Excess stomach acid

[CloTee]

I’m coeliac😑 have been for just over a year now, randomly one day I woke up and that was it🎉 I’m convinced there’s something else a miss in my abdomen but one issue at a time ay! I struggle horrifically with an over production of stomach acid and I’m often left with gastritis. If anyone has any suggestions on the best foods to eat when recovering which don’t just add to the acid? Really at my wits end. Any and all suggestions or ideas are welcomed! X

[Regalbirdy]

Hi CloTee,

I’m also a Coeliac. For a long time I was chomping my way through quite a number of antacids due to horrible heartburn issues.

But just over a year ago I switched to eating a ketogenic diet (to control another medical issue I have). To my surprise, no more horrible heartburn! And I haven’t had a problem since.

I don’t know why this happened, but I can only guess that I was eating something in the standard gluten-free diet that was seriously disagreeing with my stomach and guts (goodness knows what!).

Maybe a food diary would work for you?

It’s rather radical to go keto - and isn’t for everyone. For a start, it requires a really good working knowledge of the necessary levels needed of protein, vitamins, minerals and micro nutrients for each day.

Good luck finding out what works for you.

[Cooper27]

Have you had a test to confirm it's excess stomach acid? You might be surprised to learn that low stomach acid produces the same symptoms as excess stomach acid, only everyone always presumes it's the excess end of the scale. If wrongly treating low stomach acid as excess stomach acid, you can make it worse, because you're exacerbating the problem.

Those with autoimmune conditions are more likely to have low stomach acid.

[Ell17]

I agree in general that quite a few autoimmune conditions can cause a decrease in stomach acid.

However, there is a condition called autoimmune (metaplastic) atrophic gastritis. It attacks the stomach's parietal cells. This results in overproduction of acid that will continue, for years generally, until the parietal cells are destroyed, which then results in very little to no acid being produced. At that point you will have to take digestive enzymes that contain ox bile as well as betaine (acid) for the rest of your life. This condition tends to run in families. It also goes hand in hand with other autoimmune conditions, as well. It is extremely painful. Your stomach is constantly raw and burning. (It literally feels like acid is burning a hole through your spinal column.) In this case, acid reducers are the only way you will have a chance at any type of reprieve. But, once you get on a diet that suits you, you may be able to reduce or not not need them as often. But, at some point farther down the road you will still most likely have to supplement with digestive enzymes.

I have this condition and Celiac's. (But, when I was younger Celiac hadn't been diagnosed.) As a kid, I noticed that all the things that were supposed to calm a stomach made everything much worse. And, regardless of wheat gluten which I knew nothing about, they were all carbohydrate based. Carbs are not your friend for this condition even if they are gluten free. Dairy also made my stomach burn terribly.

I very much agree that this is a condition that needs to be diagnosed. Because it's true that too much and too little acid cause a similar type of pain. If it is early stages you certainly don't want to add more acid. And vice versa for acid blockers if you already produce too little.

I have had the condition (diagnosed) since I was a child. My parietal cells have long been destroyed and I rely on acid/enzymes for digestion. [I sometimes wonder if my Celiac's had been diagnosed sooner, could the condition have been turned around or at the very least the damage lessened.🤷]

Dairy can be very irritating along with all other food allergies. I steer clear of dairy and gluten. Like Regalbirdy, I find a nutritional keto diet works best for me. Healthy veggies, protein, good fats and low to moderate carbs.

Warm chicken with broth with a small amount of coconut oil and a little bit of ginger is very soothing. (Too much Ginger can also burn your stomach, so use it very judiciously.) And in the vein of like curing like, adding a little crushed, hot red pepper can also soothe many types of pain including a burning stomach. Brown rice is good in your broths as a small amount of carbohydrate, also.

All the best. Hope you are feeling better soon.😊

[Yvonnegillon]

Hi, I've been Celiac since 2014. Generally cope with being gluten free quite easily. However, for the past 2 years, I suffer terribly do the extreme gas and reflux. Pain in abdomen in lower left side. Always worse at night especially I bed. Have had scan and other tests which came back normal........🙄

Have tried Omeprazole & Lansoprazole, Mebeverine, Ranitidine and Colpermin, with no success. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[CloTee in reply to Yvonnegillon]

You have just described exactly me! I’ve tried all of those medications! The doctors prod my stomach and tell me everything’s fine like I’m imagining these things. Exactly in my lower left side it’s like a constant ache that never leaves but it’s been there for so long I’m now used to it!

However uncomfortable it may be it does help to sleep sat more upright. Ensuring your head and shoulders are always above your stomach/ pelvis. Seems to alleviate some of the pressure. Hope that could help :))

[Sotonowl]

Reference to Low Stomach acid have a read through the link below, it provides a simple burp test using Sodium Bicarbonate.

loveleafco.com/baking-soda-...

It's a tricky course to navigate and they reckon that most cases of GERD are attributable to low stomach acid. The theory is the food you eat cannot move through the digestive tract as it should do due to your stomach acid not being available in sufficient quantities. This leads to the food fermenting away, for want of a better word and it has nowhere to go but upwards.

You really need to find out what you have, low or high stomach acid. Apple cider vinegar and betaine HCL are used to treat low acid.

I'd try the test first and go from there, but make sure you see your doctor although most of them will just give you the normal PPI's and send you on your way, problem is, if you do have LSA the PPI's are the last thing you want.