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Abdominal Pains, GERD, The Cure, part 2!!
It all started going wrong with the first wrong diagnosis" Heartburn and abdominal pain", i was given acid blockers without even testing my stomach acid levels, my acid levels were too low, not too high, this causes "delayed gastric emptying" and this condition allows food to back flow up into the esophagus, after years of suffering from this condition, damage is done to the esophageal sphincter and it weakens and the condition gets noticeably worse, the doctors prescribe acid blockers purely to stop the stomach acids damaging and burning the esophagus, but what actually is happening is the condition is getting worse, "gastric emptying" is getting worse allowing more back flow,but we feel a bit better because it is not hurting as much when it does back flow into the esophagus, so we feel that we need them from then on and so your ready for bringing on the next stage of the illness.
What we need to realise is our Ph in the stomach ideally should be Ph2, very acidic, this is a perfect Ph level for breaking down the food, the Ph in your esophagus ideally should be 7 neutral, so just because you get acid burning your esophagus does not mean you should neutralize the acid, it only means you need to sort out the back flow issue. Imagine your acid level in your stomach was Ph4, this would still be acidic enough to damage the esophagus, but yet it is too alkaline to digest food properly, poor digestion causes "delayed gastric emptying" which as we know causes reflux, so with most people the problem is not too much acid but not enough, so if you increased your acid levels, the food would get digested properly and the reflux would not occur. Most of the other stomach ache symptoms most people describe is coming from not digesting food properly and "delayed gastric emptying". Acid blockers make this problem worse over time and so reflux becomes more frequent although not as painful, this causes the valves between the stomach and small intestines to get even more lax due to high pressure destruction and dilation, so here you are well on your way to fundoplication surgery.
Please do not think this covers all cases, a lot of people have severe "lower esophageal impedence" and do require this surgery, but i just want to point out that a lot of cases may be cured without surgery.
So i am now in a place where i am not digesting food properly, causing bloating, and nutrient deficiencies, and stomach gurgling scenes like something out of the film "Alien". Stomach acid is crucial for good health and should not be getting blocked or neutralized.
So the next step was "domperidone" an antagonist, to speed up gastric emptying, causing strong contractions throughout the esophagus, stomach and intestines, these really do work, but as with all western medicines, it has side effects, the powerful contractions can cause pains long term, in the esophagus and intestines, as my symptoms described above, the food is getting pushed through the system faster before acid has had a chance to break it down properly, the malnutrition problem gets worse when linked to acid blockers you end up with no energy and feeling unwell in general, you then start getting stressed about feeling so unwell all the time, and your health continues to spiral down.
So next the doctors try me on a muscle relaxant"antispasmodic" to reverse the side effects of the "domperidone", this causes the valves between the esophaugus, stomach and small intestines top relax also, which allows more reflux and backflow of stomach contents, now the stomach is not emptying properly again and backflow becomes worse, because the sphincter is now hardly working at all, even off the shelf drugs like "Buscopan" are well known to cause lax function of the stomach valves, so now we get "bile" also joining the party back flowing into the stomach, "delayed gastric emptying" mixed with "bile" causes a gaseous build up, the stomach wall is aggrevated and reflux becomes worse than ever, but now you have "bile" attacking you esophagus and the pain really starts, think about it, if acid blockers only give partial relief, then the pain can not be caused by acid, the acid has been neutralized, so what is aggrevating the esophagus? "BILE", a big first give away that your pain is "bile " related is exactly that" Acid blockers will only provide partial relief" other symptoms are as follows " pale stools", "high white blood cell count", "severe esophageal pains without heartburn", "burning sensation in the upper abdomen with muscle weakness and inflammation", "attacks mainly at night", "attacks brought on by fatty foods", "pain upper abdomen spreading to shoulders" but remember that esophageal spasms/pains brought on by reflux even when acid is neutralized, must eliminate acid as the cause!
So armed with all my research i demanded a PH test, and guess what, I did not have high acid levels in my esophagus but high alkaline levels, so they put doctors admitted it looks like "bile reflux" not "acid reflux", that's nice isn't it after 5 years of being on the wrong medication, 5 years of medication actually making the problem worse, i had research this myself and fought all the way otherwise i could still be getting batted back and forth with wrong medications.
