acid reflux for years

[selftreatendo]

I have had acid reflux at night for years off and on. I used to buy OTC Pepcid2 but it suddenly disappeared a long time ago off all pharmacy shelves. I remember looking for it everywhere but no pharmacist was able to tell me why it had gone. Some even pretended they didn't know what Pepcid2 was lol. It was a great OTC medication for me and worked well to stop my burning. Anyway I asked the GP for a heliobacter pylori test so he has ordered one. Omeprazole is rubbish for me. I take it but nothing happens. I think I need to see an ENT really to check what damage has been done over the years but probably my GP will just say take the meds. I have no idea why I have always had acid reflux but it started sometime after my ME. That has gone now mostly but I still get stomach acid reflux in the evenings and night. Do you think I should get checked out?

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Omeprazole is used to treat high stomach acid

Hypothyroid patients tend to have low stomach acid.

Thousands of posts on here about low stomach acid

healthunlocked.com/search/p...

Links about low stomach acid and hypothyroidism

articles.mercola.com/sites/...

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/s...

naturalendocrinesolutions.c...

How to test for low stomach acid

healthygut.com/articles/3-t...

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Ppi like omeprazole tend lower vitamins

pulsetoday.co.uk/clinical/m...

gov.uk/drug-safety-update/p...

[Lalatoot]

Hypos tend to have low stomach acid. The symptoms are similar to too much stomach acid so easily confused. Apple cider vinegar diluted is a common treatment for low stomach acid.

[Noelnoel]

My husband uses Bragg’s organic apple cider vinegar after suffering for years. Initially, when it was really bad he took a tablespoon in a glass of water just before meals. He doesn’t have a problem anymore but drinks it once a day before breakfast simply because the likes it and feels it sets him up for the day

My pregnant daughter is now drinking it for the usual pregnancy reflux. Works a treat

A word of caution. There are lots of brands of acv but only the ones with “the mother” are worth bothering with. Read about it, it’s fascinating

[selftreatendo]

Noelnoel LOL. ACV stops GERD? A teaspoon in water? LOL. I wish.

[Noelnoel in reply to selftreatendo]

Yep. Daughter is delighted and my sceptical husband is now evangelical about it.

[Gingernut44 in reply to selftreatendo]

Not a teaspoon but a tablespoon

[Luci20]

Apple Cider Vinegar really does work. It helped me when my thyroid was under active when I would have likely had low stomach acid. It needs to be taken around half an hour before meals. The difficult is knowing if you have low or high stomach acid. I tried taking ACV recently which actually made my acid reflux worse. Then I had my TSH retested and found out my thyroid was overactive and I have reduced the amount of levothyroxine. I have had to take rennies now as I presume my stomach acid is high at the moment with the temporary hyper symptoms.

[selftreatendo]

Luci20 That is what I would have thought as well, ie that Apple cider vinegar would make your acid worse not better. Vinegar would irritate the production of acid I think not reduce it but I don[t really know. It is just what I think. How can acv reduce acid?

[Luci20 in reply to selftreatendo]

Apple cider vinegar only helps when stomach acid is low because I think it helps to increase it. So it makes it worse if stomach acid is high. I think having a under active thyroid makes stomach acid lower but this also causes acid reflux in the same way having too much acid does.

[humanbean in reply to selftreatendo]

How can acv reduce acid?

ACV is not intended to reduce stomach acid. It is used to replace missing stomach acid.

There are valves at the top and bottom of the stomach. In a healthy stomach the top valve opens when food enters the stomach and not at any other time. The lower valve should open when the stomach has produced enough acid to break down food sufficiently for the intestines to work with.

If acidity is too low OR too high in the stomach the top and lower valves don't open at appropriate times. When that happens acid can escape into the oesophagus, causing pain, heartburn and acid reflux. If the stomach is too low in acid then the lower valve doesn't open very quickly, food starts to ferment creating gases to build up. This causes indigestion, bloating and gas going up or down.

If you want to try ACV and water you should start with a teaspoon in a smallish glass of water, start sipping it, say, 10 minutes before a meal, and keep sipping throughout the meal.

The acid in the ACV can soften tooth enamel. To avoid this problem ...

a) Sip the ACV + water through a straw.

b) At the end of the meal rinse and spit out lots of plain water to neutralise any remaining acid.

c) Don't clean your teeth for an hour after your meal to allow any softened enamel to harden up again.

...

Another possibility for treating low stomach acid is betaine hydrochloride + pepsin which comes in capsules. This is actually more like real stomach acid than ACV but is more difficult to get the dosage right and use correctly.

healthygut.com/articles/hyp...

healthygut.com/articles/3-t...

healthygut.com/articles/how...

healthygut.com/articles/4-c...

...

The other options people might find helpful when they have digestion problems is digestive enzymes or digestive bitters. These options don't usually include acid from any source.

...

Note that low stomach acid is much, much more common than high stomach acid. Thyroid issues are implicated in lots of common gut problems such as low stomach acid.

People generally produce less and less stomach acid as they get older, which is ironic because the greatest intake of PPIs to suppress stomach acid is among the elderly. By the time people are about 80 they will almost certainly produce no stomach acid at all.

Note that one person on the forum did turn out to have high levels of stomach acid, but this was caused by some form of cancer. I don't remember the details though.

[selftreatendo in reply to humanbean]

humanbean Hey thanks for this information. I never realised this before. My GP never said anything like this. He just gave me antiacid pills. Is there a Ph test I can do to test my stomach acidity?

[humanbean in reply to selftreatendo]

In the second of the four links I gave from the healthygut site in my previous post various ways of measuring stomach acid are described. One of the tests is a home test that can be done with bicarbonate of soda. It's a very simple and crude test but easy to do.

I've never heard of anyone ever being given any of the other tests described in that link (they would cost money that would be assumed to be a waste for something like indigestion), so we have to make do with what we can do ourselves.

[mary1111]

Try slippery elm powder at night. It coats the oesophagus and stomach with a mucus which protects them from excess acid. Also, raise the head of the bed up using eg books so you are not lying flat.