Stomach acid stimulators bring on hot flushes?

[hb8847]

I have low stomach acid and my doctor has told me to take droplets before every meal to stimulate stomach acid production.

If I have a certain amount though it brings on a strong "hot flush" - basically I feel suddenly very hot and sweaty for about 5 minutes, and then it subsides.

Has anyone experienced this, or know what it might be?

For reference, I also have gut health issues (SIBO, Candida), and I know I get Herxheimer reactions from natural antibiotics, so I'm wondering whether the reaction might be my immune system dealing with a sudden overload of "dead bacteria", or if this might be something else?

This is important because if it's a Herx reaction I feel I should probably take the hot flushes as a sign to slow down.

Any help much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hugo

 

[Pearshaped]

what kind of drops are they?
if its betaine hydrochloride, it is said to ne normal to a certain extent, but I felt terrible with the hot and sweaty flashes.

I drink freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice half an hour before eating and that works better for me,without the side effects.

Maybe you could cut your daily intake in half and see what happens.

 

[PatJ]

Has anyone experienced this, or know what it might be?

When I realized that I had low stomach acid I started taking betaine HCl, and sometimes tried digestive bitters to stimulate stomach acid secretion. Initially both would cause stomach discomfort and sometimes the hot-and-sweaty feeling you've described.

I read that the protective stomach lining thins or expands in response to stomach acid. If there isn't much acid then eventually the lining becomes thinner. In the presence of acid it thickens, up to a point. It takes some time to thicken once more acid is introduced. I switched to at a minimal dose of betaine HCl for a few days then increased a little every few days as my stomach lining thickened and I could tolerate more supplemental acid.

 

[hb8847]

what kind of drops are they?
if its betaine hydrochloride, it is said to ne normal to a certain extent, but I felt terrible with the hot and sweaty flashes.

I drink freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice half an hour before eating and that works better for me,without the side effects.

Maybe you could cut your daily intake in half and see what happens.

It's not Betaine HCL, it's called Guttae Pepsin but it does contain HCL at 37% so I imagine the effect is the same. Thanks for your advice.

 

[hb8847]

When I realized that I had low stomach acid I started taking betaine HCl, and sometimes tried digestive bitters to stimulate stomach acid secretion. Initially both would cause stomach discomfort and sometimes the hot-and-sweaty feeling you've described.

I read that the protective stomach lining thins or expands in response to stomach acid. If there isn't much acid then eventually the lining becomes thinner. In the presence of acid it thickens, up to a point. It takes some time to thicken once more acid is introduced. I switched to at a minimal dose of betaine HCl for a few days then increased a little every few days as my stomach lining thickened and I could tolerate more supplemental acid.

Interesting, so you know where you read this?And how long did it take you to up the dose?

 

[hb8847]

So I've done a bit of research and think I've figured it out-

Apparently when you have low stomach acid for a long time your stomach lining gets thinner and becomes more sensitive. Then when you add supplements that promote acidity (like Pepsin, HCl, or apple cider vinegar) it can cause inflammation and trigger an immune response, which is what the "hotness" feeling is about.

Unfortunately I found out too late and when I took some droplets again this morning it caused a pretty intense reaction, even though I'd considerably reduced the dose. I got the flushing again as well as some brain fog and muscle aches and fatigue, which for me are all indicators of inflammation.

Planning now to take a few days off the supplements before starting again at a much lower dose. Thanks all for your advice.

 

[PatJ]

so you know where you read this?And how long did it take you to up the dose?

It was years ago when I read about it so I don't remember the source. It took about a week at 325mg of betaine HCl with pepsin before I could move to 650mg. I think I stayed at that dose for 4-5 days before increasing again. After that I think it was every 2-3 days that I could increase again until I reached 4-5 capsules per meal that contained a decent amount of protein.

I relied on betaine HCl because I had much better control over how many capsules to take for a certain amount of protein, vs having difficulty determining how much bitters to take to induce natural acid secretion. For many years I found that I needed one 650mg capsule of betaine HCl for every 4 grams of protein in a meal, but over the past year I have been able to cut that roughly in half so I'm assuming my stomach is producing more acid naturally for some reason.

Some people use apple cider vinegar before a meal to help increase stomach acid. ACV is acidic, but it also helps to increase stomach acid production. People often use 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon before each meal. I'm not able to use it because it lowers blood sugar and I already have problems keeping my blood sugar up and stable.

 

[HABS93]

I've been having problems with stomach aches lately. He supplements could of triggered this but I feel there's a bigger issue. How did you guys know if ou had low stomach acid and did you figure out what works best?