Thank you all for your advice re the above. This pain started with a bowl of homemade vegetable soup made in my wonderful soup maker. This had more leeks than usual and gave my OH indigestion as well. Since then it has lingered getting worse as the day progresses. In the morning I have healthy yoghurt and porridge and for lunch soup or sardines on toast or cheese , dinner is pasta, chicken or fish. Not many carbs there and hardly any sugar as I want to stop taking Metformin. I think it's the cocktail of pills we all take and my 76 year old stomach saying enough. Today I have cut out my one piece of wholemeal bread at lunchtime and tomorrow I might not take the Metformin. As I have a bone density scan due after Christmas I need to eat calcium rich food as it wasn't good before steroids. I don't think the ppi or calcichews help either. Never mind the plus side is one stone in weight already lost and the skinny jeans now fit after two years! ps I never did like leeks.
Heartburn continued: Thank you all for your advice... - PMRGCAuk
Heartburn continued
Have you had your blood sugars tested lately..? I wouldn’ t be surprised if they had improved with all your efforts?
Yes the blood sugar has come down a lot which is why a GP suggested I stop taking medication and keep to a healthy diet with regular blood testing. He told me that steroid induced diabetes at my age is unlikely to have nasty side effects later in life. He virtually said go away and enjoy life! However one week later at my hospital appointment (only three months late) the doctor said keep taking one tablet in the morning. He then decided to give me the dreaded alendronic acid again even though I told him it disagreed with me. My late mother had GCA and diabetes and high blood pressure etc and after twenty years stopped taking all her pills. We could not force her to and consequently she faded away. Although I felt guilty and sad I understood and now can find myself sometimes feeling the same after only 30 months. So it's the gaviscon for me and if it continues will seek medical advice. Thanks to everyone for their help.
I do understand your mother completely. I made a similar decision for my mum who had late stage dementia . I didn’t want anything to increase her suffering. She had DVT and would have faced an operation. I gave her homeopathic remedies and the clot dissolved. I was also adamant that she should not face a stomach feeding tube. Or any other intrusive treatment.
It is a different matter to make an informed decision not to accept a medication that may be prescribed unnecessarily.
Possibly your AA and Metformin fall into that category. We do need some quality of life. Some medics seem to forget this.
All the best, you do seem to be managing your condition well. I need to take a leaf out of your book.
Hope it's feeling better. Well done getting in skinny jeans!! Don't forget pasta fruit porridge root veg etc are carbs. I find new things cause indigestion as I go. I was reading about prebiotics this morning and it was suggestion raw leeks onions and other things that cause a bit of heart burn for me. Trying to balance the good for you with bad for reflux foods is a bit hit and miss for me 🌻😲
This is just a thought. Did you use dried kidney beans in the recipe? Does a soupmaker work like a slow cooker?
food52.com/hotline/16750-if...
I used to use slow cooker years ago. I always pre soaked then fiercly boiled Dried red kidney bean for at least 10 mins to get rid of....brain fog struck...it was to stop them being toxic or something.😉😂
Yes there's been something on the news lately about how kidney beans are toxic if not cooked to a certain point. Of course canned beans are fine because they've gone through that process, but if they're cooked from the dry form they have to reach a certain temperature for long enough. I remember hearing that there are other beans which also pose problems, maybe some kind of broad bean?
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...
Here we go, for your reading pleasure:
huffingtonpost.com/megan-ba...
Thanking you. Hopefully will kick through brain fog. I was vegan for 8 years and tinned goods sometimes had animal derivative so I remember boiling kidney beans.
Ibteresting. I remember watching a ray mears survival/wild food programme and there were several different roots and seeds like acorns and water lilies that had to be bagged and put in running water while or ground to get rid of toxins and tannins. Cyanide seems to pop up everywhere.
No the soup maker cooks and if you want a smooth soup it does that for you and also makes lumpy soup with noodles, pasta etc. All this in under 30mins. All you do is chop the veg, add a stock cube and water and plug in. I cannot recommend it too much and you can buy ready chopped veg in my sainsburys if you are in a hurry. I like carrot and lentil best.
PPIs can cause gastro problems of various sorts so bear that in mind. Perhaps try ranitidine/Zantac - does the same but different mechanism so different side effects.
Hi,
Since taking/making my own, home brewed coconut water Kefir probiotic, my heartburn has virtually gone. I give it to my Ma too; she has a hiatus hernia and heartburn at night can cause her to cough a great deal, or used to...not anymore as her heartburn has improved a great deal.
It's worth a try.
Poppy
Hi Poppy, my husband suffers a lot with heartburn (I’m the one with PMR and I don’t).
Would you share your recipe for the Kefir that you make, please. It sounds like it’s very effective.
Thanks,
Gerri
Hi Gerri, I would be delighted to. I have done a step by step document, includes how to and utensils and ingredients. I also have masses of the wee grains and would gladly send you some. I think the best way is if you send me your email, I will attach all, pictures and doc.
Best Rgds
Poppy 😃
Thanks Poppy. I’ve sent you a message.
I rarely have heartburn but find that when I cook leeks with cream and cheese( which I love- which is a treat) I do often get heartburn and usually take 2 rennies which does the job!
Leeks cooked that way sound delicious. I have never had them like that but will try it. Luckily I have never had heartburn in my life, perhaps I should touch wood.
