Heartburn on little cat feet

[quislibet]

I have to say that suffering from chronic heartburn as well as from a mysterious but (I am assured after many cardiological visits over the past several years) non-alarming minor heart problem (to wit: an occasional irregular or rapid beat) is, to a certain extent, like having cats, if you account for slightly different understandings of "to have" and steer away from creeping into the sense of "to have kittens."

No, what I mean is this: when you're asleep at night, or at any rate falling asleep, or just being awakened from sleep, and there is a noise (and perhaps that's why you have just been awakened), and you have two rambunctious cats in the house, why, you simply think to yourself, depending on wakefulness and charitability, "damn noisy cats," or "oh, oh, those cats are such scamps," and go back to sleep, unless they are making it difficult by wrestling on top of your prone form. You tend not to think, "oh dear, I do believe some miscreant has entered the house for the purpose of perpetrating a crime," even if this might even be true. So far, however, it's been cats all the way, and I'm knocking on wood here, there being a desk made of same right at hand.

Just so in this manner likewise equally, whenever I have a chest pain, I can think, "damn burny heartburn" (usually not "that gastric reflux is such a scamp"), and go back to sleep, or at least try to, and figure it must not be serious if I wake up alive in the morning, which has been the case every time (see comment above re: desk).

----
Disclaimer, or perhaps that's not the right word here: I have frequently seen doctors, even specialists, for both of these vexations, so you needn't comment here that I should go see one. Cheers.

Comments

[cnoocy]

My first thought was "you've seen a specialist about the fact that you have cats?"

[jhimm.livejournal.com]

many would argue that's a valid course of action.
;>

[maartexx.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth: I have recurrent heartburn and all the meds in the world made it feel worse. A friend who's an MD (can you believe there is such a thing? heh) recommended I try taking a Benadryl every night. This keeps the nastiness at bay nearly all the time.

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

I've switched around with varying dosages and brands of the proton-pump inhibitors (Prevacid and Protonix, and currently Prilosec OTC), and they seem to work pretty well unless I eat something particularly trigger-like.

I have to be careful with allergy medicines, as they can aggravate the irregular heartbeat problem.

[mianxi.livejournal.com]

See, this is the point I often make about medicating poets... we could have lost Carl Sandburg's foggy, feline metaphor to a properly timed dose of ranitidine HCl!

Have you tried ranitidine, aka Zantac? Not that I'm trying to inhibit your creative pain... but to avoid a tyger, tyger, burning night I take 150 mg half an hour before sleep, and I avoid my worst dietary triggers. That does not, of course, keep our actual 25 pound tabby from sleeping on my neck. Owell.

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

I have tried ranitidine, but find more success with Prevacid and its ilk. I was pleased as punch when Prilosec went over-the-counter, as it works for me pretty well and is slightly cheaper than my prescription co-pay.

In other news, I think both our cats together weigh less than two thirds of yours.

[stagemanager.livejournal.com]

{hijack}
I was innocently reading my friends page, and came upon this entry. Based on the feline icon, I naturally assumed it was another guy I know who has cats, but I didn't know he had heartburn. Then I got to reading the comments, and was wondering why quislibet would be replying to these comments left in this other persons journal. Then, I finally saw the links at the bottom of the comment page; upon seeing the profusion of Latin, I decided to see whose journal I was actually in. Imagine my surprise. Now I have to go back and read the post with the voice in which it was written.
{/hijack}

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

I can see where that would be disconcerting.

Some people on my f'list who otherwise have nothing in common use very similar userpics, and that messes with me every time.

[shnells.livejournal.com]

i have been using aciphex for a while and it seems to work really well. i was on zantac and prilosec before this and those didn't do as great a job. i found that not eating three hours before going to bed, avoiding greasy fatty food, high amounts of sugar, peppermint, caffeine and cheese go long ways to reducing the heartburn issue. that and lots of ginger. i'm not so good with avoiding sugar and choccie though. also the yogi brand stomach ease tea, really works.

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

I've become a ginger junkie. It rocks.

[shnells.livejournal.com]

it seriously works. i find my stomach gettnig very bloated if i don't have at least one meal a day that contains ginger. amazing innit?

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to say that I have in the last ten minutes drunk a cup of ginger-fennel tea.