A gut-wrenching decision?

Does it sound worse than it is?  For you, maybe.

Here's the good news: I think I figured out why I could be outpaced by a sloth these days.  Why I arrive at work feeling like I just went ten rounds with Tyson (except my ears are still attached).  Why from the moment I wake up, all I want to do is go to bed.  Why the only thing I do well these days is toss and turn.

B12.

As in, the vitamin.  It's not some new, top-secret bomber the air force has been working on, although bombers and the condition in question do have napalm-esque, searing pain associated with them.

Nexium!

I like one-word paragraphs.

Seriously, I believe the cause to be Nexium.  That same medication I have hailed as a Godsend for years is working hard to kill me through medically induced lethargy.  How we get from point A to Albuquerque by way of New Zealand is a strange path, indeed.

It started weeks ago.  A close relative of mine has a medical issue that prevents him from absorbing B12.  As a result, he often goes through bouts of the fall-asleeps regardless of how much sleep he manages.  Lately, I have been going through bouts of the fall-asleeps regardless of how much sleep I manage.  See a pattern?

But it didn't start there.  It started with leg pain.

I told you this is a strange path.

I have severe leg pain, in part from a herniated disc.  But recently I have noticed the same pain in my arms, too.  So I finally decided to search for "extremity pain" rather than "leg pain" and happened across "B12 deficiency" as one of the causes.

Bingo.

See?  There was another one!

Not the least bit reluctantly, I searched for information about B12 deficiency.  Suddenly, multiple sites were reporting acid-reducing medications as a cause.  I first took Protonix, and now Nexium, beginning in early 2004 when reflux had begun forcing me awake because I was choking.  For the last eight years, I have been GERD-free.  So why did it take this long to notice?

Well, it's because the liver stores a three- to five year supply of the stuff.  I was slowly depleting my body's store, and finally got to the end of it mid- to late-2011.

Yay?  Not so fast.

If you take a moment to look at the name of this site, you will notice that half of it is heartburn in a bottle, and the other half's primary delivery method (coffee) is heartburn in a microwave-safe mug.  I love hot food!  I love acidic food!

Crud buckets.

So, today I have researched some homeopathic remedies, and have found one that is promising.  But if that doesn't work?

*sigh*