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Beware of Bicarbonate of Soda

Posted , 6 users are following.

carmel83758
carmel83758

Took small doses of bicarbonate of soda now and then for silent acid reflux.Then when I took some again I woke up the following day feeling terrible, lots of pain in my kidneys and back and feeling totally worn out as though I had run miles. Two weeks later still feel very much the same.

The salt in the bicarbonate of soda can damage you. Beware.

2 likes, 15 replies

15 Replies

  • meunier58121
    meunier58121 carmel83758

    Posted

    The iodized salt in so much, Carmel, is punishing and it is - alongside sugar - destroying the health of vast swathes of the British populace.  If the government were really serious about general health they would put limits on that and alcohol.  Perhaps if they were to fervently focus on that rather than attempting to bully the Scots as towards their decision next week we might ALL be better off.   
  • FedupAnnie
    FedupAnnie carmel83758

    Posted

    Dear Carmel, thank you for the warning I was thinking of trying this.

    i have had acid reflux now for a few months after treatment for abcess and losing tooth.  It is very tiring, wakes me in night and feel my teeth will suffer.  My GP thinks it is an ulcer, though all tests and bloods negative.  I think it is hiatus hernia.  I finally got an app at hospital and after very short consultation was told I would have a gastroscopy that was two months ago.  In desperation and reading all these discussions went to an acupuncturist recommended by friends, I have been twice so far and he thinks it is hiatus hernia and he can fix it at £50 a visit at the same time I went to my local very good health zone shop in SW19 and spoke to very knowledgeable person who totally understood the problem.  She said all acid drugs destroy stomach acid which is counter productive to digestion and recommended tablets called Alcapkex ph which come with testing kits, my ph initially was 5 and it is now 7 which is normal.  After taking the tablets the acid reduced and I no longer woke in rhe night.  I have not taken them a lot as do not like taking tablets, they are minerals and herbs.  I also bought slippery elm powder which tastes horrible, but soothes the oesophagus,   As I took the tablets at same time as acupuncture not sure what has worked - I am supposed to have 3 more visits of acupuncture so may do this.

    i have much less reflux and it does seem to have settled down.  I still am not right though and have a red ring on my neck where the acid has burnt my throat though GP did not agree and said dernatitus, but it is still there despite cream.

    i really want to sort this out before any damage done and will chase up the gastroscopy app as though not looking forward to it would like to know one way or another.  Milk last thing at night really has helped me too.

    • carmel83758
      carmel83758 FedupAnnie

      Posted

      Hi Annie. One of the things about these problems is that we are all different. Someone will say that something works for them and then others rush out and get it and it does not do the same for them or is wasting their money. I am waiting for cider vinegar tablets beca\use when I tried to drink it it tasted so horrible I felt sick, just canot stand the taste, but believe it helps with the acid and in other ways too. The main thing is that it gets into you and this wsay you dont have to taste it too.

      I ha\ve found that doctors are quick to say that something is a coincidence or you are fine simply because they do not want to spend much time on it - do not think logically - or are lazy. I do know mine is better than it was before. Another thing to beware of is tablets like cimetidine. I took themfor a few months no problemand then ended up with a terib le cough. And none of the doctors connected it. Yet research showed it can cause this and when I stopped taking them the cough went away.

  • FedupAnnie
    FedupAnnie carmel83758

    Posted

    Hi Carmel, I tried cider vinegar - it apparently cures loads of things, however, my

    throat really burned so assumed it must be very sore and did not think it would do me any good.  I have been taking vitamin D, probiotics and a multivitamin daily.  

    Live yoghurt too though none of these have helped noticeably.  The only improvement has been with the alkaline tablets/acupuncture though it has not  cured the problem

    I had put on a stone in weight over a couple of months so I did a juice only diet for 4 days and lost a few pounds this I am sure has helped so will do it again.

    • carmel83758
      carmel83758 FedupAnnie

      Posted

      Hi Annie. Cannot drink acv so taking it in tablet form. Have had lots of live youghurt but it ought to be sugar free for it to really help. ma\ke my own sometimes. The bicarbonate of soda helped a bit but when I took it the sixth time had terrible diarrhea and stomach for a few days.

      I tend to be putting on weight because I am stuck at home on my own a lot and eating for comfort/boredom lol>

    • carmel83758
      carmel83758 FedupAnnie

      Posted

      The capsule form of apple cider vinegar was no good to me. Gave me terrible stomachs and did not help at all. Another waste of money.

  • FedupAnnie
    FedupAnnie carmel83758

    Posted

    Losing weight I have been told really can help with acid reflux, obvious really, but something I must make an effort to do - juices in place of meals do work, two a day and meal at night or at lunch.
    • carmel83758
      carmel83758 FedupAnnie

      Posted

      Yes I have read a lot about juiicing but my own belief is that it works for some and not others and the fibre is being removed so unless you have fibre in some other form this is a big loss to your system. If you are drinking liquid with vitamins why not just hve a glass of water and a vitamin pill ? Much cheaper. Were you overweight to start with? IF acid reflux just suddenly comes on it is more likely to be due to some other cause though than weight even if overweight.
  • ChipWhitley
    ChipWhitley carmel83758

    Posted

    Like an idiot the doc prescribed me to take two of the "sodas" and an enema to relieve my constipation of which I got no relief.  They discharged me saying sorry there is nothing more we can do.. I went home thinking I was going crazy!!! The amount of salt had my heart racing so fast I literally thought I was going to die!!!! 
    • carmel83758
      carmel83758 ChipWhitley

      Posted

      Shucks. Are you in the USA? In the UK doctors dont know anything about supplements or natural things and frown on them. It must have been a big dose they prescribed. I have occasionally had constipation but I would rather have some prunes or wait for it to go than go through all of that.
    • ChipWhitley
      ChipWhitley carmel83758

      Posted

      Sorry for the late reply I just got your message. But yes I am in the US, where a lot of emergency room docs just try and get you out without trying to really help fix the problem. It's pretty sad. I'm still waiting to see a regular physician to help with my stomach issues. 
    • carmel83758
      carmel83758 ChipWhitley

      Posted

      Oh dear. Hope things get sorted soon. It is very much the same over here in the UK . I once needed to see a doctor urgently at night time. I rang and left a messatge for them to get back to me and sat by the phone feeling awful for hours and hours. Eventually someone rang back and suggested I take an asparin!If that had been a good idea I would have taken one ages ago and not sat by the phone for hours waiting. Another timewhen I had to all the emergency doctor late at night they suggested I get a taxi to their office so that they could give me an asparin. So I would hagve spent a fortune (as taxis cost twice as much in the early hours of the morning) to get there andback just for that. Would have been totally useless.
    • ChipWhitley
      ChipWhitley carmel83758

      Posted

      Some docs truly don't understand and think we are just complaining of a simple stomach ache but it's really not the case at all. As of late I wake up and my hands and feet feel numb in addition to the stomach pain. I feel like there is definitely some type of ulcer or intestinal bleeding or maybe blockage, but I guess there is only so much the er docs can do but it is very frustrating going through so much pain and not being taken seriously. 
    • carmel83758
      carmel83758 ChipWhitley

      Posted

      Some doctors have been to med school but have no common sense. I know an old lady - my mum - who is nearly 80. She has known her doctors for decades, does her own gardening and a lot of walking. Yet when she went to him and said she now had awful pains in her legs and wanted to nkow what it was and how to help it he said get a bke and get more exercise. Well for one thing she gets plenty of exercise already for another she did not ask for advice on how to exercise and for another thing

      he was not dealing with the actujal pain. Whe she pointed all of this out he suggested asparins.

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