Dear Regular Newsletter Readers,
Welcome to another edition of our weekly newsletter and I hope there is something of interest in it for you to read this week.
For the next few weeks I will be sharing with you my journey to try to discover why my health seems to have taken a sudden turn for the worst despite the fact that only very recently I had a full and very detailed medical check-up in a local hospital here in Tokyo and when going through the results of my tests with the doctor he did not raise any red flags.
Since the beginning of October of last year I have been burdened with some medical issues, which seem not to want to clear themselves up despite the fact that I have been and still am taking various medications. A lot of people, regardless of where they live in the world, seem to suffer from digestion and stomach related issues which are either commonly caused through poor eating habits, stress or a combination of both. Poor eating habits and stress usually lead to a person suffering with acid reflux and in some cases GERD (Gastroeosophageal Reflux Disease) which is a more serious form of acid reflux, and this problem can, if not treated in the proper manner, lead to other more serious complications. If one day you happen to feel that you have something stuck at the back of your throat and it’s not a piece of food, your throat is sore and perhaps burning because it’s dry, you are experiencing some food regurgitation, burping/belching frequently and you also have some heartburn then it’s a fair indication that you have some form of acid reflux.
If and when you go and see a doctor to confirm whether or not you have acid reflux (and I suggest you do so promptly and preferably see an ENT- ear nose and throat specialist) he or she will listen to your symptoms and conduct an examination of your nose and throat and in some cases your ears if you are experiencing ear discomfort (this may or may not include a nasal endoscopy). In most cases, the doctor would then prescribe a 2 week’s supply of PPI tablets (Proton Pump Inhibitors) which are taken to try to reduce the amount of acid that your stomach is producing; however, in some cases the stomach may not be producing enough acid, so in that case PPI’s would not necessarily be so effective. If for example you happen to just have the feeling of a lump at the back of your throat, some nasal congestion but no food regurgitation, heartburn or any other typical symptoms of acid reflux then the doctor may not suggest you have acid reflux, he may suggest that you have post nasal drip or Rhinitis or maybe even laryngitis and possibly pharyngitis which may or may not have led to your throat becoming sore and dry.
On my first visit to see an ENT specialist I had the feeling of a lump at the back of my throat and some nasal congestion, in particular I had lot of mucous that was collecting at the back of my throat and hence it was causing the feeling of a lump, at least that’s what I assumed was the cause for the lump sensation I had (which I still have to a certain degree). The doctor listened to my symptoms and then examined my nasal passages and the back of my throat (I received no nasal endoscopy) and I was told that I had post nasal drip together with a case of Rhinitis or some other type of allergy. I was given a bagful of various antibiotics and antihistamines for 10 days and sent on my way. I came away from the ENT doctor’s surgery feeling that the doctor had given me a bagful of antibiotics and antihistamine nasal sprays in the hope that at least one of them would cure whatever problem it is that I have; of course some doctors have a tendency to over prescribe medicines when they don’t really know what the issues are and that’s what I thought he had done in my case.
Like a lot of busy people, I have a job that keeps me away from my family and home for more hours in the day than it should do and as a consequence my eating habits, especially Monday through Friday, are not what you might call acceptable. Before going any further with this story, I must add that since being struck with the health issues I am struggling with I have made some drastic changes to my life style which now sees me getting home earlier, eating earlier, eating smaller meals, drinking way less alcohol and for the most part going to bed earlier than I have since I was a primary school student. Also, through evaluating the environment in which I sleep (which up until recently was always way too dry) and how I sleep (I’m trying my damnedest to start to breathe through my nose instead of my mouth) I believe I have made some important improvements in those departments as well. I will explain more about the changes in my life I have made and how they have (I believe) positively affected me as my story continues, but I would just like to take this opportunity to mention that I am sharing my health issue journey so far to try to help others that may also be struggling to find answers to their health related questions.
I will openly admit that I am one of those people that usually succumbs to suffering from some paranoia when I don’t feel very well on myself and as I’m aging (58 going on 59) it seems to have increased to an uncomfortable level. One of the worst things anyone can do when they are not feeling very well on themselves (and I’m very often guilty of doing this) is to take to the internet to check out different comments from people who appear to be suffering from what I am suffering from on various healthcare blogs and forums. Of course, all that generally happens when we do such a thing is that we give ourselves more worry and stress through the manifestation that takes place in our minds from reading such comments. The next thing we know we have convinced ourselves that we have some form of cancer or another serious disease and then we dread making an appointment to go and see a doctor.
Based on my own experiences, I must stress how important it is to resist the temptation of going on to the internet to try to self-diagnose through reading other people’s experiences, I’m not saying it’s altogether wrong, I’m sure it can sometimes help certain individuals, but more often than not it just breeds more worry and concern for people and it causes stress, and we all know that stress can make a problem worse than it is. The best and only thing to do when you are not feeling very well is to make an appointment to go and see a doctor and get an expert opinion on what health issue you may be suffering with rather than waste your time giving yourself way more stress than you need to by spending hours and hours consulting the internet.
When I returned home from seeing the ENT doctor my wife was concerned why I had been given so much medicine (tablets to take and sprays to administer) and she questioned, like I did, why the doctor had prescribed so much. However, being the good patient that I generally am, I started my course of medication, but after about 3/4 days of taking it I noticed that my symptoms had worsened to the point where my throat had tightened quite considerably and I was having some issues with swallowing and breathing which forced me to make another appointment to see the ENT doctor. To be continued next week.
Until next week, in light of the recent surge of Covid and Omicron cases here in Japan, please stay safe.