I don’t know if I have mentioned this, but I have suffered from GERD for about ten years.  I was on a proton pump inhibitor for about six of those years to keep my symptoms under control.  When I was diagnosed with a stress fracture in April, my sports doctor recommended that I stop the medication that I was on due to it’s possible ability to inhibit calcium absorption.  This has resulted in reflux that is sometimes so bad it feels like someone dumped kerosene down my throat and then lit a match.  I’ve also woken up with a mouthful of acid during the middle of the night on more than one occasion…and I’m not too pleasant when woken at odd hours for no good reason (just ask Ike…or my husband).

angry

I was complaining (I’m a whiner, in case you haven’t noticed) about this to my mom one day (she’s a nurse), and she suggested that wheat may be a trigger for my reflux.  After chatting with a friend who has celiac disease over weekend, I decided to give up wheat for a week and see how I felt.  I don’t think I have celiac disease, and I don’t think I’m allergic to wheat, but I think it may be aggravation my acid problem, and I needed to try something.

I’m two days in, and the results so far have been inconclusive.  I tried Mary’s Gone Crackers and these made my acid flare up, even though they’re gluten free.  However, otherwise, my acid has been much better.  It felt very under control most of today so I tried a piece of flatbread pizza to evaluate how I felt afterwards.  It’s safe to say that my acid is now out of control again, but I’m not blaming the wheat yet…BBQ sauce isn’t exactly reflux-friendly.

I don’t know if wheat is the trigger of my problem, but it seemed like a good place to start.  I hate to give up any fruits or veggies, or even *gasp* my daily cup of coffee, so wheat is a compromise.

On a related nutrition topic, I’ve decided to take an additional vitamin D supplement.  I have been taking a multi-vitamin as well as a calcium-magnesium-zinc supplement for years now, and as I still fractured my leg (not to mention I live in a place that is often cloudy) I figured vitamin D would be a logical addition.  I read an article in Women’s Health recently about the benefits of vitamin D and I must admit that I’m curious about all these superhero claims.  I’m not one to judge something on just a couple days’ use so I’ll report back later on how I feel with an additional dose of vitamin D in my diet.

And off-topic…I took Sunday and today off from exercise.  My leg is having weird twinges of pain.  Not sure what’s going on but I certainly don’t want to push my luck.