Internal Organ Damage: It Doesn't Always Take Years!
Many people probably operate under the assumption that dreaded ailments such as cirrhosis or virulent cancers that shut down inner organs require years and years of excessive alcohol consumption, or remarkably uncommon instances of "bad genes." To be certain, genetics do play a role in many diseases and cancer can often take a pretty long time to develop. It may even be true that generally speaking it should take a considerable amount of damage over long periods of time to see the ill effects of poor dietary habits and hard drug abuse (here it should be noted that "drugs" includes prescription pain medications and alcohol as well as illegal substances) - or whatever other causes exist as an impetus for these horrible conditions - in connection with these types of health problems. However, my experience differs.
Pancreatitis: Origins Unknown
Seven years ago I awoke one fine morning to discover that I wasn't quite so fine. Experiencing unusual but not extreme abdominal pain and discomfort, I ran to the toilet to vomit. Thinking I must have eaten something that violently disagreed with me at this particular time, I got back into bed. I don't remember if I tried to fall back asleep and was simply was unable to do so, or if it was the urge to throw up again that jolted me out of sleep a second time, but I was right back in the bathroom. Within moments it became pretty evident that I was more than just a little bit under the weather. Even as the vomiting and diarrhea died down a bit I went through what seemed like eons of non-productive emesis-induced torture but which was probably more like an hour or two. I assumed I had an especially painful case of food poisoning and I called an ambulance. To put it in perspective, it went something like this: at some point there was nothing left for my gut to expel. As a result, I would be in excruciating visceral pain that only felt worse during the subsequent dry heaving that kept me cursing my very existence in front of the porcelain sanitation fixture that sat in mute testimony of such unfathomable torment. I would then experience very temporary relief as all pain subsided when the dry heaves only just stopped, but within a minute or two this cycle would begin anew.
The agony I felt was unbearable until I was given morphine at the hospital. The dry heaves continued during the ambulance ride, and while I was waiting to be seen I had to run to the lavatory at some point but I did not make it. I thought the diarrhea had ceased! The physical suffering was so bad that I remember being incredibly annoyed when a patient sitting next to me in the waiting room tried to engage me in conversation. This is not anything at all like wishing to read (or sleep) on a plane when someone whose ability to interpret social cues is mysteriously hindered happens to be seated next to you. The thing to realize is that simply being alive was now a chore and even talking and thinking seemed to require an impossible degree of effort in this state. Finally, I was in a bed. Once I was seen after questions were asked repeatedly and medication was administered, I was informed that I was to have my appendix removed. Thankfully, the same medical staff member who apparently misread the ultrasound results caught the mistake and later told me I had "acute pancreatitis", and that there was nothing wrong with my appendix. This incident could have caused an unnecessary surgery or worse, death. Did you know that you can die from a case of pancreatitis? You can, and the complications it can cause are numerous and far-ranging.
So what did I do to wind up with such severe internal organ damage? I'm not sure! Many potential causes for acute and chronic pancreatitis have been singled out, and they run the gamut from alcohol abuse to pancreatic cancer, and include smoking, the use of prescribed medications, and high triglyceride and calcium levels in the blood. In many cases though, acute pancreatitis tends to be associated with excessive alcohol consumption and gallstones. Neither of these things could have caused the inflammation in my case, as I'd been abstaining from the use of alcohol for weeks (possibly months) leading up to the time of the attack, and I'd never been a heavy drinker prior to that. Additionally, I did not have gallstones at that time. In point of fact I was paying a lot of attention to my health and fitness that year, perhaps too much. I had been taking a thermogenic supplement called Hot Rox around the time that I wound up seeking urgent medical care, as well as a standard Whey protein powder supplement of the kind you can buy from any GNC. I'm simply noting that I'd been taking those two things for a while during this period, and that other than that I was ingesting anything atypical, or typical, for that matter. I was not taking any strange herbs or customary prescription medications. At this time I'd also been training intensely for a non-profit, amateur level boxing match they were having at a nearby gym. One of the effects that the Hot Rox had on me when I first started taking it, was appetite suppression and I recall that for a time I found it difficult to get enough food to fuel my training, while on other days leading up to the morning where I experienced those debilitating symptoms I would "treat" myself to the occasional triple Whopper from Burger King. The idea was to enjoy my "cheat days" to the fullest, as I was training and dieting pretty intensely. Chinese buffets were also somewhere in the mix. I had to put a stop to my training in the gym on one day in particular, due to abnormal and sharp abdominal pain and discomfort. The best way I can describe it is by saying it felt like I would puke if I continued training, and so I ended it early. This is after just starting on the Hot Rox if memory serves. On another day, I failed to block a body shot to the mid-section in a sparring session, and perhaps the pancreatitis was even a delayed result of this trauma. I'm tempted to blame the fat loss supplement I was taking, in conjunction with poor dietary choices (I mean seriously, Triple Whoopers? Products for bulking *and* cutting simultaneously?), but I cannot be sure of the cause. Fortunately, treatment only lasted one day in the hospital and after I was given some meds for the pain I was discharged. I had nothing but water for a couple of days and took it easy on the diet afterward, and luckily I was eventually able to resume my exercise and sports training. But it could have been fatal, and who would have suspected that they'd ever succumb to a grave case of organ damage as a healthy individual in his or her early-to-mid twenties?
