Doctor's Advice Causing Stress

@fawkes62 (1276)
United States
April 26, 2016 2:47pm CST
I had an appointment with my doctor today to discuss my heartburn medications. I had come across an article that talked about some pretty nasty long term side effects of one of the medications I take and I wanted to find out if it's something I need to be concerned about. She doesn't like that medication at all because of all the possible risks of taking it. None of those were mentioned to me when I started the medication and if they were mentioned to me afterwards it was worded in a way that I didn't really worry about it. In the process of talking with her she came up with few ideas to try, some easier than others. She wants me to have an EGD (if I'm understanding correctly it's an endoscopy) and she wants me to keep a food diary for a week. I've had an endoscopy about 7 years ago and if I remember correctly nothing was found and the test was not enjoyable. The food diary will be a pain, but fairly easy. I just have to keep track of everything I eat, including any hard candies or gum that I might have. After I've done that for a week is the part that I think will be the hardest. She wants me to go gluten free for a week to see if I have any improvement in symptoms. I've only looked at gluten free diets briefly today, but it doesn't sound very easy. I eat a lot of bread and pasta and both of those are things I will have to avoid for a week. From the little bit of research I've done most sources say to go gluten free for 6 weeks to see the best results. Now I wonder if doing it for a week will even make a difference. The last thing she mentioned was that I won't get my heartburn under control fully until I take care of my stress. Stress is the only thing I can say for sure that has made my heartburn worse. If I have to handle my stress better before my heartburn will get better, does it really matter if I go gluten free or have the EGD done? If it's mainly stress that is causing my heartburn, trying these other things will just make it worse, neither option is stress free. I always seem to leave my appointments with her more stressed than when I got there. I will give her suggestions a try, but my expectations are not that high on them working. If you have any suggestions on going gluten free, I welcome the advice.
7 people like this
6 responses
@DianneN (247186)
• United States
29 Apr 16
My DIL eats gluten free. It has helped her tremendously. I hope things work out for you.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (342112)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Apr 16
It sounds like you are going through a tough patch at the moment. I think endoscopy examinations have moved on in 7 years. My husband has had one lately and it was no trouble at all so perhaps you are worrying needlessly about that. Our supermarket sells a lot of gluten free products. Hopefully a larger supermarket if you have one nearby would do so too. They sell gluten free pastas and a lot of flour products.
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Apr 16
iam surprsed she did not suggest ways to help handle stress. Im a diabetic and s tress'shoots up mybloodd sugar a way higher than most sugary foods would. ? Stress can affect your heart.one way we handle it is to pretend we see a bhuge bublble around us that s stressproof so that no stress can enter your mind at all. thiis may sound silly but it does work and it stops stress so thats a plus.
@Lolaze (5093)
• St. Louis, Missouri
26 Apr 16
No suggestions on being gluten free but can you ask to be sedated for the EGD?
@sofssu (23662)
8 Jun 16
Heartburn and stress go hand in hand. Hope you can learn to control how you react to it. I had an endoscopy a couple of years ago and it was painful.
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
26 Apr 16
I'm sorry about the stress - it seems a bit of a vicious circle.
1 person likes this