Stomach pain and upset

I have been bothered by a lot of symptoms lately that I think are heartburn, but last night I was woken up with heartburn like pain, gassiness, and a little nausea. I finally got up and walked around a little and felt a little better, but it had not gone away completely. I remembered others talking about have too little acid in stomach so I drank a small glass of grapefruit juice. A few minutes after drinking that, I felt much better. So is this what an episode of too little acid in stomach is like? What can I change to help it not happen again? I am 67yo and I know that getting older decreases our stomach's ability to make acid, but what else causes this to happen?

[Nackapan]

Try and drink some apple cider vinegar with mother or some like lime juice or similar at each meal. Saurceout is reported to be a good probiotic.

[Nackapan]

PA caused low acidity in toud stomach.

[wedgewood]

Pernicious Anaemia causes low /no stomach acid ( Hypochlorhydria/ Achlorhydria, because antibodies destroy the parietal cells which produce stomach acid and the Intrinsic Factor , both of which are needed to facilitate the absorbtion of B12 . Low acid upsets he stomach flora , and bad bacteria can flourish , resulting in stomach pain,and nauseous reflux . You could try a good probiotic like Symprove. It certainly helped me . I can now do without it . Also I found it best to eat smaller meals , but more often . Also chewing one’s food really thoroughly is helpful , as there are enzymes in the saliva that can start to work on breaking the food down , made all the easier by thorough chewing .

Probiotic foods like sauerkraut, kimchi , real yoghurt etc are also helpful.

Acidic drinks also help . For more severe cases , there are are betaine hydrochloric acid capsules with pepsin available . Best wishes

[Hidden in reply to wedgewood]

Thank you very much wedgewood. You have been very helpful.

[Hidden]

Thank you, beginner1. You have given me lots of options to try. I am grateful for your help.

[Frank77]

My experience is very similar to yours: for about a year I have suffered from gas, heartburn (usually at night) and a horrible dry cough. And, like you, I put it down to low stomach acid. I also have PA. I have found that drinking a little apple cider vinegar in a glass of water just before going to bed is the best way of getting some sleep. During the day I also try to drink some lemon juice and I take a probiotic capsule most days. I can't say that this works all the time so I may have a severe case of low acid. Now I am thinking of trying the betain capsules mentioned by Wedgewood, if I can get these without prescription.

[Hidden in reply to Frank77]

You can get betaine HCL on Amazon. I use the NOW Foods brand and take 2 with each meal and an extra one if I eat meat.

[Frank77 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks, will try that.

[wedgewood in reply to Frank77]

Yes you can get the Betaine HCL with pepsin capsules from Amazon.co.uk

[Hidden in reply to wedgewood]

Thank you for the advice, I really appreciate it, wedgewood and loves-dogs. I am going to order some of the betaine supplement, but first I have an appointment with my GI doctor to discuss all this. Thank you for caring.

[wedgewood in reply to Hidden]

Don’t expect your Gastroenterologist to approve of any of the suggestions . When I asked mine if there was a test for low /no stomach acid he said no ( there is , it’s done with a capsule that you swallow ) Also said that there was nothing to be done for low stomach acid . He /she may well disapprove of the Betaine . There is a test that you can do at home using bicarbonate of soda dissolved in water to test for stomach acid . ( google it) I was laughed out of the surgery when I mentioned this ! Best of luck to you 🍀

[Hidden in reply to wedgewood]

Thanks for the warning. I know that eating or drinking something very acidic made me feel better almost instantly so whether they approve or not, I will continue to do it. Especially when they have nothing to offer. Thank you, wedgewood for being so kind. This website is awesome.

[Hidden in reply to Frank77]

Thanks, Frank77. I would like to try the betaine capsules too. I have an appointment with my GI doctor a I am going to discuss this with her.

[loves-dogs]

Metagest is the betaine supplement that works best for me. For best results, I take it with my meal.

[jjjam]

I too have some apple cider vinegar with my main meal, and drink home-made kombucha. (If you'd like a 'scoby' to start making some yourself, pm me and I will happily send you a piece to start you off - there's lots on the internet about getting started.)

[scnuke]

Without trying to sound like an alarmist, symptoms such as you describe can very often be linked to heart attack or angina. Now with that said, it probably isn't, but deserves to be checked if you haven't had a cardiac workup lately. I had similar symptoms that I wrote off to indigestion until I ended up with an MI and blockages too severe to be cleared with stents, so I got the good old chest crack and two bypasses.

I only bring this up since PA will not kill you ( although it used to be considered a fatal malady), but an acute heart event can. I was only 55 at the time, but almost eleven years later I'm still kicking, happily retired from my high stress job, and rocking with my band. The rest of the advice you have received is very good and I follow most of it since my PA diagnosis two years ago. But for safety's sake, please watch the ticker, then take care of your stomach.

[Hidden in reply to scnuke]

Thank you scnuke that is very good advice. That thought did run though my mind, I am a retired RN and I know that everyone presents differently as far as symptoms go with a cardiac event. I had recently had some cardiac testing done so I was pretty sure it was not cardiac, but if the pain and other symptoms had not totally gone away when I ate something acidic, I would have headed for the ER.

[Rrrvr]

Get your B 12 checked I had tummy aches every night when I was B12 deficiency