what causes overproduction of stomach acid?

[missteabee]

I've been given lansoprazole by my doctor for suspected overproduction of stomach acid. Although i still have diarrhoea, the tablets seemed to have lessen all the other sytoms (mainly pain, feeling sick and being sick). But i am worried as to why i have developed this. Before the tablets, it has been getting steadily worse for around two months. I am nearly at the end of a monthly course of tablets and will be seeing the doctor soon, what further tests or treatments should i be asking for? How do i find out what is causing this?  (i do not smoke, eat well and rarely drink, and stress levels are fine)

[Acidproducer]

I am having similar issues as Missteabee. I did have an ultrasound done on my gallbladder and it came back normal, I also had an EGD and they have told me I have GERD and severe inflammation in my stomach and esophagus. I am now taking pantoprazole and carafate to try to heal my stomach, but what I still don't understand is what caused all of this extra acid in my system in the first place. I am a worrier and I do have a fairly stressful job at times. But all this damage couldn't be from stress alone could it? Should I still reach out to my Dr and ask if the HIDA test should be done just to rule out the gallbladder? My stomach pains are in the area right below my rib cage and I'm also extremely tired. I have also been on a very strict diet of primarily alkaline type foods with very little acid foods introduced.

[GhostOf1901]

Remember one thing: if your body is fighting off some kind of an infection, especially one that has made its way down to your digestive system, your stomach's going to produce a ton of acid to try and burn out the infection. It's an immunological self defense mechanism. However if there really is something attacking, then maybe you can see about having that checked. (Have you had a flu or the such lately? That might be an indicator.)

There are a number of tests that should be done on you. The first is a test for H. Pylori to see whether you might have an H. Pylori infection. This can be done via breath test, although it might be done (along with a number of other tests) via an upper endoscopy (EGD). The EGD would be recommended to see if there's been any damage to your esophagus, to see whether you have GERD, as well as to see whether there may be any ulcers. The third would be a HIDA/CCK to see whether your gallbladder if functioning properly, although you don't seem to be displaying the classic symptoms of gallblader problems (pain, bloating in the upper right quadrant (URQ) of your abdomen). This should be followed up with a gastric emptying exam to see if your digestion is being slowed somehow. The slowed digestion can explain the overproduction of acid: food's hanging out in your stomach too long and so the stomach keeps producing acid.

Additionally, there's a small test you can run at home to see whether your problem is really too much acid, as opposed to too little acid: first thing in the morning, before eating your first meal, drink a bit of baking soda in water. If you don't burp quickly then the problem is too little acid, not too much, since baking soda and hydrochloric acid have gaseous results.

Also, I recommend getting over to a good holistic physician (acupuncturist, homeopathic physician, or best yet, integrative medicine physician). They should also be able to help, since the body gives of a rather large number of signals when something's wrong with the stomach.

In the meantime, you might want to grab yourself a bottle of Digest Gold. It's expensive, but the enzymes there have made a large, immediate difference for me. (iHerb.com has them for cheaper than I've seen them anywhere else.)

Good luck.