Back in college, I had a terrible lifestyle. There was no structure, no routine and things were all over the place. I was constantly told by my mother that a bad lifestyle can have long term consequences but like every other teenager, I never paid any heed to it.?
If I could go back in time and change that, I would.
When we are young, we don’t really think that sickness can last forever. At that age, we are blessed with energy and a carefree attitude. But unfortunately, that phase of our lives soon ends and we are left with every bad decision we made for our body, staring us in the face.
My laziness and lack of interest in maintaining a healthy lifestyle led to a diagnosis that turned out to be extremely inconvenient in every way.?
Back in college, I used to have constant acidity because I wouldn't have my meals on time and at other times, I wouldn't have meals at all. Drinking became a significant part of my life because as much as anyone would like to deny it, college does that to you. The sense of freedom that comes from knowing you don’t have to face your parents at the end of the night probably added to my health woes.?
Coming back to acidity, it felt like a very normal thing that happens to everyone. Not much later I realised, it's not that simple.?
The constant heartburn started to take a toll on my mental health. I ended up feeling annoyed all the time.?So, after college ended and I headed home to my folks, I finally decided to do something about it. I informed my mother about the constant discomfort I was in and she took me to a doctor. I wasn't expecting what happened next.
GERD or Gastroesophageal reflux disease is?a condition that affects the lower esophageal sphincter,?the muscle between the esophagus and stomach.?In other words, it is when stomach acid keeps flowing back into the tube which connects your mouth to your stomach. The frequent flow of acid corrodes the lining of your esophagus which can cause discomfort.
In a study titled 'The prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease and its risk factors in a community-based population in Southern India,' a total of 1072 participants were given a questionnaire.?
The study also revealed that people suffering from obesity also showed a higher risk of GERD in comparison to those who had adequate BMI. Subjects who lived in urban areas turned out to be more vulnerable to the condition as compared to those who lived in rural areas.?
When it came to lifestyle habits, people who were habitual drinkers, smokers or tobacco chewers suffered from GERD since all of these come under substances that trigger the condition.?
I spent countless nights feeling like I was having a heart attack because heartburn is one of the most prominent symptoms of this condition.?
And by the time I got to him, I already had all the symptoms that one can avoid if they get help immediately.?“So, now what happens next?” I asked the doctor.
“You’ll have to get an endoscopy done and take medication for a period of time to get back to stable acid levels in your stomach,” he explained.
This short conversation was enough for me to understand that in order to get rid of this life-altering condition where I couldn't eat half the things I loved I'd have to make some drastic changes. No points for guessing that it was because of my poor choice of lifestyle that I ended up gaining a lot of weight. Weight gain, incidentally, is one of the triggers for GERD.?
I came across a lot of people who confessed that they face the same type of discomfort too. That is when I realised that a lot of us are just living with this condition. So many of us don’t even know what the condition is and how it works and are quick to treat it casually as 'just acidity.’?
No, it’s much more than that. GERD leads to yet more lifelong complications like stomach and esophageal ulcers, tissue damage and increased risk of esophageal cancer.
I’ve fixed my lifestyle to a great extent. I work out regularly, my diet consists of fresh and healthy foods with the occasional cheat meals, my caffeine intake is way lower than ever and I don't compromise on my sleep. But I’m still on medication which might stay in my life for a while.?
It is not a short term process and thanks to my diagnosis, I managed to help a lot of people around who ended up getting medical help and finding out they have the same thing.
We recommend consulting a doctor at the earliest in case you think you have the symptoms. Timely medical help will help you avoid a lifetime of health issues.