Days 1-10

It’s time, I’m ready to start my 30 day experiment on fixing GERD naturally. Is it sustainable? I don’t know yet. Keep in mind, I’m not a doctor of any kind, so I’m trying things I’ve researched and that are as natural as possible.

I’m still doing my AIP diet and my body is still improving. I’ll be focusing on supplements, basic habits such as eating slower, small frequent meals and chewing my food more thoroughly.

With that let’s start the Journal.

Day 1

First I Oil pull…yep, it’s not awesome, but I manage to make it 10 minutes, which is much better than I thought I would do. Why am I doing this? To kill potential harmful bacteria in my mouth.

I take my 20mg of Protonix (I was taking 40mg). Then my Apple Cider Vinegar, not my fave but manageable. Finally to the part of my morning I like. I make a cup of Licorice Tea and put a heaping scoop of gut healing Collagen in my warm beverage. I take my B12 and vitamin D and off to work I go.

Mid-Morning I take one Slippery Elm, and one Marshmallow Root supplement.

A half hour before lunch I take my licorice root. Unfortunately, I forgot my digestive enzymes but I’ll take them before my next meal.

At lunch I try so hard to eat slowly, but I’m not great at it. Still, every few bites, I chew 20 times and try to talk to my lunch buddy between bites and just try to relax.

I’ve been sipping water all day and feel a bit waterlogged. But I have to say, my indigestion is doing better at this point.

When I get home, I start my red light therapy, which feels amazing. I shine it directly on my stomach and chest. It’s relaxing and helps me wind down, so even if it doesn’t help in the long run I enjoy it.

Tonight, I’m trying Mastic Gum for the first time. I chew the gum for about 15 min. This stuff is tough and hard to get started. It smells almost piney and is nothing like chewing regular gum.

I end my night with 3mg of melatonin and rub on some magnesium lotion.

Overall it was a pretty decent day, the indigestion was pretty minimal.

Day 2

My GERD schedule for the day is pretty identical to yesterday.

We had a roast today: baked sweet potatoes and ginger carrots. I’m trying to include more ginger. I take my vitamins and supplements, and I have to say, I had a pretty good day regarding the acid. There’s still some nausea, but it’s nowhere near as bad as when the Acid is in full swing.

Last night, I slept 7 hours. That’s got to be a record! I feel like I found the perfect solution: Magnesium Lotion and Melatonin . I’m very calm today, which is an added bonus.

Still, after the ups and downs of my AIP diet, I won’t get too excited yet. Still it was so nice to have a good day. Maybe the Mastic gum is making a difference, or perhaps it’s the 30-day mark for AIP. I’m not sure, and honestly, I don’t even care. I’m just grateful it was a good day.

Day 3

It’s Day 3, and I got another solid 7 hours of sleep. Although sleep wasn’t my main focus for this experiment, it’s a nice side benefit. Here’s why I added Melatonin and Magnesium to help with healing GERD.

Magnesium helps by:

Assisting your muscles to relax, which can help your pyloric sphincter relax as well.

Neutralizing your stomach acid

Restoring magnesium levels depleted if you take PPIs

Melatonin helps by:

Inhibiting gastric acid secretion,

Assisting in controlling the lower esophageal sphincter

Protecting your stomach lining

Aside from the great sleep, I felt pretty amazing most of the day. Lunch still knocked me down a little, but I felt decent overall.

Day 4

Another great night of sleep. I woke up this morning feeling pretty good.  I start my morning routine.  Oil pull, brush teeth, take Apple Cider Vinegar, B12 and Vitamin D.  I make lunch and start my breakfast smoothie.  Do a light workout, clean up and get ready for work and out the door I go.  I felt great, it seemed easy to accomplish my goals.  Then it hit. Exhaustion, Nausea and Acid.

My period should start any moment which is when I feel my absolute worst.   So I’m hoping that’s what’s going on and not some adverse reaction.

Afternoon Update:  My body was garbage today.  My back pain flared as well as all my other symptoms.   No period yet so the suffering continues.  

