stomach issues - not enough acid, but reflux

MarieLS

Have you tried any of the digestive enzyme supplements? You can have reflux from high acid, bile, and reflux type symptoms from low acid.
Some have drank a small amount of apple cider vinegar to see if adding extra acid would help. If you do this only take a small amount, like a cap full. to much can burn your esophagus if you do have true acid reflux.

Have you been to a GI doctor? If not I would suggest talking to one. If Lyme is causing stomach emptying issues you could also have an issue with the lower sphincter going into the stomach. this would let acids to come up into your esophagus.

We have a lot of good information n the GERD heartburn forum, stop by.

Take care,
Bill

Hi Marie,

Sorry to hear about the GI issues - that ceratinly sounds like no fun . I would advise going to a GI doctor just in case. Something else to consider if fatty foods really disagree with you it could also be your gallbladder which is involved in digestion as well.

~beth

Have these issues myself.....silent reflux for years w/o knowing til bammmm....it showed itself. Trying to find answers. Onions was a trigger food for me I hadn't thought of & used alot in cooking, etc. My digestive issues seem to flare & calm, regardless of foods I eat, although triggers can set them off too. I need to go back on a good digestive enzyme (thanks Trav :). Using kefir, DGL, nighttime Zantac (can't seem to let that go). I do think it's related to lyme/mold illness/candida creating so much inflammation or possibly invading the gut lining. I think my upper & lower sphincters don't close properly possibly due to inflammation but I can't seem to heal it completely. Will try some of these suggestions. Thank you! Wish you well :)

Marie, I don't remember if you are on antibiotics or not but antibiotics and certain medications can affect you the way you described your symptoms.

I found that when I start new antibiotics, my GI system stops for a few days, the food sits in my stoch for what seems like an eternity, and when it finally resumes, I am heavily constipated for a few weeks thereafter. Amoxicillin did this the first week I started taking it, Bactrim has slowed by bowel movements to once every two or three days. The first week of being on it, anything I ate would stay in my stomach the entire day. If I eat anything after 5 PM, I will feel the food in my stomach the next morning. I don't have a hiatal hernia, it is just that my my GI tract has been slowed down or stopped.

I stopped taking the antibiotics three times in the last 5 months and noticed that my bowel movements normalized soon after stopping the antibiotics. After resuming them, the GI movement issue restarted.

I agree with others comments that the best thing to do is to have a GI doctor check you out. The Hiatal hernia that you had could have returned. Other tests that they can do is for you to swallow a pill that is followed down the stomach to see how fast it travels and some even have cameras so they can see the entire GI tract. These tests are usually non-invasive and normally don't require a hospital stay.

*** If you gross out easily, please stop reading here ****

Gastrointestinal issues are one of the issues that I have suffered from the infection. I have learned to study my bowel movements after I am done and recommend that you do too Marie. The color of your stool, the consistency of the stool, the ingredients embedded in your stool, whether it sinks or floats, whether it is hard or soft and how stinky it comes out are all great indicators of your health and whether your body is secreting too much bile, not enough, if you have too much acid or too little. I have found that when my GI tract slows down, it takes three to five days for the food to travel the entire tract.

I used to be on PPI (Omeoprazole) for a year due to an inflamed esophagus and stomach. The infection affected my esophageal valve to where it doesn't close properly. This was causing my acid to come up to my throat and into my mouth. The Omeoprazole improved immensely the pain in my esophagus, the breathing problems, the back problems, the "heart attacks", the electrical sharp pains in my chest, and improved my sleep.

Because of long term health concerns, I tried to stop using the PPI but the rebound reflux was too severe to handle so I went back to it. I was finally able to stop taking it after my third attempt.

I mention this because after restarting the PPI, my bowel movements would stop for a few days and my stomach felt full all day long. After the third day I could feel my GI tract begin to normalize again and my bowel movements would resume their normal schedule (once to twice a day).

I have also found that some foods and liquids will speed up my system. Some can empty my entire GI system in a matter of hours. foods that do this are greasy meats, oily fries, meat from a certain fast food restaurant chain (we call the burgers sliders), sour cream or yogurt and most stews.

Maybe this is too much information, but I have found that it is the little things that give us the best clues as to what could be wrong.

I have stomach problems too, was on everything under the sun for acid reflux but it's time to get away from that nasty stuff. Now I take

DGL Ultra extra strength (German chocolate) 1 tablet 3 times a day each day.
Mastica Chios (Gum Mastic) 2 capsules twice a day.
And I just started taking Heartburn Free- 1 every other day till you finish the 10 softgels.
Below is what I buy, I can get them at amazon cheaper than our local stores.

http://www.amazon.com/Heartburn-Free-ROH10%C2%AE-10-Softgels/dp/B000168V4K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385933293&sr=8-1&keywords=heartburn+free

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001IAEIXG/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=193UFHWKBZOHJ&coliid=I3654V6E980HE

http://www.amazon.com/Enzymatic-Therapy-Chocolate-Chewable-Tablets/dp/B00014E1GY/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Kathleenta, thank you – I did the apple cider vinegar test – horrible, made the acid reflux so much worse. I’ll try the baking soda test.

 

Healing98, my whole treatment plan has just been changed. My dr took me off antibiotics, inflammation is not even going down, so no abx for me anymore. I’m so relieved. He said it could give me back some kind of quality of life. I will be doing the Samento-Banderol protocol. I’m waiting for them to arrive so I can get started. Razzle informed me about gastroparesis a while ago, dr confirmed that this is my problem. The worst abx for my insides was Minocycline, a proper neightmare…
I hope my digestion will get better now that I'm off abx...
I don’t gross out easily – lol – thank you for the considerate warning though appreciate it

I learned to look at my stool a few years ago, the sinking and the floating and the consistency – I will google about the bile and acid showing. That’s interesting, didn’t know that, thank you!
Luckely, I was never bothered by constipation, 2 days without movement is exceptional. I have my food allergies that keep everything moving (too much sometimes).
I was on Omeprazole for 7 years, then I dealt with my food allergies, and the complete strep overgrow in my gut, as well as with the gastritis, IBS and leaky gut and I could go off it easily, it felt like heaven – but all that effort has been undone since starting Lyme and Bart treatment.
Last time I saw my dr, he adviced me to take 5grams of baking soda in a glass of lukewarm water, and drink that half way my meals, it will make food digest better.

 

Barngurl, that is what my dr thinks too. He's convinced that Bartonella likes the stomach very much… that is where he looks to get a positive test when he is sure about someone having Bart. In my sister’s case, he did a stomach biopsy and pcr tested it for Bart. Came back positive. Sadly, no cyst busters for me yet… Too much die-off and too much inflammation…

 

Praying, thank you for the tips, I’ll have a look into the products.

 

Trav, I miss 'Poop and you' - lol