I overdosed on Quick Eze. I became very unwell and was rushed to the hospital. I underwent a battery of tests — x-rays, an ECG, an echocardiogram, and blood tests every hour — and I even had a catheter because I was having trouble urinating. Meanwhile I was completely disoriented and tripping out of my mind. I was hallucinating and couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t. I pulled out my IVs and wandered into other patients’ rooms; I only learned of much of this later from my mum, who filled me in on everything that had happened. Things got frightening. My kidneys were nearly failing and no one could explain why.

I can’t remember exactly how the subject came up, but someone asked whether I took antacids and I said I used Quick-Eze. When I told the nurses that and mentioned the quantity, they looked concerned — I had been treating them like lollies. I was going through roughly twenty tablets a day. Unknown to me at the time, they’re high in calcium and I had effectively overdosed on calcium. I’ve been off them for about a month now and I’m mostly back to normal. The only remaining issue is a lot of heartburn, especially at night. I take Somac in the morning and Nexium at night, which helps take the edge off, but they aren’t miracle cures.

It doesn't come down solely to the Quick-Eze lozenges — most of the damage was caused by my own drinking. Who knows exactly how it happened; all I can say is that, for now, I'm feeling better, and that's really all I can ask for.