Week 21 Recap: One Step Forward…

With normalcy gradually creeping back into my life, I started my last two classes for my bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. It would have been a lot easier if only I could get some decent hours of sleep!

The week started out less than ideal due to intermittent stomach aches which I chalked up to Prilosec withdrawal. I was perfectly aware that rebound reflux would occur with withdrawal, and it certainly did occur! The stomach aches lasted most of the week and I probably did not help by ingesting some questionable potato chips: Maui chips. Feeling so much better and thinking I probably did not have celiac after all, I became a little lax in checking ingredients. I sampled several Maui chips but within a day was not too happy about that little indiscretion.  It was a stupid mistake.

As if the stomach aches weren’t bad enough, I began breaking out in random hives toward the end of the week. For my ailing stomach I ended up taking Mylanta, but it didn’t seem to do much to alleviate the discomfort.

I continued my exercise routines, however, but almost every day there was some gastric-type fluttering in my upper chest along with a ‘foamy’ (for lack of better description) feeling in chest and esophagus—the kind that goes with an upset stomach.

By the end of the week, nausea was accompanying my stomach aches. Saturday marked my 11th day since I had stopped taking Prilosec completely. I knew the withdrawal stomach aches could last two weeks or so, but I wasn’t expecting it to be this bad! The last time my stomach felt this bad was when I was eating wheat bread—hence the wondering if I had been glutened by those Maui chips early in the week.

ODD THINGS THIS WEEK:

• Several flutterings in chest during treadmill walks and weight-resistance exercises.
• Heart flutter that caused me to cough (that hasn’t happened in a while!)

 My exercise totals included 80 minutes of strength-training (20 minutes Pilates, 60 minutes weight-bearing exerciseso on the reformer), and 11 miles on the treadmill.  I didn’t do as well this week due to the chronic stomach aches.

Even in spite of the setbacks, I still felt I was progressing because at least I knew this Prilosec withdrawal was to be expected and I knew in time it would pass. So I was still on the right path…