Gallstones: Why Me?
Pancreatitis: Origins Unknown
Seven years ago I awoke one fine morning to discover that I wasn't quite so fine. Experiencing unusual but not extreme abdominal pain and discomfort, I ran to the toilet to vomit. Thinking I must have eaten something that violently disagreed with me at this particular time, I got back into bed. I don't remember if I tried to fall back asleep and was simply was unable to do so, or if it was the urge to throw up again that jolted me out of sleep a second time, but I was right back in the bathroom. Within moments it became pretty evident that I was more than just a little bit under the weather. Even as the vomiting and diarrhea died down a bit I went through what seemed like eons of non-productive emesis-induced torture but which was probably more like an hour or two. I assumed I had an especially painful case of food poisoning and I called an ambulance. To put it in perspective, it went something like this: at some point there was nothing left for my gut to expel. As a result, I would be in excruciating visceral pain that only felt worse during the subsequent dry heaving that kept me cursing my very existence in front of the porcelain sanitation fixture that sat in mute testimony of such unfathomable torment. I would then experience very temporary relief as all pain subsided when the dry heaves only just stopped, but within a minute or two this cycle would begin anew.
The agony I felt was unbearable until I was given morphine at the hospital. The dry heaves continued during the ambulance ride, and while I was waiting to be seen I had to run to the lavatory at some point but I did not make it. I thought the diarrhea had ceased! The physical suffering was so bad that I remember being incredibly annoyed when a patient sitting next to me in the waiting room tried to engage me in conversation. This is not anything at all like wishing to read (or sleep) on a plane when someone whose ability to interpret social cues is mysteriously hindered happens to be seated next to you. The thing to realize is that simply being alive was now a chore and even talking and thinking seemed to require an impossible degree of effort in this state. Finally, I was in a bed. Once I was seen after questions were asked repeatedly and medication was administered, I was informed that I was to have my appendix removed. Thankfully, the same medical staff member who apparently misread the ultrasound results caught the mistake and later told me I had "acute pancreatitis", and that there was nothing wrong with my appendix. This incident could have caused an unnecessary surgery or worse, death. Did you know that you can die from a case of pancreatitis? You can, and the complications it can cause are numerous and far-ranging.
So what did I do to wind up with such severe internal organ damage? I'm not sure! Many potential causes for acute and chronic pancreatitis have been singled out, and they run the gamut from alcohol abuse to pancreatic cancer, and include smoking, the use of prescribed medications, and high triglyceride and calcium levels in the blood. In many cases though, acute pancreatitis tends to be associated with excessive alcohol consumption and gallstones. Neither of these things could have caused the inflammation in my case, as I'd been abstaining from the use of alcohol for weeks (possibly months) leading up to the time of the attack, and I'd never been a heavy drinker prior to that. Additionally, I did not have gallstones at that time. In point of fact I was paying a lot of attention to my health and fitness that year, perhaps too much. I had been taking a thermogenic supplement called Hot Rox around the time that I wound up seeking urgent medical care, as well as a standard Whey protein powder supplement of the kind you can buy from any GNC. I'm simply noting that I'd been taking those two things for a while during this period, and that other than that I was ingesting anything atypical, or typical, for that matter. I was not taking any strange herbs or customary prescription medications. At this time I'd also been training intensely for a non-profit, amateur level boxing match they were having at a nearby gym. One of the effects that the Hot Rox had on me when I first started taking it, was appetite suppression and I recall that for a time I found it difficult to get enough food to fuel my training, while on other days leading up to the morning where I experienced those debilitating symptoms I would "treat" myself to the occasional triple Whopper from Burger King. The idea was to enjoy my "cheat days" to the fullest, as I was training and dieting pretty intensely. Chinese buffets were also somewhere in the mix. I had to put a stop to my training in the gym on one day in particular, due to abnormal and sharp abdominal pain and discomfort. The best way I can describe it is by saying it felt like I would puke if I continued training, and so I ended it early. This is after just starting on the Hot Rox if memory serves. On another day, I failed to block a body shot to the mid-section in a sparring session, and perhaps the pancreatitis was even a delayed result of this trauma. I'm tempted to blame the fat loss supplement I was taking, in conjunction with poor dietary choices (I mean seriously, Triple Whoopers? Products for bulking *and* cutting simultaneously?), but I cannot be sure of the cause. Fortunately, treatment only lasted one day in the hospital and after I was given some meds for the pain I was discharged. I had nothing but water for a couple of days and took it easy on the diet afterward, and luckily I was eventually able to resume my exercise and sports training. But it could have been fatal, and who would have suspected that they'd ever succumb to a grave case of organ damage as a healthy individual in his or her early-to-mid twenties?