Now remember back to when i spent 3 days in hospital with no medication and no food, and i felt great after, i was not eating, the bile was not being produced, the stomach was back to normal function after 3 days off the medication, funny that the cure was staring at me all along, stop all medication to get gastric emptying and acid levels back to normal and do not eat foods which promote the production of stomach bile and "fundoplication was not required", i now have the option of "bile diversion surgery" where the bile gets dumped further down the small intestines, to stop it entering the stomach, if you do not fight to find the underlying cause only "YOU" will suffer long term, "Esophageal cancer" "Stomach Cancer" is where it is ultimately heading with not much quality of life leading up.
I just hope that upon reading this, it may help some long term sufferers like myself and you can get diagnosed properly before its too late.
I have opted to not take the route of surgery for now, i am controlling my stomach bile by healthy eating, i am controlling reflux by eating small amounts regular and sleeping elevated, I am not taking any medication and gastric emptying has improved ten fold, my stomach valves are getting stronger and i am going to build on that, think about it, Q:How can bile get into your esophagus if your stomach is emptying properly? A: it can't!!
Remember where it all starts, maybe you used to over eat, maybe you just need to stop smoking, it can be a little problem that starts this whole thing, don't jump on the medication band wagon, i went to the doctors with a stomach discomfort and heartburn and ended up with a serious illness and in hospital several times, i was terrified at the thought of coming off acid blockers, i thought i would be in agony after 12 hours, the 1st day was very uncomfortable, but i did not get the "upper abdominal pain" i just ate dry toast every two hours and took sips of water in between, i could literally feel my stomach starting to digest food properly again, so there was no reflux, after sleeping elevated the next day, my stomach and body felt on the road to recovery this is just 24 hours and my body had almost returned to normal like somebody had turned the clock back 5 years.
Why are these cases increasing in number every year, 126million cases of GERD.
Acid blockers and indigestion remedies are the best selling drugs in the world, you really need to start reading about how the stomach acid works and what causes GERD before reaching for Acid blockers or Acid neutralizers ever again and doctors need to stop "putting a lid" on conditions with these medications. Good luck!
What we need to realise is our Ph in the stomach ideally should be Ph2, very acidic, this is a perfect Ph level for breaking down the food, the Ph in your esophagus ideally should be 7 neutral, so just because you get acid burning your esophagus does not mean you should neutralize the acid, it only means you need to sort out the back flow issue. Imagine your acid level in your stomach was Ph4, this would still be acidic enough to damage the esophagus, but yet it is too alkaline to digest food properly, poor digestion causes "delayed gastric emptying" which as we know causes reflux, so with most people the problem is not too much acid but not enough, so if you increased your acid levels, the food would get digested properly and the reflux would not occur. Most of the other stomach ache symptoms most people describe is coming from not digesting food properly and "delayed gastric emptying". Acid blockers make this problem worse over time and so reflux becomes more frequent although not as painful, this causes the valves between the stomach and small intestines to get even more lax due to high pressure destruction and dilation, so here you are well on your way to fundoplication surgery.
Please do not think this covers all cases, a lot of people have severe "lower esophageal impedence" and do require this surgery, but i just want to point out that a lot of cases may be cured without surgery.
So i am now in a place where i am not digesting food properly, causing bloating, and nutrient deficiencies, and stomach gurgling scenes like something out of the film "Alien". Stomach acid is crucial for good health and should not be getting blocked or neutralized.
So the next step was "domperidone" an antagonist, to speed up gastric emptying, causing strong contractions throughout the esophagus, stomach and intestines, these really do work, but as with all western medicines, it has side effects, the powerful contractions can cause pains long term, in the esophagus and intestines, as my symptoms described above, the food is getting pushed through the system faster before acid has had a chance to break it down properly, the malnutrition problem gets worse when linked to acid blockers you end up with no energy and feeling unwell in general, you then start getting stressed about feeling so unwell all the time, and your health continues to spiral down.
