Stomach Stuff and Kurt Cobain

                         

One of the things that happened when things started really going downhill for me, was that my stomach got all jacked up.  I started getting this really bad heartburn after I ate........EVERY TIME.  It got to the point where my entire esophagus, like all the way from my throat to my stomach, just hurt most of the time.  I would feel it in the middle of my upper back too, and at the top of my stomach.  And it really didn't matter what I ate either.  It was far past annoying.  

That's when I decided to get an upper and lower G.I.  (neither of which are as bad as you think they would be)  The results told me I had G.E.R.D., Gastritis and a Hiatal Hernia.  My G.I. doctor's brilliant plan was to give me Omeprazole.  And I was like, "Ok, so you want to give me a medication that is supposed to turn off some of my acid makers in my stomach and that is supposed to make me better?  And then what? I take them for the rest of my life?  How will I digest my food if my acid is turned off?"  It just made no sense to me.  And I read things like how your stomach learns to make more acid makers if you take those medications.  So then you have to increase your medication, and so on.  I took the Omeprazole for a while, but it never made any sense to me.  I knew the answer was not to stop the acid, but to discover why my esophagus and stomach were hurting and fix that.  

Right around that same time, I came across this youtube video that explained that what a lot of people have is actually chronically LOW stomach acid, which causes the sphinctors at the top and bottom of your stomach to go haywire and open and close at the wrong time.  The video explained how if you drink some apple cider vinegar before you eat, it will fix this.  So I tried it, and it worked!!  My Naturopathic Doctor also recommended this.  

Fast forward to now, I recently started drinking lemon water first thing in the morning, to help my liver detox.  Well, I started noticing my heartburn returning, for what I thought was no apparent reason.  I was thinking that the alkaline result of drinking lemon water would be a good thing for my stomach.  But it turns out that your stomach NEEDS to be a certain amount of acid (on the ph scale) in order to work right!  So I was throwing my ph off just enough to get the heartburn again.  I stopped the lemon water and presto!  My heartburn disappeared.  I also learned that with MTHFR, in the general breakdown of the body that happens from undermethylation, the stomach is the first organ to be affected by this.  And as things decline, you become less and less able to absorb nutrients from your food because your gut is getting more and more not ok. 

G.E.R.D. (Gastroesophageal  Reflux Disease) is like some kind of epidemic!  So many people have it.  I recently watched "Montage of Heck", the documentary about Kurt Cobain, and through the whole thing, I just kept thinking he must have had G.E.R.D.  He constantly had this chronic stomach pain that he couldn't get rid of.  I know from personal experience how that can affect you, and how getting rid of the pain, any way possible is all you think about.  And the dark places you go when you cant make it stop.  Kurt turned to drugs and eventually suicide.  And I was wondering about his MTHFR status.  My theory is that he had the MTHFR mutation.  I was speculating that maybe if Kurt Cobain had discovered drinking apple cider vinegar before he ate, he might still be around today.  If you are having trouble with G.E.R.D., go to Youtube right now and type in "gerd apple cider vinegar" and lots of videos will pop up.  I can't remember the name of the lady who did the video I saw, but I'm sure there are others that are just as good.  Peace.  

My first post.

So, this is my first blog post, ever.  I am a person who found out recently that I have a genetic mutation.  I am Homozygous for the MTHFR A1298C mutation.  That means I have two copies of the mutated gene, one from each parent.   And what that means is that my body does a really crappy job of getting rid of toxins and things that most people get rid of naturally.  I have always known that my body doesn't work like it is supposed to.  I have had a lifetime of health issues because of the mutation, including but not limited to:  Endometriosis, Depression, Anxiety, other undiagnosed Mental Illness, Fatigue (not like oh, I'm tired fatigue, but I'm freaking exhausted all the time fatigue), Thyroid Antibodies (I don't officially have Hashimoto's Disease because my Thyroid isn't destroyed enough to call it that, but I do have the antibodies and the low Thyroid symptoms), G.E.R.D., Gastritis, Food Allergies, Muscle Spasms, Abdominal Pain, Sleep issues, Dizziness, Sun Induced Eczema, Headaches (regular and Migraine), Leaky Gut,  etc.  Fortunately, I am not experiencing all these symptoms right now!  I am a Spoonie.  That's me on the left.

I always thought I wanted to make a blog after I found out all the answers and considered myself to be healthy.  And pass on my information to people who were struggling, to give them answers.  My husband recently convinced me to do it now.  I do feel like I am pretty close to getting it all figured out, but I still really struggle, on a daily basis.  If you are trying to figure out methylation, do yourself a favor and go to the Facebook page called, "Keep it simple methylation" and ask to be added.  Then read the article about the 5 steps.  It blew my mind when I read it.  It explained so many of the things I was not understanding.  Of course there is also MTHFR.net for a ton of good information.  Methylating is what regular people do naturally, that gets rid of toxins and turns the the things you eat into nice things like Seratonin and Dopamine, or Norepinephrine.  When your pathways are all blocked with toxins, that conversion doesn't happen correctly, and you end up with a bunch of health issues.  I have also learned a lot and connected with a few excellent people on Instagram.  I gained some confidence, strength, and guts to even talk about all this stuff, just from connecting with folks on Instagram.   And also with some encouragement from my husband.  I guess I used to think I was in this all by myself, and I had to figure it all out on my own.  Now I know it is going to take a village.  Something really important for people with the MTHFR mutation, that is pretty much accross the board, is to stay far away from Folic Acid.  Like don't even look at it!  Seriously, in any form.  Not Folate, but Folic Acid.  Folic Acid is like a manmade version of Folate and it will wreak havoc on you if you have the MTHFR mutation.  I can speak from personal experience, as I was taking a liquid B complex for a year or so, that had Folic Acid in it.  I was horribly depressed the whole time I was taking it!

Here are some of the things I am doing to try to get better.  I eat clean, gluten, grain and dairy-free food. I cook almost everything I eat myself.  I take supplements: Cod Liver Oil, Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Probiotics, Sam-e, 5htp, zinc, Niacin, and Magnesium on a daily basis.  I am the person who tried taking an active B complex and for a week, felt amazing!  Then I completely crashed.  Over methylation.  I am still learning about that and how that works.  Now I have my B vitamins separated out into separate pills, which I break down even further, into 1/4 pills.  I am extremely sensitive!  I buy gelatin capsules to separate out my supplements.  I tried Amino  NAC for a little while, and then started getting heartburn and symptoms of Over methylation, so I am giving that a break.  I walk daily, about a half hour.  I am learning to meditate, which has never been easy for me.  I try to do that daily, but it usually ends up being about 4 times a week.  I sometimes do yoga, or just stretching.  I don't put anything on my skin that I wouldn't eat.  I am learning that I can't do everything.  I ask for help.  Ok I guess that's it for now.  Please do remember that I am not a doctor.  These are just my experiences