May I present a problem that has been
nagging me for some time now. At issue is
the health of my stomach or gut which has
been a source of great misery for me. I am
an African male aged 31.
I first noticed problems with my stomach
in 2001. Let me say that that period was
also a time of great stress for me due to
some social problems. By 2002 I would be
visit my doctor every once in a while
complaining of a myriad of health issues
chief among them being stomach ache. The
doctor would respond by prescribing some
antibiotic particularly amoxillin.
On numerous occasions we tried to ‘cure
the stomach pain’ by that antibiotic,
but it seemed not to work. I began to
notice changes in my hair which became
very hard and brittle. And my lips also
began to chap and crack and would
discolour to a reddish colour. However
sometimes I would seem well. At this time
my weight was always about 83kgs, and
found it difficult to reduce.
My doctor would so often accuse me of
being a ‘worrier’. But I paid no heed.
In June 2004 after realising that the
problem had gone on for too long my doctor
suggested a full blood count to ascertain
if there were other causes, although by
that time he suspected acidity.
The test reflected only one anomaly; my
alkaline phosphates read 220 instead of
being within the normal range of between
35-110. My doctor suggested reducing
alcohol intake but by time I had long
resorted to drinking once a week taking
usual five pints only.
I also began searching the Internet for
answers and stumbled upon the liver
cleansing protocols which I went on to
administer in 2005, to no tangible avail.
Since then I began to lose weight
gradually as I also began eliminating a
lot of foods from my diet like eggs, wheat
(bread), milk, tea, coffee, sugar quite a
lot really. Suspecting that I may be
having gallstones, I took a radiology test
in February 2006 which showed my liver,
gallbladder, pancreas, both kidneys and
spleen were all normal.
An HIV test recently cleared me of worse
things. But all the same after
streamlining my diet the problem looks the
more entrenched. It’s like the more I
eliminate foods the more the problem in my
stomach magnify. In September 2006, after
taking some soluble and insoluble fiber
supplements infused with amino acids, I
began to feel a burning feeling on the
right side in my stomach and the doctor
said it was an ulcer. Eventually I took
the triple pill treatment for H Pylori in
mid 2007. After that the symptoms seemed
to recede but are back now, and now I
don’t seem to gain any weight. it now
constantly hover around 73 kgs
My most worry however is with regard to
the foods I can no longer eat. My staple
is maize meal cooked into hard porridge,
but now I can no longer take refined
mealie-meal only the unrefined. Refined
cause me to feel exhausted, my lips are
actually a barometer for sensing whether
the food is acceptable to me or not, most
of the foods cause them(lips) to turn red,
feel numb or just discolour
embarrassingly. ussually my head feels
heavy when I take refined mealie meal or
food with animal fat(even so little of
it)and during the night after eating such
food, i have nightmares because my head
would be reeling feeling compressed and
disorganised.
The no! no! in terms of food in their
order are; refined mealie meal, animal fat
(woo! the slightest of it) and sugar.
These are the worst bustards and when I
have them I really have a terrible time,
the amazing thing is that I won’t be
feeling pain in the stomach only feeling
hazy and failing to concentrate. I don’t
enjoy life anymore as most foods cause
this terrible feeling from chicken, pork,
fish, pizza, coke, tea, cake, milk, eggs,
bread fruits like apples, oranges and
bananas etc. surprisingly when I take
something right even my hair gets fuller
in a matter of a day and even my lips get
to feel and look better but all changes
when I transgress. How can I live on a
knife-edge like this? almost all the foods
cause a problem or two.
So narrow is my diet, it is unreal in a
world like this.