So next the doctors try me on a muscle relaxant"antispasmodic" to reverse the side effects of the "domperidone", this causes the valves between the esophaugus, stomach and small intestines top relax also, which allows more reflux and backflow of stomach contents, now the stomach is not emptying properly again and backflow becomes worse, because the sphincter is now hardly working at all, even off the shelf drugs like "Buscopan" are well known to cause lax function of the stomach valves, so now we get "bile" also joining the party back flowing into the stomach, "delayed gastric emptying" mixed with "bile" causes a gaseous build up, the stomach wall is aggrevated and reflux becomes worse than ever, but now you have "bile" attacking you esophagus and the pain really starts, think about it, if acid blockers only give partial relief, then the pain can not be caused by acid, the acid has been neutralized, so what is aggrevating the esophagus? "BILE", a big first give away that your pain is "bile " related is exactly that" Acid blockers will only provide partial relief" other symptoms are as follows " pale stools", "high white blood cell count", "severe esophageal pains without heartburn", "burning sensation in the upper abdomen with muscle weakness and inflammation", "attacks mainly at night", "attacks brought on by fatty foods", "pain upper abdomen spreading to shoulders" but remember that esophageal spasms/pains brought on by reflux even when acid is neutralized, must eliminate acid as the cause!
So armed with all my research i demanded a PH test, and guess what, I did not have high acid levels in my esophagus but high alkaline levels, so they put doctors admitted it looks like "bile reflux" not "acid reflux", that's nice isn't it after 5 years of being on the wrong medication, 5 years of medication actually making the problem worse, i had research this myself and fought all the way otherwise i could still be getting batted back and forth with wrong medications.
Now remember back to when i spent 3 days in hospital with no medication and no food, and i felt great after, i was not eating, the bile was not being produced, the stomach was back to normal function after 3 days off the medication, funny that the cure was staring at me all along, stop all medication to get gastric emptying and acid levels back to normal and do not eat foods which promote the production of stomach bile and "fundoplication was not required", i now have the option of "bile diversion surgery" where the bile gets dumped further down the small intestines, to stop it entering the stomach, if you do not fight to find the underlying cause only "YOU" will suffer long term, "Esophageal cancer" "Stomach Cancer" is where it is ultimately heading with not much quality of life leading up.
I just hope that upon reading this, it may help some long term sufferers like myself and you can get diagnosed properly before its too late.
I have opted to not take the route of surgery for now, i am controlling my stomach bile by healthy eating, i am controlling reflux by eating small amounts regular and sleeping elevated, I am not taking any medication and gastric emptying has improved ten fold, my stomach valves are getting stronger and i am going to build on that, think about it, Q:How can bile get into your esophagus if your stomach is emptying properly? A: it can't!!
Remember where it all starts, maybe you used to over eat, maybe you just need to stop smoking, it can be a little problem that starts this whole thing, don't jump on the medication band wagon, i went to the doctors with a stomach discomfort and heartburn and ended up with a serious illness and in hospital several times, i was terrified at the thought of coming off acid blockers, i thought i would be in agony after 12 hours, the 1st day was very uncomfortable, but i did not get the "upper abdominal pain" i just ate dry toast every two hours and took sips of water in between, i could literally feel my stomach starting to digest food properly again, so there was no reflux, after sleeping elevated the next day, my stomach and body felt on the road to recovery this is just 24 hours and my body had almost returned to normal like somebody had turned the clock back 5 years.
Why are these cases increasing in number every year, 126million cases of GERD.
Acid blockers and indigestion remedies are the best selling drugs in the world, you really need to start reading about how the stomach acid works and what causes GERD before reaching for Acid blockers or Acid neutralizers ever again and doctors need to stop "putting a lid" on conditions with these medications. Good luck!
Hi,
Jangela again! When I responded to your posts awhile back, did I ever talk about probiotics? I know I recommended yogurt (and it probably makes you feel sick because of the bad bacteria dying off by the millions. This will happen until the good bacteria take over), but you can also take a probiotic capsule, such as Udo's Choice. No matter why you have digestive issues, this supplement will help you both, especially if you have candida overgrowth or h. pylori. Please please take these, or even drink kefir (a yogurt type drink that is LOADED with probiotics. Consume this every day and see how you are doing in a month. No matter what else you do or don't do, eat or don't eat, probiotics can only help you. Read up on it. You will be surprised how key these are to your overall health.
