Has anyone used or heard of slippery ... - Oesophageal & Gas...
Has anyone used or heard of slippery elm capsules to relieve either heartburn or reflux
Slippery elm capsules are advertised as helping to soothe the gut - they apparently create a gooey substance that is supposed to help with potential inflammation - but I have not any direct knowledge.
The first part of this answer is aimed at those who have not had surgery to remove their oesophagus.
Heartburn is that burning feeling behind the breastbone that is caused by stomach acid rising up into the oesophagus, normally because the sphincter muscle between the oesophagus and stomach is not working properly, or is absent because of surgery, or is put under stress because of obesity, posture or a similar reason. Gravity tends to help keep stomach acid in its right place, and that is why a lot of acid reflux occurs at night or when you are lying down. That is why people use special beds to keep their head raised at night.
People take a variety of medication for this - antacids (eg milk of magnesia) counteract the acid; alginates (eg gaviscon) create a protective raft for a few hours; and proton pump inhibitors (eg omeprazole) switch off some or all of the stomach acid production.
In the short term, you will know that a remedy works because you will feel the difference, but the longer you suffer from heartburn / reflux, and the more intense it feels, the greater the danger that the stomach acid will damage the lining of the oesophagus. The acid turns the cells into becoming more like stomach cells that are designed to cope with the acid - which we need for digestion and some other processes in the body. If you have stomach acid splashing up for long enough, you might suffer from Barrett's Oesophagus, where columns of cells start to change. Eventually, and this will normally take years, the heartburn stops because the changed cells protect the body from feeling the pain of the heartburn. So if you suffered from persistent heartburn which then seemed to stop of its own accord, then it is possible that you might have Barrett's Oesophagus.
Barrett's is not cancer, but there is a risk that it will progress to oesophageal adenocarcinoma - about 70% of the UK cases of oesophageal cancer. All of this is why persistent heartburn is something to be very careful about and you need to think about underlying causes. There is more information at actionagainstheartburn.org.uk
If you have already had an oesophagectomy and suffer from reflux, you should let your medical team know. Many patients will be on PPI medication. If you have had a gastrectomy, then if it is a total gastrectomy, you no longer have a stomach to produce that sort of acid, so it would be worth exploring whether it is bile reflux you have instead (alkali rather than acid). There are other stomach contents rather than just acid that might cause a problem.
That was a long response, and it was not quite the direct answer to your question, was it!
Alan
I have heard of this but I have not tried it. I have stuck to prescription medication.
Verena.
I have tried slippery elm but only for a short time as I noticed little effect and did not enjoy the taste.
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