Low stomach acid....

[MrsSAcky]

Anybody suffer or had this looked into... It's the symptoms some so so similar it's scary. As gross as it reads these are mine...

Bloating, belching, and flatulence immediately after meals

Heartburn or to the point of just bending to wash hands that acid rises to back of my throat

Indigestion, diarrhea, or constipation

Undigested food in stools

Acne

Rectal itching (sorry)

Hair loss

Iron deficiency

Weak, fingernails

Dry skin

[Malina1]

Hi sjep 13.

There is a condition called SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth) have you been tested for this? This causes many problems within the small intestine with many of the symptoms you mentioned.

[eeng]

Are you hypothyroid? Some of your symptoms sound like hypothyroidism. Many hypos find they have low stomach acid. The unlucky ones are treated for years for high stomach acid because the symptoms are very similar. Lots of people on this site take a betaine supplement to sort out their low stomach acid problem. Low stomach acid can prevent your body from absorbing the nutrients from your food, so you might want to get your vitamins checked - B12, D, C and Iron/Ferritin. If you are short of these you will feel pretty below par. If you are hypo and short of these you will feel worse.

Hope you get better soon.

[cwill]

I would recommend that you read Dr Myhills website re SIBO, leaky gut and the diet that will help to fix these items (there are many many websites and books that deal with this issue in detail). I also had to use a FODMAP diet to stop fermentation etc. Consider the HCL and pepsin tablets with each meal after doing a provocation test and being careful to eat well and regularly. Unfortunately you will probably have to limit/avoid sugars including in fruit and veg (the basis of the FODMAP) until the symptoms settle. Consider also the probiotics and prebiotics within your diet with items such as kefir and sauerkraut. For me this was a lengthy process within the NHS but with an FM doctor I have discovered that I have a gut infection that actually needs a long course of antibiotics - everyone else missed that completely. So back to the probiotics in abundance when I finish the course. There are answers out there.

[Jefner]

I use apple cider vinegar and probiotics

[Hidden]

Sjup13 - have you tried making changes to your diet? I've experienced some of your symptoms that ended up disturbing my sleep due to the pain. Following a gastroscopy I was told it was acid reflux plus a hiatus hernia, they were pushing me into taking PPI's which I won't take. Just Google PPI to read horror stories!

Biggest culprits are coffee, chocolate and alcohol and, for me, strawberries.

Edit: apple cider vinegar and betaine did nothing for me.

[Rhsana]

Yes yes yes yes all the above and then some! I have recently found out that I have an overgrowth of the bad stuff (candida) and that these two can go hand in hand. Two books I would say have been really interesting with all this;

THE DIET MYTH: amazon.co.uk/dp/B00QFMNSWY/...

THE MICROBIOME SOLUTION: amazon.co.uk/Microbiome-Sol...

ACV helps a little but its not a long term solution - these books have been the only logical explanation for how to sort this in the long term for me personally. Mine is hypo related and candida related and now I also know microbiome related! R xx

[Malina1]

Hi,

Before you change your diet etc, you really need to be tested first . You could ask your GP to refer you to either a hospital or a specialist clinic that will under take the SIBO breath test. Then you can decide with guided help on which way to go ( if tested positive) re Rifaxami fist choice of antibiotic followed by probiotic, (VSL3) only if you have cleared the bacteria. Retest for bacteria at least a month after antibiotics. Then you can look look into a low fodmap diet after treatment. But please get tested first.

SIBO may cause many autoimmune conditions including problems with the thyroid. Again a thyroid blood check could be a good idea also. If you are in the UK I can recommend where you could go.

[hebden]

I have a really bad throat with the feeling of a golf ball stuck in it and was sent to ENT and they diagnosed gastric reflux and prescribed PPI meds which I did start to take but got side effects of headaches, stomach cramps and toilet problems so stopped taking them. After reading on here (and elsewhere) that the older we get the less stomach acid we produce and the side effects of PPI's I decided to try probiotics and they definitely helped. I now only take a probiotic when I feel I need to and when I get acid throat I have a liquorice tablet. I am convinced I have a thyroid problem and am trying hard to get medical profession to listen to me without success. Good luck. Jools.x