seen asthma nurse today and my breathing and chest pain is not asthma
but she did ask questions about stomach acid, she didnt count my score as lowest was 5 highest was 15 and i had a score of 15 in 1 row
im at the dr's tomorrow and have to collect meds for the acid
anyone else have chest pain and shortness of breath too?
allso does it affect absorbing medication?
have allso suffered lots of swelling lately (and bloody weight gain 
she checked and said its non pitting whatever that means
How can she tell if you have high stomach acid from a questionaire? You are way more likely to have low stomach acid, this also causes heartburn and reflux. If they've prescribed you a PPI (proton pump inhibitor) such as Omeprazole think long and hard and research research research before you start taking this medication. If you have low stomach acid it will only make matters worse, and worsen any nutritional deficiencies you might already have (such as magnesium and B12). If your symptoms are severe you should be referred to a Gastro for investigation. There is a simple home test you can do to see if you have low stomach acid - someone posted it earlier I'll see if I can find it.
The previous thread is here:
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
And there is a good series of articles here:
chriskresser.com/what-every...
It's in 5 parts, there's a link to the next one at the bottom of each article.
thankyou i will have a look through when kids are at school
i have had heartburn from hell for as far back as i can remember
There is actually 6 parts. The 6th is about treatment options. The link was in the comments rather than at the bottom of the article. Thanks so much for posting the original article. It is so clear and helps me understand where I'm currently going wrong.
Its frustrating to think it was written back in 2010 and still no advances in medical diagnosis since then!
Thanks, I don't think I ever found that 6th part! I'm pretty sure this won't reach mainstream medicine any time soon, not if Big Pharma has anything to do with it anyway...
Here is the link to the 6th part. Definitely worth the read. I had been using apple cider vinegar, but it sounds like it might not be strong enough.
chriskresser.com/get-rid-of...
Yes I think the drug companies have too much sway now to stop real research ever coming through.
Wow I have just read the articles. Very insightful thanks for posting Hampster1. Definitely sounds like I have an issue. I found this was a good summary paragraph.
"To review, low stomach acid causes bacterial overgrowth in the stomach and other parts of the intestine. Bacterial overgrowth causes maldigestion of carbohydrates, which in turn produces gas. This gas increases the pressure in the stomach, causing the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) to malfunction. The malfunction of the LES allows acid from the stomach to enter the esophagus, thus producing the symptoms of heartburn and GERD."
I suffered from silent reflux and did some very simple things to eliminate it. I'm pretty confident I have low stomach acid - I'm strongly positive for anti-parietal cells. The stomach's parietal cells are responsible for producing gastric acid and intrinsic factor, so with their destruction you end up with low stomach acid (atrophic/autoimmune gastritis) and pernicious anaemia (PA).
I try and drink warm water with lemon slices before a meal, to introduce some acid into my stomach. Some people use apple cider vinegar. I don't have fizzy drinks, not even fizzy water, as this defo brings it on. The biggest single cause for me has proved to be dairy products. Eliminating them has cured the problem. So I'm actually gluten and dairy free now. I also have to be careful with supplementing magnesium, as this seemed to trigger it (and my theory is it's relaxing the LES too much allowing the reflux to occur, magnesium is a muscle relaxant). Luckily I have my red cell magnesium tested periodically so I don't need to supplement right now, my levels are good.
Obviously this is what worked for me, but may not work for others. Just sharing my experiences. You need to be very careful if you think you have a stomach ulcer or something like that, you must seek out medical advice if your symptoms are severe. PPI's do have a place where medically necessary, it's always about getting the right diagnosis. However, if the PPI prescription is only based on someone going to the doc and saying "I have heartburn" then just push further and ask "but why do I have heartburn?"
I used to have asthma (since i was a child) and also got other breathing problems which didn't feel like asthma a few years ago. Since getting D3 and B12 to a reasonable level (esp B12) (and a few other things over a longer period of time), my original asthma and the other breathing problems have gone. Not EVER breathing in or out through your mouth helps, too.
You've reminded me of an article I was reading the other day here, I found this bit interesting:
doctoroz.com/videos/silent-...
"Did you know that asthma is one of the most common misdiagnoses, because silent reflux mimics asthma? Here’s a big tipoff: When you have trouble breathing, do you have more difficulty getting air IN or OUT? People with reflux have trouble getting air IN during inspiration (not out during expiration). People with asthma have difficulty getting air OUT of the lungs. In truth, many people with “asthma” may not actually have it, and, consequently, asthma medication doesn’t really help much if at all."
Obviously not a very scientific link, but I found it interesting all the same.
I was having trouble getting air in during the night, obviously when I was lying down. I used to wake up with a start, sit bolt upright, and cough to get breathing again. Also a crushing/suffocating feeling in my chest. I wondered for a time if I had sleep apnoea. Eventually I was sleeping with 4 pillows (practically upright) to get any sort of rest, and having a particularly bad spell between midnight and 2am. This was obviously tying in with digestion of my evening meal. I woke up one morning and couldn't swallow at all, very scary, and felt like I couldn't breathe. Went to A&E, but like all of us on here (!) I was pronounced normal and sent on my way, probably a "virus". So I knew it wasn't a cardio issue (this MUST be ruled out with any chest pain). This is when I started monitoring these episodes and worked out what it was, silent reflux. If you know what it is, you can deal with it. And all this without ever suffering from any heartburn. The only time I've ever felt heartburn was when I was heavily pregnant with my first child.
Remedies for low stomach acid
Low stomach acid test
Low stomach acid & PPI's
No stomach acid
Stomach acid
