Doctor Says Stomach Acid Levels Normal But Reflux Symptoms

Have you tried taking apple
Cider vinegar after eating? That has helped blakeleys reflux tremendously, as has the supplement ortho digestzyme. Not sure about stomach acid levels but we had been assuming Blakeley had too much since she had reflux. When we changed ideas and started looking into how low stomach acid affects people, she began to heal with the above.

"acid levels" - PH?

Yes 100% possible for gerd with normal acid.

All it takes is one bad episode from to much gas, excessive bloating, bad food whatever to "burn" the LES valve. Its job is to seal the stomach contents from the esophagus, in any position.

Then it wont shut right allowing acid to keep getting by. Then you get stuck in a cycle. Need to break this cycle and let help LES heal.

This is why one should not eat food that is spicy or bloating to you individually before laying down. We've all done that, but it can rigger a gerd episode. And then it can repeat.And repeat and repeat.....

Ive mentioned how I corrected my nasty gerd now and then here without RX med. Rx made it worse (8 different ones). Granted Rx helps sometimes but it doesn't get to the root of the problem and we need acid to digest.

Its more bio-physics than bio-chemistry sometimes.

Post Edited (astroman) : 2/9/2021 9:24:26 PM (GMT-7)

to flesh out what others have intimated above - the functional medicine practitioners community believe that GERD/acid reflux is caused by too little stomach acid - rather than too little.

their explanation is along the lines that good stomach acid is needed to suppress bacteria in the stomach and small intestine and for proper digestion. without it, excess bacterial growth and fermentation in the small intestine is likely to occur - causing gasses to be produced that can produce sufficient pressure to encourage gastric juices to be forced out of the stomach into the esophagus - causing discomfort and potential damage long term - hence GERD - as well as a chain of inflammatory changes and hyperpermeability in the gut leading to systemic symptoms.

lower levels of stomach acid are associated with many chronic diseases - pretty much anything that runs the system down - including auto-immune diseases and low thyroid function in particular ( present in a high number of chronic Lyme patients) lowers stomach acid production dramatically.

low stomach acid is also highly associated with infections such as H-Pylori and Bartonella ( ref Dr Burrascano - and his guidelines). both of these infections have been shown to reduce stomach acid in their hosts - presumably to improve their survival in the stomach. low stomach acid is also linked to insufficient pancreatic function causing insufficient digestive enzyme production and a potentially vicious cycle with nutrient malabsorption leading to poorer health of the host and lower stomach acid as a result.

functional medicine treatments are typical to get off proton-pump inhibitors ( antacid meds) - take digestive supplements - like Betaine HCL and pepsin and make dietary interventions to improve nutrition, reduce fermentation and treat SIBO if needed

I have gastritis via gastroscopy, Lyme with suspected Bart. betaine HCL with pepsin helped me reduce overall symptoms of Lyme as well as SIBO by about 30-40% and then considerably more when combined with a ketogenic diet ( v low fermentable content)

its a tricky one Dcd -

i guess is depends on what exactly is going on down there

my partner and i both had bad gut issues - she would bloat till she looked more than 6month pregnant after eating some things - literally as i watched - no gas - just inflammation of some sort. it was freaky!

we both found some immediate improvement with betaine HCL - and after a year on keto she found she was feeling 80% better all round and actually starting to get a mild burning after taking them which we took to mean her natural acid production was back now ( functional medicine people wrote about this happening) and so she was able to stop without issue.

my recovery has been much slower and more gradual - i have been able to reduce from 3-4 650mg HCL with each meal down to 1 per meal without ill effects - but still feel i need help with digestion.

if the valve at the top of the stomach is damaged - i guess more acid could aggravate it more initially - perhaps it would be necessary to help protect the esophagus from acid damage while you try to address the downstream stuff and allow it to heal
some say licorice or DGL helps with this - others use over the counter things like Gavisgone
astroman has written quite a bit on here about GERD type stuff too

i wondered if my own abdominal pain could be GERD of some type - and even wondered about trialing something like Omeprazole ( the most common PPI) for a month to see if it reduced it -

having been through the whole functional medicine gut health cycle I am a bit wary of using PPI's - in your case possibly a short course like that could be used to help the valve heal and then gradually build back up again?

