin A and iron.” Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

well, i do enjoy my coffee, besides the pharmacological effect. for now, i am just having coffee (with milk and sugar, too).

yeah... my dad peels one or two, separates them into slices and serves them after dinner, to share. these are slightly sanguine oranges (streaked red)... extremely flavorful. so tempting and perhaps on a full stomach would be ok. tonight i had to pass because erhmmm.... i had already had another no-no... :o

... closing off here because post is too long... to be continued...

~ waves ~

Dear Mari - spices esp garlic, tomato, infusions & possible healing "spices"
 

.... my reply, continued:
actually i am the only one here that eats raw garlic and onion in a variety of contexts, and who eats tuna (and other things as i see fit) with ludicrous amounts of garlic powder & cayenne, or mixed peppers. :D that will be hard, because those things are staple for me - but only for me. :o

What will be more difficult in terms of food-sharing is tomato. I can avoid raw/cooked tomato sides easily enough, as well as tomato sauce on pasta, but the folks often add varying amounts of tomato to stews etc.. I can eat separately sometimes; other times it will not make much difference to the dish and they will exclude the tomato for me.

Dad had wine again tonight. I had some too. I felt ok, but I fell asleep :( right at the start of a movie I really wanted to watch:

Hachiko: A Dog's Story

not in the sense that the no-nos would be ok at certain times but not others. Some of the less irritating no-nos, in small amounts, or with a substantial meal, might be tolerated. Timing then becomes relevant in that multiple no-nos should not be eaten close together.

hee hee. Well. i don't plan anything. so it's more like, one meal at a time! :D:cool: hehe.

yes! several. Notably we have mauve infusion which is excellent for soothing the entire GI tract. We have one mauve infusion that also contains liquorice (also beneficial) - i should finish that since neither parent can have it due to hypertension.that i can afford too??? lol? i'll have to think about that. i really like spicy food. oh you know what... tofu. but the reason i don't have it is ... too expensive.

same andthensome with... sushi. waaaayyyy out of my league expensive. and come to think of it, i'd have it with wasabe and pickled ginger! :o:o:rolleyes:

Now, ginger I wonder about. It can be an irritant, but it may not be troublesome in small amounts and possibly have healing properties. I must check. I have a similar quandary with cinnamon, which is demulcent - i just don't know how much of an irritant it can be. I'll check because i'd happily add either to my coffee to attenuate the ill effects. I have done so in the past just for flavor. :)

thank you so much :) :hug::hug::hug:

~ waves ~ no longer having any heartburn and wondering... how rigid do i really need to be... so far i've not been terribly rigid, i've only eliminated the very strong spices and tomato.

overeating
 

I think I am eating too much / too often.

I am not sure if it's the gabapentin... or a sort of placebo side-effect of the gabapentin... i.e., Maybe I have desire to eat, so I blame it on the gabapentin. I mostly get the nibbles... not that profound sense of starvation like with Zyprexa :rolleyes:

Still... looks like I've gained back a couple of those pounds. Waaaah... :Bawling::Noooo::(:Noooo::Bawling:

~ waves ~

I hate my scale...I should not even weigh myself...it is so defeating to see the numbers fluctuate so much.
I have "fallen " off my diet per say...just trying to not over do it.
bizi
to be moderate!

sometimes I cannot deal with words. here are pictures.
 

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/o..._salad_500.jpg




http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/o...7081_large.jpg

Dear Bizi
 

Chin up!

I hear you i hear you... moderation sounds good. You have been so severe with yourself - including that rigorous diet! Playing your hand differently for a while will be fine. I hope soon those numbers will fluctuate with a slight downward tendency.

Remember Donna reminded us a while back, that at certain times of the month we weigh more... a pharmacist (i weighed there) told me water buildup occurs throughout the luteal phase, i.e. from midcycle on. The weight i figure "counts" as my weight without water retention is on about day 3 of my cycle. Try it out and see. There may be other reasons for retaining water too (more or less salt/potassium in any given day for instance) so it is not failsafe.

i wish you well on the new moderation plan! :hug::hug::hug:

love

~ waves ~