Photo by Olivier Collet on Unsplash
About a week ago I developed acid reflux. Not the sort that lasts a few hours and then settles down. The sort that lasts 24 hours. The sort that involves coughing up stomach acid and talking like Marge Simpson. The sort that keeps you up at night clutching your chest and choking. This of course was on top of my 20 kg weight loss (in the last year). The last thing I needed was something that would make it difficult to eat when I am experiencing unexplained weight-loss. I had planned to wait until I returned to Sweden to investigate the cause of my weight loss but then the acid reflux started and my pain tolerance is not high enough to cope with 24 hours of the worst acid reflux I have ever had. So I called the doctor and they made an appointment same day through the emergency room. Good news I am not bleeding internally! Funny news they could not get my records from Sweden so I ended up receiving a pregnancy test. I do not have a uterus and I am not having sex so it might not come as a surprise that I am not pregnant. She tested for other things like thyroid disease, Celiac disease, cancer, infections etc. I do not know the results yet. I will also have to have an endoscopy to see why I have suddenly developed acid reflux. I have been given a medicine for that which is starting to help. I have a fear that it is all stress-related. That somehow I am stressing myself into a state of starvation. Like somehow I use so much energy on stress that my body decided to consume itself. Anyhow she was concerned about the weight-loss. I came home from the doctor and immediately developed a cold. When I was in the office, no cold symptoms. I came home and BAM a full blown cold with lots and lots and lots sneezing and nose blowing. I did not want this either because it means more coughing and restrictions. I had been going out during the days to buy little extra food items from the store to supplement because of the weight-loss. Usually Lukas shops and he eats things like lentils, cabbage, spelt, oranges which are good things but they are not cutting it calorie-wise right now. I also feel silly about complaining about weight-loss. I have struggled with weight-loss in the past. I have wanted to lose weight in the past. Lukas thinks protruding bones are beautiful and to be honest I think society agrees with him. So if I say to someone I am losing weight fast and I am now underweight lots of people think it is fantastic news. Every time I have ever been underweight as an adult I have been sick constantly. Is that what healthy should feel like weakness, illness, fatigue, poor mental health? In 13 degree Celsius weather I need a wool jumper and a wool jacket and gloves. Is that what other people feel every day all the time?
mindlovemisery 
I hope you feel better soon!
Thank you so much!
Hope you get the test results back soon and there are some answers
thanks Sue I do hope to get to the bottom of it
Sorry to hear you are so poorly. Hubby suffers from reflux and has been treated for it for several years, which included umpteen tests and biopsies ruling out all the nasties. We have discovered certain foods trigger it more than others, processed food is usually hostile to his digestive system, eating a main meal after 4pm is bad news so we have ours around midday to 1pm, plus too much sugary items, and chocolate is now a definite no-no. He also suffered from severe weight loss for no apparent reason, and has lost a lot of muscle mass. We have raised the head of the bed by eight inches which was weird to start with but not so bad now I’m used to it as I suffer from reflux too on occasion, but nothing like his. Hope the tests find a way forward for you.
And they still haven’t found the cause? I am guessing they ran similar tests on him as me and maybe then some since he’s had this issue for years. I have read bone broth and aloe vera juice are quite good for stomach repair. Bone broth is time-consuming to make so I am looking into it and weirdly aloe vera juice is just not a thing in Norway. Lukas asked about it today in the store and her suggestion was to go to the plant store. Like the idea of aloe vera juice to drink was absolutely preposterous. It is easy to find in Sweden and the US at least. I guess he did but sometimes they do not run a complete thyroid panel so it can miss autoimmune thyroid disease like Hashimotos. I do have antibodies against my thyroid according to previous tests but I don’t receive treatment, they have been monitoring it but I had stopped checking in for a while since no matter how bad the values treatment was not an option. Maybe in Norway they treat thyroid disease. I am not sure. I guess I will find out. I hope your husband finds out and is able to find a good, safe treatment which will restore his health.
Life is unpredictable making us powerless over what happens in our lives and in the world around us. I hope you recover soon.
Thank you, it would be wonderful!
I just looked at my old panels and actually says autoimmune thyroid disease. It does not say which one but when I check the antibodies it indicates Hashimotos and people with Hashimotos have a very hard time on high carb diets. Lukas has a high carb diet which might be why I am getting sick so much and why my allergies have been so much worse and my stomach problems in general. I have a low interest in carbs. As a kid I used to actually remove burger buns and such. I would just eat the protein, fruit, veg. Maybe my body just knew and I tried to ignore it because I didn’t want to seem picky.