Blogs are basically extended memory- many times I've found myself just wanting to document a body of knowledge I've gained- but in the public sphere, putting things out there, hoping they help or resonate. This past 12 months I've gone through the hellish experience of dealing with yet another LPR throat burn and accelerated GERD thanks to a hiatal hernia. The key to getting all of this under control was dealing with the hiatal hernia, and in the end I did get to the point that the hernia was bothering me very little and my digestion was quiet.
First, the TMI bit. I'm quite sure the hernia was brought on by straining on the toilet. I have a sluggish thyroid and one of the unfortunate symptoms of that is constipation. Just generally body processes not moving along the way they should. So every bowel movement is difficult. This likely was a contributor to my IBS-C diagnosis as well.
This was exacerbated by my love for coffee. Coffee has great cognitive benefits, but terrible effects on digestion. One that I'd read about but has been an overwhelming presence the past few years is dehydration. I've come up with a simple protocol to cope- drinking one glass of water for every cup of coffee- but I think the ultimate solution might be giving it up, I'm afraid. Anyway caffeine does stimulate peristalsis, which ought to help with constipation, but I guess with a sluggish thyroid they cancel each other out a bit. Then add the dehydration on top, which makes your poops dense and difficult to pass, and you can find yourself in quite a jam- literally.
Constipation led to straining, which led to developing my tear, yadda yadda.
What happens with a hiatal hernia is part of your stomach bubbles up through a tear in the hiatus muscle, which normally separates the esophagus and stomach. This in effect forms a small "pre-stomach" where acid can wreak havoc, forcing itself up the esophagus due to limited space. This was the cause of the LPR damage, the subject of which I've already blogged about extensively. Today's post is how I managed the GERD and hiatal hernia and in fact I believe was healing up by the end.
Hack #1: Benefiber in your drinking water.
I thought job #1 was to solve the constipation- the root of the problem. It's important to keep hydrated already- moreso when dealing with both constipation and GERD. I've tried morning doses of Benefiber and it had basically no result. I think it was on Reddit that someone posted this suggestion from their doc: to a 16-oz water bottle, I add 4-5 teaspoons of benefiber and sip on it throughout the day. This addresses the situation in an ongoing fashion so your poops are lighter and easier to pass in general, which reduces the need to strain.
Hack #2: Enlist herbal assistance
When it's bad, look in herbal tea blends for buckthorn and senna- these both have a laxative effect that can help things get moving. They can't fix problems that are already developing, but used on a semi-regular basis, they will help soften stools and prevent genuine crises. For maintenance, choose herbal blends with dandelion, ginger and chicory. I like steeping Traditional Medicinal's Dandelion Chai Probiotic and Ginger Aid blends together for a one-two anti-inflammatory, colon-toning punch.
Hack #3: replace your morning coffee with chicory
Speaking of chicory, it's very popular in roasted and ground form and serves as an excellent coffee subsitute. And it's an excellent root for increased intestinal motility.
Hack #4: get your caffeine from green tea and chocolate
One of the most agonizing decisions I made was to give up coffee. If you can tolerate it, it's good to get caffeine in small doses for a cognitive benefit. The most satisfying way I've found to do this is by drinking green tea and eating dark chocolate. Now, when my digestion was triggered and sensitive, chocolate was a total no-go. But now that things are calmer, I've finally been able to reincoporate this indulgent, healthy snack. But I've never had problems with green tea, thankfully. It has multiple benefits including reducing inflammation- very helpful when dealing with IBS-C and GERD both.
Hack #5: heal your gut like healing a wound
Things for me really turned around when I encountered Alanda Jones' video on YouTube about healing the esophagus. Calendula is known for its wound-healing properties- we were already using it in puppy paw balm and personal hand creams. I bought calendula steeped in olive oil on Etsy, then bought a big bag of the dried flowers. when my batch began running out, I just started adding more flowers and oil. To 6 oz of warm water, add a teaspoon of manuka honey and a dropper or two of calendula oil. Have this first thing in the morning, and last thing in the evening until the honey runs out. Manuka honey- especially the effective stuff- is expensive, so you don't want to be eating a lot of it on an ongoing basis. Wait a week and see how you feel and there is no improvement in your GERD, try another round of it.
Related to this is taking a high-quality probiotic and digestive enzyme. If you have GERD, you're probably taking PPIs, and those deprive your digestion of acid, the greatest weapon your body has for breaking food down into usable nutrients. You need to give your digestion some help in the form of enzymes and probiotic supplements. Take the probiotic once or twice a day, and take the enzymes with every meal. Also be sure to eat some raw fruits and veg every day, which have all of their enzymes intact. Which leads neatly to-
Hack #6: Have a salad every day- sometimes drink it!
One thing you must do to get beyond this is have fiber in every meal and snack. This means snacking on fruit (I like banana and dried figs best) and nuts like whole almonds, and experimenting with whole grains and beans. A salad every day can be an efficient catch-all for many of these things. But a vegetable and fruit smoothie will absolutely transform your life. All it takes is one 6 oz. smoothie a day to see really dramatic results. I like berries for the anthocyanins, and pineapple for the digestive enzymes.Any greens can be used but the easiest and most abundantly available are baby spinach and kale. you can even find them in a mix. Just toss them in and mix. It takes away the excuse most of us have for putting it off or not doing it at all.
Hack #7: maintain beyond the symptoms
Every day I make a large thermos of hot water and drink herbal tea throughout the day. I also drink the water supercharged with Benefiber every day. and though I don't do the manuka honey and calendula every morning, I do still put calendula in the herbal latte I start every day with- I'll post that sometime.
I hope you find this information useful and helps you get your inner self in better shape to help combat hiatal hernia and GERD.
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