Days 21-30

Last week I traveled for the first time, doing AIP and trying to keep up with my supplements. It was not an easy challenge and one I hope to not repeat at least for a bit. Still I made it through.

The exhaustion was intense when I got home and consequently I accomplished nothing my first two days back.

It’s seems like all we do is go during the season. And this week is no exception. It’s our office Christmas spirit week. I always try to make this a super fun week because my team works so hard during this time of year.

Everyday we will be dressing up in some holiday themed outfit. We will also play games and have silly contests. I love this time of year but it’s so much better when I feel good. I’m hoping the zinc Carnosine keeps doing its job so I can truly be engaged this year.

With that I’ll start my journal for the next ten days.

Day 21

I wake up at 4:00 this morning, my stomach is a little iffy but better than yesterday. Still, I’m too nervous to eat. Hopefully it will pass soon.

I try hard to get my steps in today since I did so poorly yesterday. I’m pretty tired from my trip so no promises. I took a small walk to get to at least 1500 steps. Did my arm weights and tried to rebound but only did about 200 jump, before exhaustion kicked in. Man what I would give to be 20, and have that amazing energy.

The Acid is good today. The nausea not great. My eyes have been really dry the last two days. And I’ve had to put drops in multiple times and keep the lights low.

As for my GERD experiment, I’m a believer in the Zinc Carnosine, it has helped so much. If your doctor says it’s okay for you I highly recommend it.

It’s Sunday, and since I did nothing yesterday… I need to unpack, clean the house, do laundry, and meal prep for next week. Also I need to prepare for tomorrow since it is red and green day for our Christmas spirit week.

I managed to get enough done so we don’t starve tomorrow but that is all. Hoping tomorrow will be more productive.

Day 22

I didn’t eat much yesterday because the food seemed to sit on my stomach. This morning I don’t feel hungry yet but not too full.

It’s Red and Green Day at the office and I look like a very professional elf. Yes, on purpose.

Everyone who dresses up gets 10 points except for me but hey lead by example. In case you are wondering what the points are for, each point equals one minute to go home early Christmas Eve. We work retail and even though we are technically corporate we support the stores so some of us will have to work a full day.

There are also points for going above and beyond for the team or the stores. I also give points for a positive attitude. I like to keep it fun in a rated G sort of way.

Plus it’s a stressful time for the team and they need something to look forward too. Anyway I hope it will be a fun week for everyone and that my body behaves. Happiness makes me feel good and that always makes my body feel better.

I made it through the day pretty well until about 5:15 and downhill it went. The acid is bad tonight. I’ve been tracking my menstrual cycle and I do typically see an increase in certain symptoms after ovulation. Is it because my estrogen goes down? Why are bodies so hard….

I will say this, tracking everything here has definitely made me more aware of what is going with my body. I highly recommend journaling if you are trying to figure out what is wrong with you. I’m very surprised at what a difference it makes.

Day 23

So interesting fact, my acid was pretty bad last night and I couldn’t seem to get it to calm down but then I took two slippery elm with hot tea and within 10 minutes I was much better. Maybe it just calmed down but I’m keeping that in my back pocket for next time to see if it helps again. The dosage is typically 4 with a warm beverage between meals. I usually take one and water.

Aside from that, I slept four hours last night. I have a fun but busy day ahead of me. Today I’m a lumberjack…okay not really but it is flannel day at the office and our childhood game is candy land. I love seeing the team get excited and giddy.

Overall it was a good day. I ate a lot and survived. I had a few brief moments of feeling lousy but it passed pretty quickly.

Day 24

My appetite is insane today. I haven’t been this hungry in a long time. This is good except that I have a small stomach that is not used to being fed that much. I was stuffed and not in a wonderful content way but in a “I’m miserable way.”

I had to take two Zofran through the course of the day because when I eat, I don’t feel good. I snacked all day. Don’t get me wrong it was healthy stuff, like unsweetened banana chips, apple chips and walnuts. For lunch I had grilled chicken, balsamic green beans and sweet potato fries in the air fryer. I took digestive enzymes and everything. Still my body was mad.

Normally the nausea will stop me in my tracks but that didn’t happen until about 3pm. Regardless of the incessant eating it was overall a good day.

At the office it was Ugly Christmas sweater day. Today’s game was a huge success and had the whole team cracking up. We played a game of pin the nose on Rudolph. It was so much fun and now we have bright red noses decorating our office wall!

Day 25

I’m Still starving today which is so crazy. My acid must be getting better. I haven’t had an appetite like this in years. Before I would be starving but couldn’t imagine eating. Now I do eat but my stomach can’t hold as much as it wants.

I feel so much better which is amazing. I’m not a 100% but 50% better at least. Even though I still have bad moments the improvement is huge. This is usually my bad week but it hasn’t been too bad. Next week is my worst week so that will be the true test.