Late reply - difficult couple of days.
Just wanted to remind you that porridge, toast and pasta are all carbs. Maybe if you stopped those you could stop the remaining Metformin? Carbs = sugar. Just a thought.
Despite no carbs, I still don't lose weight, so envious of that.
Cocktail of pills seems often a problem. Once dyspepsia starts, it seems to make it take longer to get better. Hope it's sorting itself out by now.
Hi Bonny, there are "good" carbs and "bad" carbs, for example fruit and veg have carbs in them and we do need some carbohydrates as part of our diet. Getting less than 130 grams of carbs daily is a low-carb diet, while fewer than 30 grams is considered a very low carbohydrate diet.
Physiologically speaking we don't HAVE to have carbs in our diet and nor are there "good" carbs from the diabetes or weight loss point of view. All of them become glucose in the body sooner or later, just the complex ones take longer so don't cause spikes. Most experts in that field feel under 50g of utilisable carb is what you need for weight loss and so classed as low carb.
I thought that we needed a few carbs to give energy to the brain. I think giving up fruit and veg as well may be a bit OTT. I think I will stick with cutting out the simple carbs.
This gives a balanced view. I personally eat carbs and would be a skeleton if I didn't, so even when my blood sugar spiked after starting pred I still ate root vegetables like sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, as well as the less dense sources of carbs like salad veggies and fruit. I literally would have starved to death otherwise. But I've always treated foods like pie, cake, candy as treats and eaten sparingly so that wasn't an issue. The hardest thing for me to give up, because of the easy meals you can make, was pasta.
If there are no carbs available to it the body switches to ketogenic mode, producing energy from fat, by putting your body into a state of ketosis which is how it works in weight loss. This isn't dangerous - except for uncontrolled diabetics. For people with uncontrolled diabetes, ketosis is a sign of not using enough insulin. Ketosis can become dangerous when ketones build up since high levels lead to dehydration and change the chemical balance of the blood.
I eat shed-loads of veg - just limited amounts of root veg. I still eat carrots and the occasional parsnip! It all depends on the person and the amounts - if someone claims they are eating low carb and not losing weight but still eats fruit, root veg, wholegrain pasta/bread etc they are kidding themself. And someone like Heron doesn't have the problem anyway.
I love parsnips, particularly roast parsnips, but do feel a bit guilty when I have them.
I never feel guilty about anything I eat, just want to avoid the sort of organ damage caused by protracted high blood sugar. Diabetes in family - have seen. Also OH has diabetic macular degeneration - miraculously saved so far by periodic eye injections over last couple of years, but I definitely get the picture.
Can't be bothered w too many boring details - counting carbs n so on. So basically just avoid everything 'starchy' - white potatoes, rice, pasta, and cereals including bread. Also almost anything containing sugar. Using blood sugar meter fr start, soon found out which foods made blood sugar (BS) rocket. Porridge was one big disappointment - used to love it. No matter how 'healthy' it's meant to be, it makes my BS shoot up. Used to love potatoes in any form, too - oh well . . . .
Much like PMRpro, I don't count veg, tho am careful w sweet potato, carrots, parsnips and the like. I also eat shed loads of veg, esp greens - hopefully lots of micronutrients. Avocado is good + versatile. Aubergine, peppers etc are useful for quantity. Cauliflower cheese is a staple. Plus as great a variety of sources of protein as poss - fish, meat (not processed), eggs, peas, beans etc, and lots of full fat dairy - milk, cheeses, Greek yoghurt. Limited fruit, mainly banana (for potassium) and some blueberries, plus a v few cautious prunes. Never go hungry, but don't overeat either. Have lost no weight, but last HbAic was v good.
Cheers.
The best thing is, in general, to have a rainbow on your plate. If our meal looks a bit too beige sometimes I immediately add some sort of colourful vegetable.
Eat a rainbow every day!
Don't want to over-complicate it...but I will.
Diabetes nurse recommended 40-60g of carbs a day once I finally got referred. I am on insulin for now. I try and stick to what she said but have agreed I can eat my fruit...usually soft fruit in summer and apple and citrus in winter (citrus brings own issues). I avoid bananas at the moment because they seem to spike me more. Anyway back to carb counting. I subtract the fibre content of food from the carb count. So if a food/meal has 30g of carbs but had 8g of fibre then I count this as 22g carbs. Easy really.
I am resting pre-Xmas then intend to really hit the low carb at 20g for 2 weeks following diabetes reversal. I will be examining fibre content of everything. It's sounds a pain but I bet most of us eat pretty much same foods every week or month. We have our favourites and usually stick to them. Once you have made a note of nutritional content of food it's easy to manage. I have lost a stone/14lbs since May I think it was. I didn't feel.like I was trying. That's why I will try over coming months.
Yes - my shopping list is VERY boring!!!!
As long as you also eat some good quality protein when you have your carbs this should help keep your blood sugar level stable. Not sure why, not a biochemist, but apparently this is so!
As veggie it's this bit that is hard. Don't really like many eggs (prospective baby chick lol). I have increased several cheeses and higher protein beans and legumes tofu tempeh.
I think that once I can minimise prednisolone and Repaglinde, I will lose weight without trying any harder. These are both meds that lead to weight gain. More blooming side effects!
About 6 of 14 plus meds I take have weight gain as side effect. Drives me to distraction lol.
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