Gallstones: Why Me?
Remember how I mentioned that I didn't have gallstones before? Well, half a year ago an ultrasound revealed a "mobile gallstone" which thankfully has not caused any health complications for me yet. I'd feel far more comfortable knowing I have what some call "silent gallstones" if they weren't mobile. Why do they have to be mobile?! In all seriousness, "silent gallstones" are stones that are not associated with the dreaded gallstone "attacks" that send many people to the same place acute pancreatitis got me. The thing to understand about the second part of this story is that the way I came to know I had the stones was because of a blood test result I only got because I was worried about something else that could have been nothing or a serious symptom of something that's far worse than nothing. As a standard practice, they drew my blood prior to the first appointment I was to have with my primary care provider in a while. I didn't even request it be done but it's obviously part of the process. I was expecting for the results to come back negative as usual, and then I could go about the business of asking more general questions about other health concerns I had. The words "I'm concerned..." and "it's not hepatitis" are the only ones that registered with me as the physician brought out the print-out from the lab. I learned that I had elevated liver enzymes; ALT and AST. One number was twice the normal range while the other was six times the healthy range! I'm happy to inform you that over time, these levels decreased and are currently normal again, but it took a few months of not drinking a thing, avoiding Tylenol at all costs, eating very healthy, exercising, hoping, and worrying about cirrhosis of the liver as a worst case scenario before I saw the numbers drop in a meaningful way. I'm not suggesting that all these exact things are the cause of my improvement (to be sure, my doctor recommended all or most of those things), but those are the things I did religiously. Because I'd been scheduled for an ultrasound shortly after I learned of the liver liver enzyme results, it was discovered that I also had the stones. Unfortunately such factors as Western diet, rapid weight loss and weight gain, and simple heredity play a role in the manifestation of cholesterol or pigment stones inside the gallbladder. At least according to everything I've read. So there is virtually nothing one can do once gallstones have formed inside the body, and often the only thing that can be done to repair more serious cases of this is removal of the gallbladder via surgery. As with the pancreatitis, I won't attribute the fatty liver disease (FLD) to any one specific cause, but I am pretty sure it was alcohol in this case, as I'd been drinking heavily and with regularity for a time leading up to the diagnosis. My diet wasn't the greatest either, but now I am doing all the things I should have been doing anyway, such as eating right and drinking in moderation although, as I mentioned, I quit drinking altogether for quite some time after that examination! I even considered never drinking again, but with some of life's indulgences I find that complete abstinence and unhealthy dependency can be two sides of the same ugly coin. For a person who is liable to overeat and who knows how badly overdoing it can make one feel, moderation may be the order of the day, but of course YMMV and this is not medical advice of any kind. Not long after I'd began my road to recovery from the FLD I watched a notice on the television in the gym as I charged along on my treadmill. It had to do with acetaminophen products such as Tylenol, and the aim appeared to be to inform the public that some people whose family members have suffered loss of life and liver failure of the kind that required transplants may be entitled to monetary compensation for their irreplaceable loss. More recently, I was online and I stumbled across an exotic herb from another country that is said to reverse greying hair (I don't believe it for a second), and after quick research I found cases of liver failure linked with the use of this herb in some countries. I can only imagine that very few things hurt more physically than internal organ damage, and it is good to know that it doesn't take a whole lot of damage to seriously affect a person in some cases. Without our health we are not able to enjoy the very quality of life we seek from the consumption of products that can offer the temporary alleviation of pain and stress. Take care of your organs, they're the only ones you get!