Day 5

Another good nights sleep, but unfortunately not a great day. I struggled with GERD and Nausea all day. The upside is I started my period. So hopefully the discomfort will end soon. This week was rough, I don’t want to say that my efforts didn’t work because I know how bad I feel during this week right before my period but there is a part of me that feels disappointed. I’ll stay the course because I know these things take time. Plus I did have a few good days and I’m grateful. I think next week will be a better indication.

Day 6

I feel a little better today, not fantastic mind you but I’m getting through it. It’s Saturday and it’s my annual pre-Black Friday girls day. I’m nervous about eating and feeling bad while I’m out. So I have my smoothie and hope that I won’t starve to death.

Overall the day goes pretty well, some issues but no medication required. I didn’t die from starvation, but I was definitely hungry when I got home.

Unfortunately, as soon as I walked in the door I ate, and it was obviously too quickly. As expected, I did feel bad. So one Zofran for me but only 4 mg and that was enough to take the edge off.

Overall, no real improvement today, but at least not worse.

Day 7

I was so lazy this morning. I barely got anything done, but to be fair it was a long week.

I’ve laid in bed, writing and reading, and just enjoying my quiet time. Which would’ve been perfectly fine if I had limited it too the morning. However, I did it all day. What can I say somedays I guess your body just needs a lazy day. I did finally get up and begin meal prepping in the evening.

Today I felt halfway decent minus the fatigue. I had no major changes today or super improvements, but I did feel a little better than normal..

Day 8

I wake up with a little bit of dread and a little bit of excitement because I have to go to our main store and start setting up for Black Friday. It’s a lot and I’ve had to recruit five people from my own team to come help. I’m grateful I did because we barely made A dent.

As crazy busy as it was my back pain stayed manageable and my acid was great. I did eat, and I did feel sick after eating, so one Zofran. But it was a short bout of nausea that never came back.

Such a great day and so surprising with the extra stress. Like so many of us, when the stress is high so is the acid/nausea.

Day 9

It’s our second day working on getting our flagship store ready for Black Friday.. Today we made amazing progress and a a shout out to my team who handled the chaos and constant new tasks beautifully.

Here’s the news you probably really want to know, there was no nausea or acid today. No zofran. I took my Protonix but only 20mg and guess what I ate 2 full meals. It was a day I haven’t had in years. I was so happy, and felt like superwoman. Adrenaline maybe,…. Mastic Gum, AIP Diet…I’m just not sure but it was a wonderful day. I fell asleep at 11pm exhausted but happy.

Day 10

I slept until 7am, waking up to the alarm. Who am I right now? 8 hours of sleep. That’s a miracle!

It’s my last day to finish preparing for Black Friday. The store is looking beautiful and at 8pm tonight we finally get out of there. I’m so happy with how fantastic the store looks. This may be our finest year yet.

I felt pretty good today, some nausea after I ate, so one Zofran. No Acid though so wonderful. Fast asleep by 11 pm.

Steps I took to Focus on GERD

• Collagen – To help strengthen the muscles that control the esophageal sphincter
• Aloe Vere Juice – to help lower inflammation in the stomach and reduce acid.
• Vitamin B12– if you are taking a PPI, it can cause a B12 deficiency. Also, if you have celiac, you could very well be deficient in this vitamin.
• Oil pulling – to reduce harmful bacteria in your mouth.
• Licorice Root – to help relieve symptoms of Gerd and indigestion.
• Marshmallow Root– to soothe and protect the esophagus.
• Slippery Elm– to soothe and protect the esophagus.
• Digestive Enzymes – to help breakdown foods so your body can absorb them.
• Manuka Honey– to coat your stomach lining and improve stomach acid. It could also help fight H pylori.
• Red Light Therapy – to stimulate the mitochondria and reduce inflammation.
• Mastic Gum– to fight, bacterial infections, including H pylori.
• Melatonin– to help stop the secretion of acid and to improve the LES function.
• Magnesium – to help relax, the pyloric sphincter.

Keep in mind, that I am not a doctor. The choices I made were based on my own research. I take low doses of supplements because my weight is low and I try not to overwhelm my sometimes sensitive body. I try to stay as natural as possible. If you are thinking about adding supplements. You should always speak with your doctor first.

This post has affiliate links and I may make a small profit if you click on these and purchase.

If you want to see if my improvement continues check out my next post days 11 through 20. Part 2 Healing GERD

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