Jangela again! When I responded to your posts awhile back, did I ever talk about probiotics? I know I recommended yogurt (and it probably makes you feel sick because of the bad bacteria dying off by the millions. This will happen until the good bacteria take over), but you can also take a probiotic capsule, such as Udo's Choice. No matter why you have digestive issues, this supplement will help you both, especially if you have candida overgrowth or h. pylori. Please please take these, or even drink kefir (a yogurt type drink that is LOADED with probiotics. Consume this every day and see how you are doing in a month. No matter what else you do or don't do, eat or don't eat, probiotics can only help you. Read up on it. You will be surprised how key these are to your overall health.
You know what you have to do :).....
Stop smoking! :)
Your body is telling you its had enough, have a relaxing weekend, No smoking!!, long walks, plenty of fresh air, no alcohol, eat healthily and stop the medication, See if you start feeling better.
You have to break the cycle.
I bet you the Gastro doctor cant find anything wrong with you and if he does it will be linked or caused by long term use of medication, is the bet on ? :)
Your Irish lifestyle has taken its toll, some peoples stomachs are weaker than others, or more likely, you abused your stomach so much in younger years that you made it weak, same as me, i look back in horror at those long weekends spending £300 on alcohol and tobacco without eating anything, but back then i thought i was invincible.
Basically you need lifestyle changes as i wrote in my previous long winded posts :) Sort it out Mo Cusha.
Stop smoking! :)
Your body is telling you its had enough, have a relaxing weekend, No smoking!!, long walks, plenty of fresh air, no alcohol, eat healthily and stop the medication, See if you start feeling better.
You have to break the cycle.
I bet you the Gastro doctor cant find anything wrong with you and if he does it will be linked or caused by long term use of medication, is the bet on ? :)
Your Irish lifestyle has taken its toll, some peoples stomachs are weaker than others, or more likely, you abused your stomach so much in younger years that you made it weak, same as me, i look back in horror at those long weekends spending £300 on alcohol and tobacco without eating anything, but back then i thought i was invincible.
Basically you need lifestyle changes as i wrote in my previous long winded posts :) Sort it out Mo Cusha.
Your muscle are being affected, the ache is your left side and you muscle weekness in stomach and back are all related, i got so bad that i would violently shake when trying to sit up from a laying down position, my muscles were so weak.
Are you aklso suffering from cronic fatigue? Feel tired all the time?
The weight loss is probably due to the diet i would not worry about that, nothing sinister has shown up on any tests, that is god and should reassure you, you need to stop worrying and really try to combat the anxiety, i believe this is messing with your digestion big time, as i mentioned before the digestive system virtually shuts down when your body goes into "fight of flight" mode.
Anxiety is a symptom of a nervous stomach, it is a catch 22, the spasms in the stomach and bowels cause Anxiety and the Anxiety disrupts the natural rythm on the stomach/ bowels and esopagus.
I don't like drugs but in your situation i would experiemnt short term in order to help you find the problem, i would suggest using medospas for 1 week, in order to relax all the involuntary muscle movements, if you start feeling better then you know the cause.
I believe you are suffering from muscle spasms and tension, these cause aches and pains and make you feel very weak around the abdomen, it also causes poor digestion as you stomach muscle movement is not normal.
This is no doubt all linked, muscle movement in the stomach and bowels plays just as important part for digestion and when i was suffering from Anxiety it took a long time before the muscles settled back into a rythm, but i had to combat the anxiety first.
You need to concentrate on relaxing and not letting the anxiety take hold, when it feel it welling up just control your breathing, stay in control, realsie it is only a muscle spasm causing it and let it pass.
If you control it, it will pass in 5 minutes, if you let it take hold it will last for hours and will disrupt your body for days.
I think the underlying cause for the anxiety is mild gastritis, which is causing nervous stomach due to nerve ends literally being bare and are being aggrevated by stomach acid, this is what sends those horrible eletrical singles that trigger anxiety, it then leads to poor digestion, which leads to delayed gastric emptying, which leads to bile backflow, which makes gastritis and digestion even worse and we get malabsorbrtion, fatigue and become less tolerant to certain foods.
Like i say once i got back on top of things, most of my food allergies went away.
You need to break this cycle, plenty of excercise can do wonders to break the cycle as you feel better, digestion is improved and you are less likely to suffer from anxiety, it is just enough to turn it around and start your health spiralling back up.
