very pale, loose stools and reflux

[GrammyLou]

So I have been gluten, dairy, soy free, and very limited sugar and carbs for about 3 months now. My gut is feeling much better. No more cramping and very little brain fog. However, this past week I have started having fairly significant reflux and my stools are now very pale. My stools have not been normal color since this all started, but now they are significantly lighter...clay colored and a bit looser than my "normal" loose.

I have been reading about low stomach acid and wonder if this might be my issue? I have brittle, flaky fingernails with vertical ridges, reflux, and pale/loose stools which are all supposedly symptoms of low stomach acid?

Anyone taking Betaine HCL for low stomach acid? Should I discuss with GI doc before trying this?
Any other thoughts?

Once again, I feel like it's always two steps forward, then one (or two!) back!

[Gabes-Apg]

zinc and B6 are better options to raise stomach acid

are you taking active B's? ensure you are taking P5P which is the active form of B6

life with MC is two steps forward, one step back (and a little bit of nutbush in the middle) all part of the journey! it is more fun if we embrace it rather than regret it/be unsettled by it...

[GrammyLou]

Thanks, Gabes. Yes, I am taking Thorne Methyl-Guard Plus which does contain vit B6 as P5P. It says 3 capsules contains 45 mg but I have only been taking 1 per day. Do you think I should try increasing dosage for a while?

What type of zinc do you recommend?

[TM]

Zinc Carnosine was the form recommended by my naturopath 4 or 5 yrs ago, when I tested low, as it was alleged to help with intestinal permeability and gut repair, besides providing a daily zinc supplement. She recommended: “Integrated Therapeutics” which was very spendy and I soon switched to Doctor’s Best which uses the identical zinc carnosine compound that contains 16 mg of zinc per tablet. Although 2 tabs of DB are necessary to reach the recommended study dosage, instead of one of the more expensive ones, the Doctor’s Best is still cheaper. The product has recently been renamed: Doctor's Best PepZin GI, Zinc-L-Carnosine Complex:
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0035BYOSA/ ... _page?th=1

Here are a few excerpts from a small 2007 British study:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl ... df/168.pdf
Gut 2007;56:168–175. doi: 10.1136/gut.2006.099929

Zinc carnosine, a health food supplement that stabilises small bowel integrity and stimulates gut repair processes.
MAIN STUDY:
All 10 participants completed the study without protocol violations………….. no side effects due to ingestion of ZnC were reported. Baseline permeability values were similar at the beginning of each study arm, and at the first and second (baseline) assessments within a study arm. Permeability increased about threefold in response to indomethacin during the control arm (p,0.01 v baseline values). By contrast, when the participants were taking ZnC, indomethacin did not cause any significant increase in gut permeability. The order in which control and ZnC was administered did not influence results (although numbers are too small to perform detailed statistical analysis)……………………………………………
DISCUSSION:
We have shown that ZnC, which is currently commercially available in health food stores, stimulates several aspects of gut mucosal integrity. It stimulated cell migration and proliferation in vitro, and reduced the amount of gastric and small-intestinal injury in rats and mice. We also showed that if volunteers ingested ZnC at the levels suggested by the health food supplement industry, it could prevent the rise in gut permeability caused by standard clinical doses of the NSAID indomethacin.
There is a perception among the general public that natural-based products equate to a gentle response, in some ways distinct from a pharmaceutical approach. It is, therefore, of note that the doses of ZnC used in the study of gastric damage in rats (1 and 5 mg/ml) gave results similar to those seen in animals given the potent cyto-protective agent EGF administered at 25 ug/kg/h. Furthermore, the concentrations of ZnC used in our restitution studies (100 uM, 29.8 ug/ml), and in our model of gastric damage (1–5mg/ml), are likely to be present in the human gastric juice of participants taking ZnC supplements, as the standard recommended dose is around 37.5 mg once or twice daily.
This dose of ZnC (37.5 mg twice daily) was also used in the clinical trial and showed beneficial effects. These results further emphasise that the division between “food products” and “drugs”, when considered in terms of biological activity is far from clear, and that these products should be considered as “nutriceutical” or functional foods.

[Gabes-Apg]

if stomach acid is low, then it is best to start with a liquid zinc and once stomach acid has improved then swap across to tablet form.

Eildon minerals zinc liquid (from iHerb) is a product i have used.

the information provided by TeriM is another reason why Zinc is important with the gut healing process.

tablet wise i have always taken zinc picolinate - the Thorne Zinc (from iHerb) is very good product.

re the B6 (aka P5P) it might be worth buying the P5P as individual (ie on its own) as you may not need the additional B12 and B9 that is in the methyl guard plus product

[GrammyLou]

Thank you both so much, Teri and Gabes...
I have just ordered the liquid zinc and Thorne B6 P5P and will give that a try for a while to see what that does for me. My gut has actually been feeling really good lately, but my stools have been funky and this reflux every evening is not fun. Hopefully the zinc and P5P will help with the reflux...

[Polly]

Hi Grammy Lou,

It could also be BAM (bile acid malabsorption). I have it as do up to 60% of those with MC.

Polly