HCL for low stomach acid

Hi Kathleen, like you I believe I am suffering with low stomache acid and also a sore stomache as it throbs so I have to be careful what I take. I tried to take the HCL but tum was not ready for that. Instead I take apple cider vinegar...2pills with food and gastrazyme (a soothing cabbage based stomache remedy) and 2 slippery elm pills with food. This has helped enormously with throbbing stomache symptoms which I believe are gastric reflux related. Symptoms always worse on an empty stomache. I have had the low stomache acid since coming off proton pump inhibitors (lansoprazole).
I had more acid with rebound symptoms for a few months then all went very quiet and was normal, no reflux throbbing etc for several months then all of a sudden bang, I was back with the throbbing tum, fast heart rate and reflux. Taking PPI's again just made me worse and even taking Gaviscon, though soothing to start with, makes me feel vile. Always get the throbbing on empty stomache times, early mornings and periods when I do not eat..
The other thing that has made a massive difference is to go Gluten free. I know some will say it is a fad but yesterday I ate strawberries and cream and we had bacon GF sandwiches , all fine , tum perfectly quiet. Later in the day I had a piece of birthday cake to be sociable (never again) and off my tum went throbbing and pounding again and, after eating nothing from 6pm onwards, I was woken up 3 times during the night with throbbing pounding reflux sensations. I have never had heartburn by the way but this throbbing is not good. Trying to diet is difficult when not eating causes the upset and eating fixes it lol. Any I hope you see this as I see it was posted some time ago . Hope my experiences are useful info for you. Cheers

Just wanted to add my experience:

I started developing GI trouble about 5 yrs ago. I'm still not sure what triggered it, likely the Bart infection. But of course, no one ever tested me for any tick-born illness… I came into that world on my own.

But my GI issues were so bad I couldn't digest solid food w/out a tremendous amount of pain. So I was literally subsiding on soup and juices. Regular GI docs kept giving me antacids and other meds that only made me worse because they were clueless about why I was having trouble. Looking back, they weren't just clueless, they were dangerously irresponsible.

I finally got to an ND and $22k later, I could eat again. She did all the right tests. But we still weren't getting down to the root of the problem. But I did start treatment to increase stomach acid. I started taking HCL—my levels were so bad I had worked up to 9 of those huge capsules PER MEAL! Once I weaned myself off it, I was OK for awhile. It's possible you're just not taking enough.

Then two yrs ago the GI issues flared in a whole new way. I started having these monthly severe cramping issues that would last all through the night—once for 12 hrs—and then end in projectile vomiting.

So I started seeing a nutritionist who prescribed HCL w/ pepsin… NAUSEA and PAIN… PAINful cramping every time I took them. Even one capsule/day. In fact, they would bring the episodes back. I thought maybe I got a bad batch of the HCL (since I'd taken it before w/out problems) and the mfr rep told me that the pepsin can have an antimicrobial effect and my reaction suggested I have another infection going on. BTW—I have had 5 or 6 stool tests done, and no infections show up on it (because these tests aren't looking for whatever I have, particularly if it's the Bart).

Originally dx as a gallstone but we now know it was likely Bart ("palsy of the gut" fit the sx) or some other infection. Now that I've been on the Rocephin abx, I have only had one episode so there is something going on w/ the abx that has helped.

Regarding dosing—I've read conflicting info. Some say to take it right before eating, some say during, some say after. I don't think it matters as long as it's around meal time because it's the food that needs the acids to break it down.

I totally agree w/ T's suggestion to take probiotics. Anyone on abx needs at least 200 billion per day. What I like to do is take my abx dose, wait 1-2 hrs and take my binder (to help get whatever I just killed out of my body), then take my probiotics right before bed. It's critical to take it AFTER your abx dose since you're taking it to replace the good bacteria killed by the abx but it's also a good idea to take it after your binder. I wouldn't take the probiotics at the same time as the HCL, either. I don't think you need the same kind of buffers as with the abx, but it's good to take the probiotics on an empty-ish stomach.

-p