Massages are really good also, the relaxation will really help your digestion, as all your muscles will relax, your muscles at the moment are in a hightened state of alert and are tense, just as they would be in the moments before a car crash.
I feel for you it is horrible and a very difficult situation to get out of, i suffered with this for years along with all my other symptoms.
I assure you that everything i have written is 100% the cause of your symptoms, 1 underlying problem can cause 10 more health problems, it is a knock of effect and is all linked.
I assume you do not drink or smoke? If you do then you need to stop :)
I am sure you will still be here for a long time to come and will live to a ripe old age.
Try the muscle relaxants(see if they work), learn to control anxiety and read up on how to combat/cure gastritis, once you have that protective layer on your stomach wall again, the anxiety signals and horrible rising feelings into your chest will go.
Remember to sleep on your right as the bile backflow is probably what is causing the gastritis and aggrevating the stomach wall, doctors normally presecibe acid blockers for this , but as we know, PPI's only provide temporary relief and make things worse in the long run.
If you are getting any aching pains just below the sternum this is hiatal hernia, don't worry about this and it is normal for anybody that has been suffering from esophageal reflux, not much you can do about that, gaseous build ups, balloon the stomach up into the diapragm hole and makes the diaphragm ache, but it will die down and be less frequent if you sleep elevated and sort out the problems with digestion.
Are you aklso suffering from cronic fatigue? Feel tired all the time?
The weight loss is probably due to the diet i would not worry about that, nothing sinister has shown up on any tests, that is god and should reassure you, you need to stop worrying and really try to combat the anxiety, i believe this is messing with your digestion big time, as i mentioned before the digestive system virtually shuts down when your body goes into "fight of flight" mode.
Anxiety is a symptom of a nervous stomach, it is a catch 22, the spasms in the stomach and bowels cause Anxiety and the Anxiety disrupts the natural rythm on the stomach/ bowels and esopagus.
I don't like drugs but in your situation i would experiemnt short term in order to help you find the problem, i would suggest using medospas for 1 week, in order to relax all the involuntary muscle movements, if you start feeling better then you know the cause.
I believe you are suffering from muscle spasms and tension, these cause aches and pains and make you feel very weak around the abdomen, it also causes poor digestion as you stomach muscle movement is not normal.
This is no doubt all linked, muscle movement in the stomach and bowels plays just as important part for digestion and when i was suffering from Anxiety it took a long time before the muscles settled back into a rythm, but i had to combat the anxiety first.
You need to concentrate on relaxing and not letting the anxiety take hold, when it feel it welling up just control your breathing, stay in control, realsie it is only a muscle spasm causing it and let it pass.
If you control it, it will pass in 5 minutes, if you let it take hold it will last for hours and will disrupt your body for days.
I think the underlying cause for the anxiety is mild gastritis, which is causing nervous stomach due to nerve ends literally being bare and are being aggrevated by stomach acid, this is what sends those horrible eletrical singles that trigger anxiety, it then leads to poor digestion, which leads to delayed gastric emptying, which leads to bile backflow, which makes gastritis and digestion even worse and we get malabsorbrtion, fatigue and become less tolerant to certain foods.
Like i say once i got back on top of things, most of my food allergies went away.
You need to break this cycle, plenty of excercise can do wonders to break the cycle as you feel better, digestion is improved and you are less likely to suffer from anxiety, it is just enough to turn it around and start your health spiralling back up.
Massages are really good also, the relaxation will really help your digestion, as all your muscles will relax, your muscles at the moment are in a hightened state of alert and are tense, just as they would be in the moments before a car crash.
I feel for you it is horrible and a very difficult situation to get out of, i suffered with this for years along with all my other symptoms.
I assure you that everything i have written is 100% the cause of your symptoms, 1 underlying problem can cause 10 more health problems, it is a knock of effect and is all linked.
I assume you do not drink or smoke? If you do then you need to stop :)
I am sure you will still be here for a long time to come and will live to a ripe old age.
Try the muscle relaxants(see if they work), learn to control anxiety and read up on how to combat/cure gastritis, once you have that protective layer on your stomach wall again, the anxiety signals and horrible rising feelings into your chest will go.
