Breadcrumbs and butterbeans in Hello.

I’ve managed to convince myself I’ve got some terrible stomach condition called GORD (or GERD for our American cousins, who don’t spell oesophagus properly. ;) ) I was diagnosed with gastritis in November of last year and was put on medication. The medication worked, but then the stomach aches came back. I’ve tried to clean up my diet somewhat, I don’t drink nearly as much tea as I used to, limiting myself to two cups a day and lots of water or fennel tea, I hardly drink coffee at all, maybe about twice a month (and put up with the uncomfortable, bloaty feeling afterwards!), I’ve cut down on my alcohol consumption and limit the amount of citrus and tomatoes I eat. Also I’ve cut back on processed, spicy and fatty foods and eat more fruit and veg than I did before. All this helped, but didn’t completely eradicate the pains. Then out of the blue, I developed a cough and hoarseness. I don’t cough all the time, or even every day, but my throat constantly feels there is a hair stuck in it. My voice gets hoarse as the day wears on and I find that my breathing has changed, like I can’t take a breath and say as much as I could before, I have to stop and take a breath…does that make sense? Like my lung capacity has reduced a tiny bit and I’m having to get used to the change. I didn’t really think anything of the breathing to be honest, I put it down to spending all day running up and down stairs at work, into and out of a dusty stock room and working with about a million different perfumed things. Then I lost a tooth. I’d had a tooth with a cavity for years and it never bothered me, but then it just randomly fell out. Add to this my inability to eat starchy foods as easily as I can eat other foods. Bread, potatoes and rice all get stuck in my throat and I can actually feel it going down. That really hurts and all I can do is sit very still and quietly until it passes. So, out of interest I Googled my symptoms and it came back with GORD. I know Gooledoc is bad, but hey, we all do it. GORD is where the valve at the top of your stomach doesn’t work properly and excess acid goes into your oesophagus and sometimes into your lungs. I get heartburn very occasionally, so didn’t think it was that to be honest, but now I know that the cough is caused by acid in my throat, I can feel it. It also causes excessive tooth decay and tartar build up. Google says the doctor won’t treat you for GORD on your first visit, they’ll advise you manage it yourself to see if it helps. So I’m doing that. I’ve taken a 24 hour antacid this morning and I’ve cut right back on the foods that can trigger an attack. Tomatoes and chocolate are bad. :( I like those things. I know it quite possibly isn’t GORD, but prevention over cure, right? I’m not sure if I’m supposed to take the antacid every day or what, as it says on the packet it can take up to 3 days before you see a benefit. Maybe I’ll take them until my throat stops feeling scratchy, although it could feel that way because I’ve damaged it? Not sure. I’ll also keep a food diary so if my symptoms do come back, I can go armed with it when I go to the doctors.