In March, 1895, my whole system seemed to collapse, the trouble taking the form of four organic diseases, two of them being inflammation of the stomach and congestion of the liver. Minor troubles, such as rheumatism and neuralgia, also affected me. My eyes were so weakened from, neuralgia and catarrhal headaches, that for two years I was unable to read or sew by artificial light.
The claim of acid stomach was so severe that a teaspoonful of water would cause great distress at times. The aesophagus became so inflamed and swollen from the acid, that often the pain in the chest was severe, and food caused pain in its passage to the stomach. I was almost constantly in pain from the swollen condition of the liver. Indeed, I was never entirely free from pain in some part of my body.
During the last ten months of my illness, it seemed that the least exercise or cold would cause the lining of the abdomen to become inflamed and sore, and I would be confined to my bed for several days at a time. I averaged two of these attacks a month.