Day 26

It’s the final day of our Christmas festivities and our official Christmas party/gift exchange. I started my day super early and went all day.

Some nausea this morning but some Zofran and it cleared up. I think partially I needed to eat but I was so sick I couldn’t. The heartburn was under control surprisingly especially because it was a stressful day.

My department is pretty well known for our annual Christmas party and every member of executive management showed up to have a peek. Including the president.

Did I mention we are in a separate building so they had to drive over. No pressure.

Even with all the unexpected visitors It was a fun day and minus the morning nausea I felt like a rockstar.

One thing I will tell you is since I started the zinc Carnosine I have seen a huge difference in my acid. I felt like I had a hundred ulcers before and now it feels like they are slowly healing. I’m hopeful it continues to improve.

I’n grateful tomorrow is Saturday because even though I have a lot of home stuff to do, I can rest.

Day 27

For some reason I suffered so much today with Acid. I managed it but everything set it off. Still I’m in the super bad week and it’s not as bad as it normal. I may have to accept that during the bad weeks it just won’t go away but the fact that I’m able to function is honestly enough for me.

Christmas shopping today and the crowds were insane. I Thought I was done, but four more people are coming to my party and I had no gifts. Fortunately we were able to get all kids, adults and pets presents. Now I think I am done.

I hardly had any protein today and I feel it. I’m lethargic which is not like me anymore. We were just out and about and because I’m still doing AIP I wasn’t able to eat much. If you do AIP you know fast food is not happening.

Day 28

Oh I’ve spent so much money this weekend. A Costco trip today for meat. We eat a lot of meat now. What a dramatic change in my groceries. Before it was Diet Coke, potatoes and chicken. Now it’s red and white meat, water, root vegetables.

We’ve stopped eating as much fruit with the exception of bananas and apples. It was a crutch initially to replace the sugar. The simple truth is we just don’t crave it anymore. We didn’t stop for any other reason. We still have bananas for breakfast and the occasional apple but that’s it.

Im sorry to say that the acid is still pretty bad, which is bumming me out. Hopefully it will pass soon but I may just have to suck it up until my period starts.

Day 29

I was starving this morning again and I’ve been hitting the protein hard. That’s all my body wants now. It seems to help with the nausea and the GERD. However, now I am more positive then ever that I have low acid because The food seems to just sit in my stomach forever. I was so heavy today I felt miserable.

Two days of heavy protein and I felt like my stomach was going to explode. It’s a shame because it improves everything else

Sadly I fell asleep before I took my melatonin, mastic gum, and my zinc l-Carnosine which you know makes a huge difference in how I feel. I was not happy with myself. I only slept 3.5 hours and I really felt it. Lethargic and sleepy and not as ready to face any challenges that came my way.

I’m very close to starting my period too which exasperates my symptoms on every level and this evening has been no exception.

Day 30

Today is the last day of my experiment and I have learned so much about what helps and what doesn’t, the list is long but I’ll try to give a brief recap of what helped the most. In order of most helpful.

• Zinc Carnosine – I noticed a huge improvement when I started taking these after only a week.
• AIP Diet – My body likes me so much more since I started this diet. The first few weeks were tough but I feel so much healthier. My autoimmune symptoms have calmed.
• Licorice Root – I have been taking this for years but I stand behind the calming effect it has had on my stomach.
• Slippery Elm – ironically I have been taking this forever too, but I increased my dosage to two capsules and what a huge difference, also so important take these with a warm drink.
• Mastic Gum – This did help, not as significantly as the zinc but I noticed after a few days there was improvement.
• Digestive Enzymes- When I take these it makes such a huge difference in how I feel after meals.
• Collagen – The soothing effect on my Gut each morning makes this almost a treat.
• Melatonin- Did this help with GERD, I didn’t notice but it did help with sleep and that kept my anxiety down throughout the day. Getting a decent nights sleep makes a huge difference.
• Magnesium- Again it kept me calmer throughout the day.
• B12 – I don’t know that this helped with GERD but it helped make me feel better in General.
• Vitamin D – I have such a huge deficiency in this I just feel miserable if I don’t take it so it did not necessarily impact the GERD but it make a huge impact on how I feel.

Some takeaways.

Protein is a huge help, I tried to get at least 60 grams of protein a day at the end and when I started this it helped with my energy and state of mind tremendously. As well as my nausea and GERD.

A good nights sleep, there is nothing that can replace it. I personally now believe anxiety is linked to poor sleep. For me anxiety can trigger GERD almost worse than some foods.

Exercising although it’s sometimes hard for me to fit in my schedule, on the days I did it, I felt better overall.

Well guys, that wraps it up. I hope this helped. Please note I am not a doctor nor do I pretend to be. Please consult your doctor before trying any new supplements because all of our bodies are different and what one person can handle another person can’t. I am a walking testimony to that.