Betaine Dosage

ObsessedMrFixit · Post by **ObsessedMrFixit** » Fri May 31, 2013 5:26 pm

Nope. Absolutely never took PPIs. The GI doc prescribed them since he found a pyloric ulcer, but I never took them. I have no idea if my parietal cells are damaged or not. They probably only biopsied the ulcerated area, and probably wouldn't be surprised to see damaged cells in there. So, short of a biopsy, is there another way to tell if my parietal cells (all of them, I would presume?) are damaged?

mzh · Post by **mzh** » Fri May 31, 2013 6:24 pm

520 mg is actually a very low dosage. I take 650 mg with each meal that isn't fruit or salad. (But I rarely eat that kind of meal anyway!)

I posted how to do the test somewhere on this forum. I'll post it if I find it. The Bet HCl definitely firms me up; every time I tried to stop taking it, I was sorry. You could probably take 3 and be OK if you have no acid!

mzh · Post by **mzh** » Fri May 31, 2013 6:41 pm

Here's the home test for betaine HCl dosage.

1) Day one: 30 minutes before breakfast - one tab 650 mg betaine HCL; if burning occurs, stop taking
2) Day two: if no discomfort on day one, take two caps the next day. If there is discomfort, the correct dose is one cap with each meal
3) Day three: if no discomfort with two, take three caps. This will be the dose taken with each meal.

Post by **tex** » Fri May 31, 2013 7:21 pm

Marcia,

You misread his post. He's taking 8 of those capsules per meal — that's 4,160 mg per meal.

Tex

Post by **tex** » Fri May 31, 2013 7:27 pm

Check out the article at the following link. This guy says that burning indicates mucosal damage (rather than excess acid production by the parietal cells), and furthermore, we should be able to tolerate up to 26 capsules of Betaine HCL.

The HCL Challenge: Why The Conventional Test Is DEAD Wrong

Tex

ObsessedMrFixit · Post by **ObsessedMrFixit** » Fri May 31, 2013 11:14 pm

I've read that article before. His explanation makes sense, intuitively. Unfortunately, he does not cite any sources, papers, or studies for his claims. So, we have to take his assertions as plausible, but unproven. Anyway, his reasoning matched my own, which is why I took zinc carnosine (and no hcl) for six months to heal my ulcer and, presumably, heal any damaged mucosa.

For what its worth, I was taking betaine hcl and digestive enzymes while I had the ulcer. I didn't know I had an ulcer, because I never experienced any pain. So, of course, even now I wonder if I still have an ulcer. But, I figure, and my doctor agrees that six months ought to be enough. So I'm taking hcl now. Like I said, still waiting for the discomfort or heat. I wonder if it'll take 29 pills... (incidentally, that calculates out to 17.5 grams of betaine hcl. So for me it would be 33 capsules. Sheesh!)

mzh · Post by **mzh** » Sat Jun 01, 2013 10:29 am

Egads, I sure did misread the post!

ObsessedMrFixit · Post by **ObsessedMrFixit** » Sat Aug 03, 2013 8:33 am

Howdy folks,

Just a quick update--I'm up to 11 capsules of HCl per meal now (5.7 grams of HCl), and was able to add tomatoes to my diet. Hooray!! Interesting how a lack of stomach acid can cause such trouble.

mzh · Post by **mzh** » Sat Aug 03, 2013 9:01 am

Whenever I get loose, stinky poos (now that I'm off Entocort 7 months) I know I need more Bet HCl. I usually take only one per meal though. It always improves things, although now I've added Histame and Allegra. So glad the Bet HCl is working for you, Mr Obsessed.

Post by **tex** » Sat Aug 03, 2013 3:13 pm

Thanks for the update. That's interesting.

Tex