I've a health story to share, so health insurance agents (human or not), this is the end of the post, thanks for reading!
Yeah now that we are in the false sense of security, let's talk about it. Every year since catching covid-19, my understanding of my throat pain has been evolving.
First, I thought it was long covid. To be honest covid was very scary to me, and I was trying every precaution I could think of: preventing community spread, masking, sanitizing, even reheating food. If you can read this post you know what all we all went through during that time. So when I finally caught it, long covid as an answer to my throat pain made sense to me, it was temporally correlated, and even my doctors agreed that it seems like my body is "over-reacting" with an inflamed throat. I was prescribed Proton Pump Inhibitors as a treatment for GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease), a condition that commonly causes acid reflux and heartburn, however it was futile, and no amount of "wait for 6 weeks and then come back" seemed to work.
Elimination diet was the next cure, to the point where I was basically consuming lentils and rice with salt, and hot ginger water daily (yup, that's it). This seemed to work on some days but not on others. Raising the headrest of my bed (stacking a pillow underneath the mattress), staying upright for long. Unfortunately this was not it, and my mood was getting quite worse over time, understandably so.
I got endoscopy done, which is essentially deep throating a camera rod, so yeah, two thumbs down, and it turned out to be fine but with signs of H. pylori. This is a nasty bacterium that supposedly half of the world already has. Why was I having it so bad then? Antibiotics ensued. These were equally nasty with horrible metallic taste for a week with a big dollop of bloat-galore tummy. While my symptoms weren't fully cured, I was told it can take some time as your gut has to readjust. I thought this was it, I just need to "wait for 6 weeks and come back". While I felt better (could be placebo), my symptoms were still erratic and came back from time to time.
So, now I was really nervous and was trying desperate things. I heard of mastic gum, raw garlic (ugh), and "don't take stress" as legitimate advice, although paired with diaphragmatic breathing. Curiously, I also had to travel a bit during this time and eat non-GERD-friendly foods, but I actually felt better, as if I never had any issue. It really felt like I cracked it finally, mastic gum + raw garlic + change of scenery was all I needed.
Or so I thought, months later, a good cup of strong coffee would again trigger my inflamed throat back. I just accepted that it is one of those things that happen to you in your 30s. Your body just fails unexpectedly and you just deal with it. I started consuming more flowery teas, and it was largely working out well.
But then lately, I figured out something once again. Somehow coffee at home is much worse for me but not the ones I would have in cafes, no matter how strong they were. I thought maybe it's the kind of coffee I am consuming, and I tried playing with certain types, but no, it would matter very less. Even tea would cause that at times.
And then, one day, it hit me as my lips got burnt while sipping my own coffee. Since covid, I had switched to microwaving water/coffee to save on time, one less utensil to wash, and the general idea that it would kill all the germs. I found the perfect time it would take to get the water boiling, the perfect temperature to avoid soy milk from boiling over, so that I have the hottest drink possible at home.
As I was literally licking my wounds, it hit me, if a sip can damage my mouth so much, what might be happening to my throat? I also have a terrible learned behaviour from my childhood of consuming food fast (almost like I am a great child for always finishing first, never causing stress to my parents with slow eating), so not only I was drinking very hot coffee, I was also consuming it fast. This thought made me quite upset, that somehow I've been able to just assume burnt lips are just part of life, and hotter the coffee the better it is, and the lukewarm frothy coffee of cafes are to be looked down upon. Many Indians love their hot beverages boiling hot, no matter how hot the day is.
However, a microwave is not the same as a pot on a stove (or induction in my case). A microwave can superheat water beyond 100C when it is heated on its own in a clean cup, something you might have experienced if you microwaved a cup of water only to see it calm as if nothing happened, but the moment you dropped a tea bag it would explode. This made me wonder whether I was consuming drinks much hotter than I realised. Also the act of pouring it from the pot to room temperature cup further cools your average beverage, but I had at times opened the microwave door and taken a sip right away (being so sure I've cracked the perfect timing). As a fool who is very good at suppressing feelings and pain, I believed it to be completely normal.
Maybe it's a little bit of everything, but I have surely learnt that I have the capability to mask my pain, and I should pay attention to my body, even if the signal is weak. As I write this, I again feel so sad and angry at my own self. Who knows what all I have normalised and might be tormenting my body with?
For now, I appreciate lukewarm drinks, bland foods (shoutout to England). May your esophaguses be cool. May you pause and observe your body better.
NOTE: Please don't take health advice from a random blog on the internet. There may be a scientific explanation, but humans can withhold information, even from themselves.
PS: This was my entry to the first session of We Blog