Hypochloridia

[hunny59]

As an awful lot of the folks on these forums seem to suffer from low stomach acid, I thought I'd post the following article that I read today dealing which posits this as being a possible cause of B12 and thyroid deficiencies (amongst other things). I thought some folks may find it informative.

medical-library.net/hypochl...

[Sallybones]

sorry hunny59 have tried to reply twice but it keeps disappearing. See if this one goes before i try again.

[Sallybones]

I'll write this briefly in case it disappears again. I'm trying Betaine HCL 1 x 300 mg capsule before each meal after reading the opposite of what my GP was telling me!

So far so good. Stomach more comfortable. Burning ceasing. Sleeping better and longer. I believe I wasn't absorbing nutrients and told my GP so. She wasn't impressed. Since been diagnosed with Osteoporosis so I think I was right.

[hunny59 in reply to Sallybones]

Yes - I was on PPIs for nearly 25 years before my trainer suggested that my problem may be lack of stomach acid. I'm glad I listened to him but I'm not sure how much damage has been done as I seem to need an awful lot of Betaine and/or apple cider vinegar before I'm comfortable :-\

[Sallybones in reply to hunny59]

perhaps it will take some time for your body to heal. That's how I'm trying to look at it but it's frustrating and like you say you don't know how much damage has been done. I asked for a bone density scan because I was fairly sure something was basically wrong with my whole system that was causing all the other symptoms. I'd been round every consultant under the sun. Nobody really doubted I was unwell but these basic tests seem to be last on their lists or not thought of at all. Still pushing for Pernicious Anaemia testing. I will not give up.

[wedgewood]

Thanks so very much for that really informative article. You have done us a great service! So great to hear from a really good doctor. I knew that I had low stomach acid but my GP poopooed me. After seeing a gastroenterologist who prescribed useless (and actually dangerous) tablets. I drove him mad by asking for a test to find out about my stomach acid(lack of it) He did confirm to me that most P.A. Patients had either Achlorhydria or Hypochlorhdria,and that there was no treatment for it. So I had to treat myself. I am now much improved I have been able stop using the Betaine Hydrochloric capsules with pepsin. I just use a very good probiotic,and chew my food really well.

[fbirder]

What a strange article. Does it really say that most Americans with big bellies are like that because of hypochlorhydria?

And nowhere does it mention the most common cause of non-age related hypochlorhydria, autoimmune gastric atrophy. It does mention the higher probability of gastric tumours. But that's thought to be due to the higher levels of gastrin produced by gastric atrophy.

And several of us here have found alternatives to Betaine HCl. Personally I prefer 50ml of lime juice with a meal. There's less chance of killing the bugs in the small intestine with too much acid. Plus, you don't have to wait for tablets/capsules to dissolve. Others find that cider vinegar or sauerkraut do the job.

Still, it's good that it's getting some publicity.

[Polaris in reply to fbirder]

I'd definitely vouch for ACV and, especially, sauerkraut - years of gastric, H/pylori, heartburn and IBS oroblems have disappeared with daily spoonfuls of this marvellous stuff.

[Hidden]

Thank you. What an informative post. I have so many of those symptoms but my gastro refuses to do any tests (formal complaint currently being investigated).

[fbirder in reply to Hidden]

Have you tried the cheap 'n' cheerful test for achlorhydria?

Dissolve a teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water and chugg it down before breakfast. If your stomach is producing normal amounts of acid it should react with the sodium carbonate to produce carbon dioxide - quite a bit of carbon dioxide. The CO2 will want to escape - via burping.

If you've not had a lot of burping within a couple of minutes (a little would be from swallowed air) then it's probable that you have achlorhydria.

[hunny59 in reply to fbirder]

When I tried the test, I got absolutely nothing for five minutes, which is when I realised my trainer was right and my problem was low acid rather than high. Bless him.

[clivealive Forum Support]

Hi hunny59,

Thanks for posting that article link - I've aged a year just reading through it

Having had two thirds of my stomach removed due to a perforated peptic ulcer at the age of 17 I guess I was "on a loser" (correct levels of acid production wise) from then on but I'm still "clivealive" coming up to 75 so it's a bit late for me to worry too much about Hypochloridia.

Interesting article though,

[catherinejordan]

I have to take ometprezole as I have a 7 inch hiatus hernia

[hunny59 in reply to catherinejordan]

I was diagnosed with a hiatus hernia 25 years ago (although I have no idea what size it is/was) which is why I was put on the acid suppressors. I actually found that the reflux was caused by food sitting in my stomach too long and now that I'm addressing that with the betaine and apple cider vinegar, I no longer have the problem.

[Hidden]

Not even a hint of a burp. Now what? I have already seen a gastro and he refused to carry out any tests apart from the calprotectin stool test. He only did that because he said I could have Crohn's, as my son has UC, but did not want to do a colonoscopy. I did not think I had Crohn's but he was unsure what he could do to check so I mentioned the calprotectin stool test and he agreed to that. As thought it was negative. There is no way a gastro is going to carry out any tests on my stomach acid levels.

[hunny59 in reply to Hidden]

Sounds like you could do worse than invest in a bottle of good quality apple cider vinegar and start using that when you eat to give your stomach a helping hand to digest.

[Hidden in reply to hunny59]

I already have that but only been using it once a day. I will increase the usage

[fbirder in reply to Hidden]

Yes, the idea is to emulate what a healthy stomach would do.

When you eat your stomach produces hydrochloric acid. The production stops when enough has been produced to lower the stomach pH.

So, if you take acid supplements, you should take them whenever you eat more than a small snack. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to tell if you've taken enough to lower the pH. So it's best to play around with amounts to see what you need to stop your gastric symptoms recurring.

[Twench]

Excellent article - when it finally loaded. I take Betaine HCl with my meals and my digestion has no mercy when I don't. Thanks for sharing x