It Wasn't Hiatal Hernia....My Health Cocktail

Well, I was wrong about the possible hiatal hernia. It was actually that I had ribs out of place on both sides of my sternum and that was what was causing such chest pain and inability to draw a full breath.

Plus, I have a virus, which I was beginning to suspect, because I ended up getting a fever one day last week, and I have a kid home today with a low grade fever.

And I do still have a little heartburn going on...

Add in my allergies this peak ragweed season and I have a "wonderful" health cocktail.

As you might guess, I went to the chiro this morning. I got all adjusted and now I can actually breathe! I do  have a little bit of residual soreness but hopefully that will go away in the next couple of days...much better though! I actually woke up this morning feeling almost as bad as last Monday when this all started. :(

I am going to keep up with my allergy regimen(Zyrtec+Homeopathic for pollen+avoidance), and add garlic in to help get rid of this virus.  I think I will add a TON of our homegrown garlic to our dinner tonite so that everyone will get a good dose!

August....aka "Hell Month" for this allergy sufferer

There, I said it. I have dubbed August "Hell Month" because it is by far the absolutely worst time of year for me as far as allergies go.

I began taking Zyrtec back in May or June, in an effort to get it good and set in my system to hopefully have no allergy symptoms this month. In addition, I have been using a homeopathic for weed pollen.

The Zyrtec/homeopathic have definitely helped as far as the sniffling, sneezing, itchy throat and ears problem. I've still had some of that here and there when I've gotten myself immersed in ragweed pollen...or eaten melons(hello Oral Allergy Syndrome...)..but it really does nothing to help my eyes. Oy, my eyes! Itching like mad for weeks now.  I've been staying inside for the most part, not enjoying the beautiful weather at all. :(

I actually double-dosed on Zyrtec one day last week in my desperation to feel better.

Sunday night, my digestive system started giving me fits...Monday morning, my chest hurt and I've got the acid thing going. At first I thought "oh no, I hope I'm not developing asthma!" because it hurt to breathe....but as I woke up and moved around, I remembered feeling this same way awhile back....

I think the hiatal hernia is back and/or I got into gluten this weekend and it's caught up with me...

...and I have itchy skin that tells me I've gotten into something I shouldn't have/my body is in react-to-everything, high-histamine mode.

Suspects:

• Oatmeal cookies I made for the kids this weekend, made with regular (non-GF) oats...I had a few...
• Non-GF oats I had in a meatloaf over the weekend (and I forgot to take my digestive enzyme)
• Some other source of gluten/other food ingredient I have an issue with?
• The double-dose of Zyrtec causing GERD
• Eating Mexican food too close to bedtime on Sunday(though I had it before w/o issues)
• My body has just been pushed to the limit with the allergies and decided to randomly go haywire?

Maybe oats should be cut out for awhile. And I need to pay better attention to my Zyrtec intake and not double it...no matter how desperate I am.

I do know that the bone broth chicken soup I made for myself yesterday did wonders in helping me to feel better.  Looking at the Mark's Daily Apple blog post, it looks like other people associate gluten/grains with acid issues. (it's not just me!) Looking at my past with my elimination diet...when I was off of all grains and trying to add in wheat, one of my warnings that this was a no-go was the sometimes rather intense acid reflux and chest/back pains, and when I took it back out, that would go away...

I find it interesting that, looking at my blog post history, the last two years I have blogged about having this issue around the Fall...August 2010 and October 2011...and one of them was definitely related to a gluten/wheat exposure.

My Plan:
1. I am going to resort back to GAPS-like eating for a bit, using bone broth at least once a day for myself and hope my gut/digestive system will heal up again. 

2. I plan to remember to take my probiotics and digestive enzymes!

3. I am going to avoid oats(and gluten) until this passes.

4. I am going to try this method of Hiatal Hernia Massage, and if this doesn't clear up within a week, I will go to the chiro and get it adjusted as I have in the past.  Usually, when I get into something that bothers me, it takes about 3 days to pass.  This is day 2.

 5.I am going to look into getting some eye drops for my itchy twitchy eyeballs!

Pray for me--this is a hard time of year for me! I kind of hope it freezes soon, but that wouldn't be fair to all you who are enjoying this weather, would it? ;)

BaxAura and General Gluten-Free Update

My allergies have generally been pretty good. Sunday I had a little bit more intermittent enviro(I think-it was usually when I was in our vehicle)-induced throat itching, but overall I am doing very well in that department.

I am still getting over the "Glutening" from last week. It's rather weird, but I have gotten a hiatal hernia that has decided to present itself possibly as a result of my gluten exposure.  This happened to me last year as well, and the chiro was able to adjust me and I was fine until a few weeks ago. Yesterday I went in for a chiro adjustment and she adjusted me again and it was great for the rest of the day... I wonder too if it might be a response to something environmental at this time of year....

I had brought in something I had suspected might be a trigger food(and wasn't), and my polarity was blocked again! Ugh! It was an easy fix, but I still wonder why the blocking?

So there it is, my little update. :)

Pregnancy, Hiatal Hernias and Pesky Old Mold

Yep, that about sums it up, folks!

My gastro symptoms skyrocketed even more last night and I finally took a Pepcid Complete, which did help.  That was a relief, since I was beginning to wonder if I was reacting to something allergy-wise and inching towards anaphlactic shock or something. I've never had that experience(nor do I ever want to) so I am not exactly sure what it is like.  So, yes, a relief when the Pepcid did some good.

I went in to the chiro/BioVeda doc today and told her all my sorrows. ;)
She determined that I had a hiatal hernia causing a lot of my problems and adjusted me for that. I got some relief from that immediately(Praise God!). From my understanding, the stomach is attached to the uterus, (among other things) and as the uterus is moving with the progression of the pregnancy, it is pulling things all akimbo and that is why it was getting worse. Glad to have that figured out!

I also picked up some Multizyme digestive enzymes, so hopefully in a few days my guts and I will be happy. :)

My allergic reactions that are here and there are to Pesky Old Mold. I did not get treated for it today. Instead, I am going to set the bowls of water around the house again and get an idea of what room(s) are safe for me to camp out at after my next treatment(for the other rooms/areas).