Turns out that all the coughing I’ve been doing has been heartburn related. Except it’s silent heartburn because I didn’t know I had it.
If you’re new here, I’ve been coughing for approximately 987544983 days with little relief. And, as a result I’ve had many sleepless nights (as has my family) and I’ve been desperately seeking any medical professional who could tell me what was wrong. Mostly, I was coughing at night but it creeped into my daytime activities and made life super aggravating.
Out with family to see a play at our local theatre. Coughing.
On the phone. I’ll catch you later, koff koff, because I’m going to start choking!
In an elevator. A muffled *cough cough*, sorry I’m not even sick, honestly!
And inevitably, when you’re in those situations of desperately not wanting to cough, your body betrays you and YOU. CAN’T. STOP.
Also, as an aside, I’m changing my words for 2024 to PELVIC FLOOR, because I’ve learned more about my pelvic floor in this 987544983 days of coughing than I ever thought possible. Now you know that about me. You’re welcome.
All this to say, I had a recent visit with yet another specialist who looked at some very old scans and told me that he was pretty sure I had a bad hernia, which was causing silent heartburn and that’s why I was coughing so much.
Unbelievable.
But, totally believable now because I’ve made some changes to my diet and started some new meds and gosh darnit, I’m coughing WAY less.
The new Doc had a laundry list of foods to avoid and I’ve been following it as closely as possible. I tried explaining to him that I actually eat pretty well and tend to make all of my food from scratch but I’m sure he’s heard that before. He told me that green tea, mint tea and and carbonated waters are all on the list of no no’s too, which are 3 of the drinks I consume most regularly.
I mean, I’ve got a colleague whose lunch looks like it was packed by a nine year old and she washes it down every day with a Slushie that is close to, if not more than, half a gallon of pop. She’s got the metabolism of a hummingbird and the energy of a Border Collie and I’ve never heard her cough. Not once.
Go figure.
So for now I’m paying a little more attention to the foods I’m prepping for myself and trying to check all the boxes for some wholesome smaller meals that won’t annoy my uninvited hernia.
Perhaps you’re asking when this long overshare about my coughing may be done. And I’m happy to report it’s now. But not before I send you away with this Favourite Chicken Salad recipe, that I’ve been eating on repeat for the last few weeks and some deeelish Lemon Blackberry Muffins. Both give me some satisfying eats with fresh flavours that don’t make me feel like I’m missing out on something.
Have a great week friends.
Renee xo
I’ve been eating this as part of my meal prep for the last two weeks. It’s light, creamy, crunchy and very versatile. Sometimes I have it with crackers, sometimes on a bed of greens and sometimes in lettuce wraps. I get protein, healthy fats and antioxidants all in one meal. You can cook a few chicken breasts in the oven and use that meat or use a deli cooked chicken from the grocery store.
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