as an anecdote - my sister has odd auto-immune diseases - inflammation- fatigue, weight gain, mild neurological issues, and sky high NK cell counts - and had an episode of unrelenting sore throat, loss of voice and face swelling recently( i have often wondered if she has a similar infection to me ...... perhaps even from childhood - as we grew up in remote rural setting) - GP diagnosed silent reflux and prescribed omeprazole and Gaviscon ultra for one month - it cleared and she was able to stop the meds

i heard recently that although omeprazole is primarily designed as an antacid ( PPI) it is of the same group as tinidazole and metronidazole and has antibacterial properties - so was she in fact suffering an infection that omeprazole knocked back ....?

so many questions....

probably a case of experimentation ...

People can have esophageal irritation for a number of reasons that don't involve high or low stomach acid. Valve issues, nerve issues, tissue being worn away by past reflux, lying down or reclining after eating, food allergies or MCAS reactions to food (especially with the congestion), and probably other things. Do you know what causes your history of gastritis?

Definitely more anxious and depressed when my gut is not in good shape! 90% of serotonin and other neurotransmitters are made in the gut, so it makes sense, but it's so tough to handle.

I'm sorry you are not getting more help from GI docs. So disappointing.

saareli - We've all experienced doctors who do not help. Some just chalk it up to "it's in your head,' while others simply don't know what to do, fail to answer questions for lack of an answer. Then, there are some good ones, too.

astroman - It's a catch 22 on diet. With all the fat/elasticity loss, weight is an issue. So trying to find a diet that provides enough calories without making symptoms/kidneys worse is a challenge. You had success and are a good example of fortitude and how it can be done.

running wild - can you tolerate natural high-quality fats for calories

stabilized my weight using these as additions to my diet when on long term restrictive diets due to gut issues
extra virgin coconut oil ( little or no digestion required - directly absorbable calories)
extra virgin olive oil
grass-fed beef dripping
grass fed butter ( OK if you tolerate dairy ) and can use clarified if you have dairy issues

WalkingbyFaith said...
I took Nexium and Zantac for 6 months. It definitely relieved symptoms. It also had the very unexpected effect of knocking out the redness, heat, and burning I had had in my face off and on (more on than off) from the onset of Lyme symptoms up to that point. I never figured out the connection, though.

I used apple cider vinegar for a few weeks to wean myself off the drugs. Those drugs definitely will cause backlash reflux. It’s understandable why people stay on them.

Nexium and Zantac are mast cell stabilizers.

rw - yep my partner has a massive flare in emotional upset when her gut is bloated/swollen and vice versa

you could ramp up the healthy fats consumption as a trial

eg i was losing weight with gut issues etc - and doing keto ( low carb - medium protien - high fat and fiber diet )
so added around
-1oz of grass-fed butter with breakfast ( i seem to tolerate a bit of Dairy ok )
-1oz of coconut oil at lunch
-1oz of olive oil at dinner

together this was just about enough additional calories to counter the weight loss
you can typically eat more than this as natural fats are generally gentle on the digestive tract

grass-fed beef dripping is just beef fat from pasture-raised beef.
( in many countries, beef is raised in small pens with only factory produced pelleted food shoveled in, and many regard the meat they produce and the fats it contains to be of lower quality - hence the distinction )

Post Edited (Garzie) : 2/13/2021 1:12:00 PM (GMT-7)

"What are grass-fed beef drippings?"

At first I read this wrong and was thinking of buffalo chips. (a natural sun dried "fuel")

Elevate the bed frame at the 2 bed feet on one end with wood blocks. Then the whole bed frame is at an angle.

not your pillow - which makes gerd worse.

Post Edited (astroman) : 2/13/2021 4:33:44 PM (GMT-7)