Remember to sleep on your right as the bile backflow is probably what is causing the gastritis and aggrevating the stomach wall, doctors normally presecibe acid blockers for this , but as we know, PPI's only provide temporary relief and make things worse in the long run.
If you are getting any aching pains just below the sternum this is hiatal hernia, don't worry about this and it is normal for anybody that has been suffering from esophageal reflux, not much you can do about that, gaseous build ups, balloon the stomach up into the diapragm hole and makes the diaphragm ache, but it will die down and be less frequent if you sleep elevated and sort out the problems with digestion.
Hi there - thanks for your reply. Where do I find what GERD diet is please. I had cut fruit out too cos apple juice didn't seem to be tolerated either but a whole apple is. Maybe I am wrong
about the juice - it might be something else I ate. I just dont know! I do have reflux tho. Maybe its just the reflux that makes me feel so yeuchy in the night.
Be well
about the juice - it might be something else I ate. I just dont know! I do have reflux tho. Maybe its just the reflux that makes me feel so yeuchy in the night.
Be well
ive been in the same situation in the past 4 mos. antacids PPIs and domperidone just make it worse. I tried GERD diet for 1 week now im feeling better. I eat apple everyday and a lot of apple and aloe vera juice. whenever I have indigestion I'll just drink these juices and it will fade out quickly.
Don't seem to be getting anywhere with what I am eating. I am eating very little other than vegetables and don't even get along with them! What has happened? Still having loads of
different symptoms at night - not all, in fact most don't seem stomach related. Anxiety worst
first thing on a morning. I am losing weight 8lbs so far (only 112) before all this started and am afraid that I am starving myself but yet don't seem to be well with what I am eating. Am I in some sort of vicious cycle. I am feeling depressed - damned whatever I do or don't do. Don't know what to do next. I have almost constant annoying ache in my left side/back and that drags me down too its so draining. Bowel seems to have improved and motions are now fully formed albeit carrots are still in there if I try to eat them. Have some intolerance to wheat but still waiting for lactose test back. So have avoided (for over 2 weeks) wheat, dairy and sugar. I am strongly beginning to suspect CANDIDA from the symptoms but how could this be - I don't have any sugar, obviously other than what is converted from the food eaten. Don't seem to be able to tolerate even the smallest amount of yoghurt plain or otherwise. What the hell is wrong with me? Awake most of the night with mostly same symptoms - heartbeat fast,
anxiety? burning in various places including stomach, numb bum - discomfort in bum/back when lying down/sitting up to avoid reflux, dry mouth, hot, tinnitus, jolting when trying to sleep, shaky in back. Doc says all tests were ok, except glucose tolerance which was a bit high. Any suggestions. Do I need choose 1 thing and only eat that 1 thing all day, every day for about 1 week so I can work out what I can eat? Gluten free wholemeal bread? Thanks
different symptoms at night - not all, in fact most don't seem stomach related. Anxiety worst
first thing on a morning. I am losing weight 8lbs so far (only 112) before all this started and am afraid that I am starving myself but yet don't seem to be well with what I am eating. Am I in some sort of vicious cycle. I am feeling depressed - damned whatever I do or don't do. Don't know what to do next. I have almost constant annoying ache in my left side/back and that drags me down too its so draining. Bowel seems to have improved and motions are now fully formed albeit carrots are still in there if I try to eat them. Have some intolerance to wheat but still waiting for lactose test back. So have avoided (for over 2 weeks) wheat, dairy and sugar. I am strongly beginning to suspect CANDIDA from the symptoms but how could this be - I don't have any sugar, obviously other than what is converted from the food eaten. Don't seem to be able to tolerate even the smallest amount of yoghurt plain or otherwise. What the hell is wrong with me? Awake most of the night with mostly same symptoms - heartbeat fast,
anxiety? burning in various places including stomach, numb bum - discomfort in bum/back when lying down/sitting up to avoid reflux, dry mouth, hot, tinnitus, jolting when trying to sleep, shaky in back. Doc says all tests were ok, except glucose tolerance which was a bit high. Any suggestions. Do I need choose 1 thing and only eat that 1 thing all day, every day for about 1 week so I can work out what I can eat? Gluten free wholemeal bread? Thanks
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