[CyberTOPS] I'm sober

[Francie Carlson]

How about brewing your tea in a coffee pot and then letting cool down?
That's the way my mom does it.

-----Original Message-----
From: cybertops-bounces at cybertops.net
[mailto:cybertops-bounces at cybertops.net] On Behalf Of George Hughes, Jr.
Sent: Saturday, May 30, 2009 12:19 PM
Cc: cybertops at cybertops.net; TOPSE2 at yahoogroups.com;
TexasTOPS at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [CyberTOPS] I'm sober

Hi my name is George and I'm now 5 days sober now........Diet Dr Pepper
sober
that is! I haven't had a Diet Dr Pepper since last Monday night. Boy it's
getting harder and harder to stay "on the wagon"! LOL! I am getting so sick
and tired of water and flavored water. I love iced tea but can never make it
at home to taste like it does at restaurants. If anyone can give me ideas on
what to drink besides diet sodas....please do so! My doctor says I need to
stay away from all carbonated drinks.

You may remember me talking about having issues not being able to take a
deep
breath several years ago. Well....that problem fixed itself after going to
many different types of doctors and spending who knows how much money on
copays and medication and etc. At that time I found the only thing that
helped
me breathe better was Halls cough drops. After the breathing issues stopped
constant throat clearing started. I have had this for years now. Nothing
comes
up. There is just a constant feeling of I need to clear my throat. It's
miserable! It gets better and then it gets worse. I have been to countless
doctors, ENT's, etc. about it and nothing has helped. I finally gave up,
just
lived with it, and invested in cough drops.....the only thing that helped. I
broke down, once it got worse again, and went to another ENT. She prescribed
Nexium which I took for months and, of course, never worked. I have never
had
hearburn, GERD, etc. in my life so I know it's not that but whatever. I went
back recently and she put me on Singulair which did nothing. She then told
me
to visit and ENT downtown that specializes in throat issues. I did that and
was told that while not the cause of my problems the cough drops (menthol)
and
diet sodas are irritating my throat more and not letting it heal. She told
me
to stop them and I should see some relief. She also ordered labwork which I
will go get done next week to see if there is an infection in my throat
that's
not healing and she wants me to come back on June 29 to have a PH study put
in. It's this 24 hour monitor that goes up my nose and hangs down in my
throat
for 24 hours to measure the acid in my stomach. Hmmmmm....whatever. I'll do
it. But I won't be leaving the house for 24 hours with something hanging out
my nose. Sorry. That's just me! LOL! She also had me read a paragraph with a
microphone and recorded it to check my voice and etc. I am hoarse a lot and
my
throat clearing gets worse when I talk a lot....like at work on the phones.
She also put a camera down my throat after spraying me with something that
tasted like rotten bananas (eeewwww) and showed me pictures. My throat is
VERY
swollen and discolored. She then showed me a normal throat. Oh boy there is
a
difference.

Since I've been soda and cough drop free (7 days for the cough drops) my
throat has gotten better but it has not gone away. It doesn't bother me 24/7
just, maybe 19/7! LOL! But hey some relief is better than nothing. The ENT
told me I don't have to NEVER have a diet soda again but just for now until
we
figure out what's causing the problems in my throat. I can do that. Maybe
I'll
have one a week but not right now. I have wanted to give up diet drinks or
at
least limit them to 1 or 2 a day. I was up to about 4. But I drink 64 plus
ozs. of water a day so it could be worse. Needless to say I'm proud of
myself
for stopping two addictions (cough drops and diet sodas) and replacing them
with sugar free candies, gum, and water/flavored water, but I am sooooo sick
and tired of drinking the same thing. Give me some ideas people! LOL! I am
going to hit the store this weekend to find some new non carbonated
beverages
to drink!

Off to finish my e-mail (great being caught up again...how long will it last
this time?), clean up my apartment, watch some TV, run some errands, be a
bum,
and then head to dinner at Souper Salad where I WILL make good choices. I
love
that place....and they love me cause they sent me some great coupons which I
plan to use!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Have a great week!

George :)

"I declare a moratorium on things relationship
I declare a respite from the toils of liaison
I do need a breather from the flavors of entanglement
I declare a full time out from all things commitment"
~Alanis Morissette

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