Reflux is Back

UkuleleLady · Post by **UkuleleLady** » Sun Apr 12, 2015 12:14 pm

Well, after much success "conquering" reflux with my new diet, it's baaaaaack.. and it's bad.

I am curious if there is an environmental component, namely, this tree pollen that's been giving me so much grief this season.

Additionally, I had round of cipro two months ago for a recurring sinus infection/bronchitis.. maybe that screwed up my gut.

I've cleaned up my diet even more, eliminating all grains, eating lots more fat and protein, low carb, etc.

I was eating a lot of carbs in the past few months as my MC has been in remission and I'm trying to gain weight.

VERY upset that I caved and started taking prilosec three days ago, but the zantac didn't do squat and I was in so much pain and starting to lose my voice. I'm just desperate.

Thinking of settling down for a few days with the prilosec and zantac at night (because prilosec alone doesn't help me a night). And when the pain in my throat subsides (if it does) I will go off it, and *TRY* supplementing with betaine/hcl...because maybe it is a low stomach acid issue?

I'm pretty upset and need y'alls help/thoughts if you have any. I would rather not see a GI if I can help it. I'm a little blacklisted in Austin and would probably have to go to Houston.

Nancy

Post by **tex** » Sun Apr 12, 2015 2:23 pm

Hi Nancy,

I'm sorry to hear that you're having serious GERD problems. Since you're probably familiar with all the foods known to promote reflux, I won't go into that.

Is there a possibility that you could have developed gastroparesis (slow stomach emptying)? It's somewhat common with diabetes, but it can also happen to non-diabetics. I have had the problem while my MC was active. With or without gastroparesis, magnesium can help to relax the pyloric sphincter so that food won't be held in the stomach any longer than necessary. That can help to relieve some of the pressure that promotes reflux. I would even go so far as to suspect that a magnesium deficiency might promote GERD.

Also, I wonder if the Cipro might have agitated an H. pylori problem in your stomach. Some authorities feel that treating H. pylori can relieve GERD symptoms.

Tex

UkuleleLady · Post by **UkuleleLady** » Sun Apr 12, 2015 6:49 pm

Thanks for your reply, Tex.

I've had a gastric emptying exam prior to the MC, back when reflux was my only issue. That was fine. Of course things can change.

I've upped the magnesium - I'm taking Mag Citrate powder, two full doses a day, and haven't had D. That's pretty surprising. Maybe my epsom baths aren't covering my needs for Mg. I suspect there is some muscle tension the Mg can help with if nothing else.

Maybe it is H. Pylori?!? One thing after another.

I hate to take the PPIs because I know they can cause MC, and I feel like Dexilant pushed me over the edge there. But this burning and pain, I don't know. I'm going to give it a few days and see if things change. My allergies are better so that's something.

Thanks again for your reply
Nancy

UkuleleLady · Post by **UkuleleLady** » Sun Apr 19, 2015 6:57 am

Wanted to let y'all know I stopped Prilosec after four days, and started taking betaine hcl with meals. I'm operating on the theory my stomach acid is too low.

Got the idea here:
http://chriskresser.com/get-rid-of-hear ... mple-steps

Also, I've been eating very low carb.

After three days, daytime reflux dropped to nothing, and I'm just experiencing some discomfort at night. I didn't think I'd feel this much of a difference so quickly.

At night I'm using DGL for now.

Polly · Post by **Polly** » Sun Apr 19, 2015 7:16 am

Hi Nancy,

Good news about the improvement.

How much Zantac were you taking? For me, I need 150 mg every 12 hours to be effective. It is possible to go up to 300 mg twice a day, but I would recommend that you get a doc's approval for that. It does appear fairly safe in the higher doses. It might be preferable to try it before moving to PPIs.

Hopefully, you are now on the right track.

Polly

Post by **tex** » Sun Apr 19, 2015 8:05 am

Hi Nancy,

That's a relatively rapid improvement for something as insidious as reflex/GERD.

Thanks for the update, and I hope you continue to improve.

Tex

nerdhume · Post by **nerdhume** » Sun Apr 19, 2015 9:04 am

UkuleleLady wrote:Wanted to let y'all know I stopped Prilosec after four days, and started taking betaine hcl with meals. I'm operating on the theory my stomach acid is too low.

Got the idea here:
http://chriskresser.com/get-rid-of-hear ... mple-steps

Also, I've been eating very low carb.

After three days, daytime reflux dropped to nothing, and I'm just experiencing some discomfort at night. I didn't think I'd feel this much of a difference so quickly.

At night I'm using DGL for now.

I am thinking the low carb is helping mine too.

