Apple Cider Vinegar: Has anyone had... - Acid Reflux Support

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Apple Cider Vinegar

vnett profile image
19 Replies

Has anyone had success using apple cider vinegar for reflux? Nothing is working for me!!

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vnett profile image
vnett
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19 Replies
meadfoot profile image
meadfoot

I hope you get some answers as I have also been wondering about this. My gastroenterologist mentioned it to me as I cant take PPIs or H2 receptors and am not a candidate for a fundoplication op. He said a number of his patients have taken apple cider vinegar and its helped them.

To be honest the very name itself makes me cringe as it sounds so acidic. Heres hoping someone here has good results with it. I rely on gaviscon advance currently and although its helpful I am plagued with reflux. Its so intense daily that I am in almost constant pain.

starveycat profile image
starveycat

I don't want to take omprazole but unfortunately have to. Then I heard of apple cider vinegar with mother capsules do at the moment I take them every alternate day. It's working, so hopefully I will soon be able to cut down on the omeprazole. Good luck

meadfoot profile image
meadfoot in reply to starveycat

Thats encouraging. Pleased its working for you.

Jumpey profile image
Jumpey in reply to starveycat

Where do you source these please?

starveycat profile image
starveycat

I got mine from Amazon

the though of it given the state of my reflux fills me with terror tbh, is it a recommended remedy?

vnett profile image
vnett in reply to

i don’t see it recommended but I do see that many sufferers use it with varying degrees of success. When I’m burning with reflux I’m inclined to give it a try/1

in reply to vnett

that’s good to know, do you dilute it?

Pte82 profile image
Pte82

vnett, I had reflux severe enough that I had to spit it out. Went through a lot of antiacid products but when bedtime came it would start again. I learned the brain controls the sphincter valves through it's connection called the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is responsible for the regulation of internal organ functions, such as digestion, heart rate, and respiratory rate, as well as vasomotor activity, and certain reflex actions, such as coughing, sneezing, swallowing, and vomiting. Important nutrients for it and the brain to function together is activated thiamine (vitamin B1) and magnesium needed to activate it along with B vitamins. Anti-thiamine factors can deplete thiamine. Look up the lists of them. Stress, alcohol, caffeine and sweat plus others cause loss of magnesium. Check out the range of health issues deficiencies of this pair may result in addition to reflux such as IBS, depression, anxiety to name a few. Search on Hiding in plain sight - thiamine deficiency. Bottom line for me is I no longer have reflux or indigestion. Check with your health care professional before using any supplement.

in reply to Pte82

sorry, I’m being dim and don’t understand your post. Are you saying the vagus can be trained to stop reflux as long as it’s functioning properly? I so please, please tell me how I can achieve this. I’ve never heard of vagus so will now research it, thank you.

Pte82 profile image
Pte82 in reply to

Not trained stillsdisease, the vagus nerve, also known as the vagal nerves, are the main nerves of your parasympathetic nervous system. This system controls specific body functions such as your digestion, heart rate and immune system. These functions are involuntary, meaning you can't consciously control them. Activated thiamine is essential for the nervous system function - it facilitates the nerve transmission and is required for production of neurotransmitters GABA, glutamate, aspartate, and acetylcholine. Because I was a caretaker my focus was on my wife and I was eating wrong resulting in deficiencies of magnesium and thiamine. As I explained to vnett my reflux was unchecked until I learned about the vagus nerve's need for activated thiamine for it's connection to the lower sphincter to be controlled by the brain.

thank you for you swift reply and I’m glad you found a source of relief. I’m going to look into this as I’ve been diagnosed with a peptic ulcer recently and not as part of Stills Disease which I’ve lived since 17 and has its own issues but ulcers and reflux not generally associated unless caused by medication.

in reply to

best healer for ulcers is raw cabbage juice or eating white cabbage daily… also consider zinc carnitine…. Most ulcers occur either through nsaids, or h.pylori infections… but SIBO too.

Natural antibiotics such as allicin (garlic extract) raw ginger or andrographis… will deal with h.pylori.

in reply to

thanks for your reply, since my posts about ulcer things have escalated to tests for liver or pancreatic cancer. I’m still watching what I eat but am not hungry and lost nearly a stone in three weeks .

Opelcorsa profile image
Opelcorsa

Never found apple cider vinegar any good. Do u avoid the trigger foods, spices, chocolate, fizzy drinks, alcohol, big meals etc

Acid is essential in the mechanism to close the LES… as is melatonin.

Reducing acid allows the valve to remain open so it stands to reason ACV will address issues caused by low stomach acid… which is often the main cause for reflux… using anti acids just never fixes this.

Only a small teaspoon in water before meals … not after!

If you get pain in the esophagus using this then you have an irritation in the lining often helped by a short course of DGL licorice and raw ginger.

jjohnson62 profile image
jjohnson62

The answer to your question is- it depends. I know people it has worked wonders for but, for me, it makes me feel like my stomach is on fire. Many people have acid reflux because of too little stomach acid and those people benefit from apple cider vinegar but since I apparently have too much stomach acid, the apple cider vinegar only makes mine worse. If you do try it, experiment with the smallest of doses like half a teaspoon in a glass of water. Do NOT start with ACV capsules as they are much stronger and could make you ill. If you try ACV, make sure to get the kind with "mother" in it which is basically pulp. It should be cloudy looking. The clear stuff doesn't do much good.

in reply to jjohnson62

I think you have a very thin muscosal layer… have you used nsaids or long term PPI … both erode mucosa and both reduce the stomachs ability to make acid… first increase foods that increase mucus in the linings.. I.e. dgl licorice and slippery elm…for about three weeks… then introduce ACV … white cabbage fixes thin mucosal inflammation and andrographis ..Indian echinacea… removes bacteria caused by low acid.

in reply to jjohnson62

I should have mentioned… sometimes reflux just after a meal allows pepsin to rise… this enzymes is released by the stomach to help acid digest proteins like meat… trouble is it can lodge in the mucosal layer in the esophagus for weeks… that is why you get burning even if you swallow something acidic..and the best way to reduce or remove pepsin from the area is to use sodium bicarbonate.. this neutralises pepsin as well as acid… you only need half a teaspoon of bicarb in half a tumbler of lukewarm water.. sip slowly this keeps coating the sore area as it removes pepsin… the same for nasal areas .. LPR can push pepsin in the the nose and again it’s bicarb nasal washes that fixes post nasal drip caused by pepsin.

Two to three days will restore normality.