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Apple cider vinegar reaction

Hopeful1976

Senior Member
Messages
345
I've been taking acv for around 2 weeks and it's really helped my gut issues (nausea, bloating ect). Previous to taking it I had done the bicarb test and it showed I am low in stomach acid. Despite these improvements, I'm feeling poorly elsewhere. I have not slept very well since taking the acv (insomnia and waking every hour with strong dreams, I feel horribly jittery/wired, puffy eyes at times). Could this be the acv? Would betaine hcl do the same thing? Or if yes, i's there anything else I can take to increase stomach acid as it seems this is def an issue with me. Thanks
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,334
Location
Southern California
Hi @Hopeful1976 - when I first tried ACV many years ago, it caused a detox reaction for me, which consisted of making me tired, my digestion was off, just felt unwell. I then learned that it had a "cleansing" action for the cells and at that time, anything that said it was potentially "cleansing' (e.g., even cayenne!) would cause me to detox. It's a long story, I no longer detox at the drop of a hat, and I no longer react to ACV in that way.

So I think it's possible you may be experiencing a detox reaction. My symptoms were different than yours but we're all different.

I've been taking betaine HCL for many years, and it never caused any sort of detox reaction for me. So if I were you I'd give it a try and just see how you do. My doctor told me to take it before meals (and I've read the opposite too!) and to start with one capsule and work up to where I felt "acidy", and then back off by one. The "acidy" feeling for me occurred at 4 capsules, so I went down to three. And the acidy feeling was very easy to identify. My digestion improved so much with the betaine HCL, digestive enzymes alone were not enough.
 

Hopeful1976

Senior Member
Messages
345
Thanks so much @Mary
My digestion has been so terrible all these years and after doing the bicarb test plus taking acv before meals, I've felt a big improvement! It's such a I have reacted as I have (histimine too maybe?). But it's proven to me that Iow stomach acid is Def an issue. I'll give the hcl a go now. I also think taking before a meal is the best bet (like the the acv). How long before meals do you take it? (Do you still take it now?) Thanks so much for your help.
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,334
Location
Southern California
Hi @Hopeful1976 - I do still take betaine HCL with pepsin - I buy a supplement that contains both. The pepsin is important to help with digestion of protein. I take it maybe 10 minutes before I eat, it depends when I remember to do it :confused: Sometimes I'll forget and then will take it right after a meal. And sometimes I forget altogether. But I aim for taking it before meals.

If I'm eating something light (no heavy protein or fat), I'll skip it and do okay.

You might find this thread interesting, all about betaine and pepsin - good luck! :nerd:
 
Messages
10
Hi @Hopeful1976 - I do still take betaine HCL with pepsin - I buy a supplement that contains both. The pepsin is important to help with digestion of protein. I take it maybe 10 minutes before I eat, it depends when I remember to do it :confused: Sometimes I'll forget and then will take it right after a meal. And sometimes I forget altogether. But I aim for taking it before meals.

If I'm eating something light (no heavy protein or fat), I'll skip it and do okay.

You might find this thread interesting, all about betaine and pepsin - good luck! :nerd:

Hi Hopeful,

I saw your post. I react badly to all vinegars, either because of a cross reaction to baker’s yeast (vinegars contain yeast, especially apple cuder vinegar!), which I am allergic to, or due to the high histamine in them. Vinegars trigger my rosacea and painful vulvodynia/UT symptoms. I think it’s a mast cell problem triggered by neuro-inflammation. The neuro stuff and puffy eyes are a tip off that you do not tolerate vinegars. You might want to do more reading into a low histamine diet and even get an allergy blood test (IgE) for baker’s/brewer’s yeast. Saccharomyces yeasts can be cross reactive and are abundant in all fermented, cultured, and cured/aged foods. It’s amazing how many of my symptoms 8mprove on a low-histamine, yeast free diet.
 
Messages
10
Hopeful, one more thing. Cayenne (and most if not all other hot spices) trigger a histamine response.
I get vulvodynia nerve pain within 30 seconds of ingesting hot spice and the pain and burning lasts for days before resolving. Clearly the food has not even entered the digestive process, so it has to be getting into circulation via a nerve pathway.
Vulvodynia is known to have a mast cell component, possibly too many mast cells and they are being triggered. Anything that triggers mast cells to release histamine is going to cause symptoms for people with histamine issues. It sounds like you already have identified a histamine problem for yourself.

My triggers are all fermented, aged, cultured foods and also hot spices and citrus and yeast and gluten grains (and for some reason oats):

Vinegars
Hot spices, especially hot pepper/cayenne but also cloves, cinnamon, etc
Cultured foods (cheeses, yogurt, sour cream, buttermilk, etc)
Fermented foods (sauerkraut, kimchi, soy sauce, etc)
Cured/processed foods (smoked, cured meats)
Alcohol
Citrus (all kinds)
Chocolate (aged)
Gluten
Oats
Yeast (Saccharomyces strains in particular)
Multiple medications, too many to list

I do not take any meds except an occasional aspirin/advil for an especially irritating headache.
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,334
Location
Southern California
@Makarimo - thanks for all your input! :) Here's a posting tip: If you put the "@" sign in front of a user name as I did with you here or like this: @Mary, that person will get an alert that you have tagged them. Without the "@" sign they have no way of knowing that you are trying to get their attention, unless you hit "reply" to one of their posts, so I'm going to tag @hopeful here and hopefully (no pun intended!) they will see your posts above :nerd: