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Alternative to Proton Pump Inhibitors

Pea

Senior Member
Messages
124
7 years, wow! Probiotics, which is helping rid H pylori, got rid of the reflux for my friend. You may have HP and not know it - it can evade testing. He went through the course of PPIs and even had an EGD to see what was going on, but the probiotics was the only thing that helped. There are some threads on h pylori for more info. Good luck!
 

richvank

Senior Member
Messages
2,732
Hi, Googsta.

Many cases of reflux are (somewhat paradoxically) caused by having not enough stomach acid, rather than too much. The reason is that the acid level needs to be high enough in order to signal the opening of the pyloric sphincter (the one at the bottom of the stomach that leads to the duodenum). If this sphincter doesn't open when it should, the food and acid mixture tends to come back up through the gastroesophageal sphincter, producing reflux and heartburn. This is not true in all cases, since some people do have serious hiatal hernias or poorly functioning upper sphincters, but it is true in many cases.

Before resorting to efforts to decrease stomach acid, which causes a lot of problems for the digestive system and the nutritional status in the long run, it is best to first run a test to see if the stomach acid is actually low instead of high. Here's a simple home do-it-yourself test: On an empty stomach, such as first thing in the morning, drink an 8-ounce glass of water, into which you have mixed one-quarter teaspoon of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). Time how long it takes you to burp. If you have not burped in 2 minutes, you have low stomach acid. Note: If you have been taking a proton pump inhibitor, you would need to stop taking it, and wait a couple of days for your parietal cells to recover before running this test. Otherwise, there can be a "rebound" effect when you stop the drug, and that can cause excess acid production, giving misleading results.

If it turns out that you have low stomach acid instead of high, you can augment it by taking betaine-HCl tablets or capsules, or the Allergy Research Group dilute hydrochloric acid, or lemon juice, with each meal. If you use lemon juice, be sure to use a drinking straw and to flush the teeth with water afterward to avoid damaging the enamel by chelation of calcium by citric acid. To determine the appropriate dosage of betaine-HCl, start with one pill for a meal, and then raise the dosage by one more for the next meal, and so on, until you experience a warm feeling in your stomach. Then drop the dosage by one pill, and use that dosage for each meal.

Best regards,

Rich
 

Googsta

Doing Well
Messages
390
Location
Australia
Thankyou for all the responses, I should have given some more info.

When I say reflux I mean severe/unrelenting reflux which prevents you sleeping & causes spontaneous choking.
I don't experience gut pain unless I eat onion which I am also intolerant to but I do experience other IBS symptoms - usually mild these days. I do have problems swallowing i.e sometimes food doesn't pass smoothly down the osophaegus, that can be quite painful. I try to chew & swallow carefully to avoid the problem.

I had a gastroscopy/colonoscopy in 1999. There was a small Hiatus Hernia & the gastroenterologist recommended trying a lactose free diet, which was what the problem was at that time. I lost alot of weight after developing M.E (2001) but still had problems with the hernia whenever I did any excessive bending or lifting.

Around 2006 I began having chronic heartburn & reflux. The only thing I can think of that may have caused the problem med wise was codeine or an SSRI. There were no dietary changes.
I had another gastroscopy & the doctor said all seemed fine "I am just one of those people who produce alot of acid." And prescribed Nexium.

I have tried stopping the med & changing my diet but to no avail. At one stage I went to a lower dose of 20mg.
I began having choking fits, where I would suddenly choke on my own saliva. It was very severe & damned scary. My GP (primary care doc) said it was related to the lower dose & put it back up to 40mg & it did stop. It still happens from time to time.

I would have thought they would have checked for that kind of bacteria when they did the scope? No gastritus or ulcers.

I will try doing the test you suggested Rich, thankyou for taking the time to explain.
 

Googsta

Doing Well
Messages
390
Location
Australia
The reason I was interested in trying melatonin was also to see if it helped my insomnia.

d-limonene looks interesting, I am guessing the problem with eczema is only on skin contact. Not too sure about the fructose factor? I generally don't handle lemons or oranges very well.

I'm not too crazy on the thought of starting an alkalising diet, I've just had to totally overhaul my diet due to cholesterol & impaired glucose intolerance. Will need to look into it further. I do question if it would help if there is a functional problem.The reason I was interested in trying melatonin was also to see if it helped my insomnia.

OK, as it turns out I eat alot of the foods here but I disagree with limiting grains etc : http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/die...-ph-diet-to-the-acid-test-20110707-1h43w.html
 
Messages
17
Location
Canada
Hi Googsta,
Or you could try chewing regular gum. I had gerd for a year or so and been prescribed omeprazole. It helped somewhat but I still felt the GERD most of the time. I found that chewing a lot of gum worked better than the PPI. After a year on gum and Freddd's protocol I hardly notice it anymore.
http://jdr.sagepub.com/content/84/11/1062.abstract
There are a number of sights that talk about it. I don't know if they are all the same study.
mogy
 

WillowJ

คภภเє ɠรค๓թєl
Messages
4,940
Location
WA, USA
most people with ME should avoid regular gum because of the artificial sweeteners, preservatives, possible artificial flavorings, etc.

gum mastica can be made into chewing gum I think, but it can also be taken in a capsule with nothing else added (except the stuff to form the capsule)