How Gut Health Landed Me in the ER

Story by Isabella Marzban

Photos by Sam Roth

At ten years old, my journey with pain began the day a childhood friend made fun of my hairy upper lip and thick, bushy eyebrows. After being rudely informed of my unibrow and mustache, I attempted to use my mother's razor to sculpt my brows to resemble the women featured in my collection of Cosmopolitan magazines. Horrified by the results, my mother decided to provide an antidote for my anguish and brought me to her favorite salon. Once we arrived at the beauty parlor, an esthetician glossed my brows and lips in pink, peachy hot wax, leaving behind a sticky film on my face. With a quick count to three, the thick strip of wax was ripped off my face, leaving behind tears and burnt skin.

For the next ten years, I had the same monthly routine of maintenance waxing that left me with a high pain tolerance. However, this pain tolerance was challenged last summer. After returning from a trip to California, I began to experience a gnawing stomach ache that filled my gut with sharp pains and a burning sensation that traveled up my esophagus, resulting in frequent bouts of acid reflux. A day with bloating turned into weeks that left me sick after most meals and stressed to the point of hair loss. Frequent visits to doctors' offices left me hopeless, and I believed I would have to live with chronic stomach pain.

In late July, after eating dinner, I began to feel a familiar pain that coated my stomach and intestines, leaving me on the floor in a fetal position, trying to self-soothe. Quickly, the pain caused me to vomit and become pale as a ghost, which left my mother in a panic. At the ER, swift treatment revived me from the lifeless state I was in hours prior and brought color back to my skin. The ER doctors were unable to diagnose me, but recommended a visit to the gastroenterologist. I got an upper endoscopy and was diagnosed with a peptic stomach ulcer — a sore on the stomach lining. Harvard Health estimates four million Americans a year are diagnosed with peptic ulcers.

Currently, I'm still on three different medications of varying dosages, left to feel like a health hazard instead of a 21-yearold college student. My ulcer experience reminded me of the importance of gut health and made me acutely aware of how a diet of caffeine, processed foods and energy drinks can damage my stomach.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 10 Americans will experience stomach ulcers during their lifetime, which leaves both adults and children at risk. Furthermore, the Mayo Clinic warns that an untreated peptic ulcer can lead to internal bleeding, holes in the stomach wall and gastric cancer. Harvard Health suggests that if a person is experiencing gut health issues, it's important to seek help from local resources, including Digestive Disease Associates of North Florida and UF Health Endoscopy Center in Alachua County.