JFR · Post by **JFR** » Sun Apr 19, 2015 10:15 am

I have eaten a very low carb diet for over 10 years. By very low carb I mean 20-30 gms of carbs a day. Before I began eating this way I took prilosec daily, couldn't live without it. But since I started eating like this I have had no need for prilosec or any other kind of heartburn relief. I never experienced any rebound effect from going off the prilosec I only know about it because it is talked about here.

Jean

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Sun Apr 19, 2015 10:32 am

Jean, I am so impressed with how low carb you are. I tried six weeks of 65 grams of carbs and I could barely function. I thought it would get better as time went on but it didn't. I had to tap out. My bowels were worse and I was so fatigued I couldn't do any house hold chores. I believe in that diet and really wanted to stick with it, I just couldn't. When you started do you remember the energy being an issue or were you so sick with MC it didn't matter? We are all snowflakes!

JFR · Post by **JFR** » Sun Apr 19, 2015 12:59 pm

Vanessa,

Lots of people report lack of energy when switching to a low carb diet. I don't remember having this problem. When you go low carb your body switches from burning glucose for energy to burning fat for energy. This process can take 2-3 weeks and during that time you can expect not to feel up to snuff. I wonder if you were going back and forth between burning glucose and burning fat and never giving your body time to adjust. I'm just speculating here but you may want to try an even lower amount of carbs. Also, when eating low carb, you need to make sure you get enough salt because you excrete more water. Bone broth twice a day is good for that as long as you add sufficient salt. A good book to check out on the topic is "The Art and Science of Low Carb Living" by Phinney and Volek. I had a lot of weight to lose when I went low carb and I also wanted to prevent the development of diabetes, a direction I seemed to be heading in. I accomplished both those things and continue to do well eating this way. Some people on this forum with the opposite problem, needing to gain weight or at least not lose any more, have reported that a low carb diet causes them to lose too much.

Good luck with all this but try not to take on too much all at once. It's easy to become overwhelmed with it all.

Jean

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Sun Apr 19, 2015 1:21 pm

Thanks Jean! I suspected that was happening as well. I bought keto strips and they said I was burning them, but I know they aren't reliable. I tried adding sodium and ended up losing ten pounds I didn't have to lose. I will check out that book. I know you can test your saliva for amylase? Something like that. To see if you burn carbs easily. You are right though....are brains are not equipped to take on the world. I'm always telling myself to chunk it out

nerdhume · Post by **nerdhume** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 5:01 am

Also when the carbs are that low you MUST eat a lot of fat or you won't have enough calories to keep your energy level up.
The book "Life Without Bread" says to limit carbs to 72 grams per day.
I am using the Paleo diet ratio to keep carbs at 20% percent of calories.
Cronometer is making it easy to track the calories, vitamins, minerals, etc.

Jean, do you take Vitamin C? I may go back to drinking V8 just for that. The tablets always seem to cause tummy troubles.

JFR · Post by **JFR** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 5:17 am

Theresa,

I don't take vitamin C. I read somewhere that the dangers of a vitamin C deficiency on a low carb diet were unwarranted. There was a reason given too. I wish I could remember where I read that. I think it might have been Gary Taubes. I'll try to find the reference. C always caused me D so I have avoided taking it. My diet is high in fat. Right now I am about 5% carbs, 15-20% protein and 75-80% fat.

Jean

nerdhume · Post by **nerdhume** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 6:20 am

Jean.
I track mine on Cronometer and some days I have NO vitamin C at all. I take a multivitamin so I am probably covered anyway.

UkuleleLady · Post by **UkuleleLady** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 11:02 am

Oops, been away a few days and see some good responses and feedback here, thanks guys.

Polly, to answer your question, I was taking a 150 mg Zantac at night, with a Prilosec during the day. I did that for about 4 days until I switched to betaine HCL and DGL tablets at night.

I've been eating pretty low carb, under 40 carbs a day, and I think that helped the most (like Jean says). Yesterday, I did NOT eat low carb, and guess what? Problems!! I had quite a bit of dark chocolate, a ginger beer AND some potato chips. The reflux came back practically immediately.

Low carb is pretty hard to maintain when I'm not at home, and if I don't plan extraordinarily well, then I'm grabbing convenience food (also hard to do with my intolerances.)

Back to low carb today, I had a little bit of cantaloupe this morning and a big helping of turkey sausage. Switching back to chicharrones instead of potato chips...never thought I'd eat those suckers as I used to be a vegetarian :)

ON another note, I bought some lox at Costco to mix up my breakfast routine, but it's terrible -- i'm returning it. I hate to return open food but it was truly nasty.

Have an excellent day, everyone.

Love,
Nancy