A Porch Rug and a Rant

I had originally planned on buying some outdoor carpets for the porch; you know, a runner here and a runner there. But the more I thought about it, the more unnatural it felt. Joyce......are you there?? ......... commented that I should weave a really long rug. And I kept rolling that idea around in my head, and today I did just that.

From Crazy as a Loom

I put two older blue jean runners by the doors.

From Crazy as a Loom

OK, I am going to razzle dazzle you with one more awesome photo of my incredible new porch, and then I am going to go off on a rant.

From Crazy as a Loom

And I do apologize...and will not mind one bit, if you are not interested in what I have to say, and click right on off here. That's OK.
I am bringing this subject up, because I need to. First off, it is my day to day reality, and secondly, I think I have a responsibility to tell people about it.
Here goes:
I have been waging a small war, and thought you should hear all about it.
For a couple of years at least, I have been taking Prilosec OTC......which as the letters suggest, means you can buy it over the counter. I am sure you are all familiar with it....it belongs to one of the classes of drugs called PPI's, or proton pump inhibitors.
Sorry about this....sometimes, no matter how hard I try to forget that 30 years of nursing, I can't. It is just that I was Nancy nurse for half my life, and I can't shut her up.
Anyway, I took the Prilosec for stomach distress, I am not even really sure how long ago I started to take it. I took it on and off, and then eventually all the time.
The most familiar of the PPI's are Prilosec, Nexium, Protonix, and Prevacid. They are generally the same drug, minus a molecule or two.
They stop the acid production in your stomach. They turn the "pump" off. Nada. No more.
Well, for the last year or so, longer than I care to tell you, I have had lots of complaints.A little of this, a little of that, all symptoms I contributed to getting older. And then the Prilosec didn't seem to be doing the trick for my stomach, so the gastroenterologist told me to DOUBLE it. And I did.
Within a few days, I had such stomach pain, I thought I would die. I tried to deal with it, but after a week, I coudn't stand it any more. So I called the doctor, who said he couldn't understand it, but since I insisted that it was too much Prilosec, maybe I should cut back.
As soon as I did, the reflux was worse.
By this time, I was getting suspicious, so I started doing some research.
What I found stunned me.
Apparently, PPI's are only supposed to be taken for a period of weeks, but doctors prescribe them for longer, and longer, and longer. Then when you try to get off them, you get what they call "rebound reflux". Your stomach, that has not been allowed to make acid while you were taking the med, now goes completely insane, and makes all kinds of acid. Of course, the immediate response is to take the med again.
This is why it is called "purple crack". The pharmaceutical companies love it. You start taking it for reflux and heartburn. It eventually causes you to have even worse reflux, and then when you stop taking it, you are sure that someone has poured a quart of acid right down your throat. In a panic, you start taking it again.
And ladies, it causes weight gain, and BLOAT. Big time.
Ta da. A billion dollar industry is alive and doing well.
Let's also not forget that when you are taking it, you risk osteoporosis and other nutritional deficiencies, because you had no acid to digest your food.
And here you are now with the worst reflux you have ever known.
I read everything I could read about it.
And what I have come up with is this.
As we age, we have less digestive enzymes. We also live in a country that thrives on processed food. But the answer to having too much acid, is not to stop it cold. It only sets you up for an addiction to this medication that, by the way, has more side effects than you can shake a stick at.
It's been one month since I stopped the Prilosec. The first week was pure hell. Never in my life have I experienced this kind of 'heartburn'. If I had any doubts about the phenomenon of 'rebound reflux', I don't have them anymore. It is quite real.
After about 10 days, I had the first day that gave me hope. No heartburn until 6pm at night. It was heaven. True, it was only one day, but it convinced me that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I believed I could heal my stomach, and get it back to normal.
I read that it could take weeks to MONTHS to get over it.
My husband says I am like a pit bull when I get something in my head.
But how else could I get through it, I ask.
But right away there were pluses........I sleep like a baby. That is SO new.
I have MORE energy, I don't fight fatigue daily.
And the IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) I was told that I had............gone. History. NO MORE.
It has been six weeks off the Prilosec. I won't bore you with what I have done to heal my stomach.......but they are all good things, and none of them are stopping the natural pathways of my body.
In this last six weeks, I have been discouraged. Some days just plain freaking miserable. Some days it wasn't half bad, and I was hopeful. Some days I came home from the studio and laid on the couch, wishing to fall asleep and wake up in a couple of months.
But 6 days ago, I had a great day. No acid, no heartburn, nothing. The next day was good, too, and the next. I had 5 days of bliss.
So today when I had a little discomfort here and there, I was OK with it. Because I know that I never had acid reflux like I did when I stopped taking the medication that was supposed to cure it.
I am convinced that proton pump inhibitors are pure poison. I believe that soon, you will be hearing about it on TV, and the medical community will be trying to figure out how to undo the damage, and get half the population off it.
The worst part about it is that no doctor will tell you that it is bad for you, unfortunately, they won't. But the information is out there, and if I can find it, you can be sure that they already know it.
Proof positive that you really need to be your own advocate when it comes to your health.
If you want to know more, a google of 'horror stories of Prilosec', or Nexium, or Protonix, or Prevacid......and you will be reading for a week. This is only the tip of the iceberg, believe me.
I am done with it, and noone could ever convince me to take it again. And I feel better for having told you. Because we can't make choices, if we aren't informed.

I apologize if I have bored you all to death.