PANCAKES, LEMON JUICE & CALCIUM

Mrs O. I love pancakes, especially with lemon and sugar. That is how my mother used to do them. In Italy, I used to eat raw lemons and the skin......grrrr.! But I have now lemon tea, with real slices of lemon, of course ! Eats lots of cheeses and have lots of semi-skimmed milk. Had several falls.....(clumsy..) so far, very lucky, bones not broken....but would not tempt fate !.....All best. Granny Moss. :wink:

MrsO and everyone else - what jumps out of that article to me? Low stomach acid reduces the absorption of calcium. Well folks on omeprazole: what is the omeprazole doing? It is stopping your stomach from producing acid to counteract the possible irritative effect of the steroid tablets. So are those calcium supplements you are told to take being absorbed in the first place - given the number of people who are automatically handed the omeprazole by their doctors? :roll:

Now there's a question for the pharmacist.

EileenH

I'd quite forgotten it was pancake day - other things on my mind! So it was a quick rummage in the fridge and the cupboards and pancakes are on the menu tonight :chef: :chick: I have a lovely big fresh lemon purloined from my neighbour's garden in Spain the week before last, so its all systems go. Has to be lemon and sugar, no other way to eat them in my opinion. 6 days with no Omeprazole - yippeeeeee :magic:

Lizzie Ellen

Eileen

So not only are such drugs as Omeprazole and Lansoprazole possibly reducing the absorption of calcium and weakening the bones it is also upsetting the body's natural acid versus alkaline balance. :shock:

On reflection, I'm so glad both these drugs gave me such immediate nasty side effects that I had to stop taking them and relied on live yoghurt instead. It's so scary what drugs can do!

BTW I've also read that organic apple cider vinegar is a great supplement for older stomachs! :wink:

MrsO

One of the side-effects listed for omeprazole is a risk of osteoporosis - just mentions it, doesn't say why. Obviously this is it! I did ask the rhetorical question earlier: why are they handing us - patients on steroids at risk of osteoporosis - stuff to prevent osteoporosis and at the same time handing us yet another drug that puts you at risk? And the change over to non-enteric coated pred plus omeprazole will do just that. The big picture is being ignored - again and again.

But beyond that - the desire to deal with everything with a pill is rife amongst the general population. Whether it is to lose weight, stop you feeling sad (being sad is normal and is not depression and pills don't always deal with that either), adjust your cholesterol level, save you having to properly parent your child who is behaving badly by drugging them up to the ears (strangely, the drugs they use should be stopped by age 12 or the child is at risk of psychoses - so they have to learn to behave at 12 not at 2) or antibiotics for the cold that will go away soon (and is viral anyway) - \"I want a prescription doctor\". And what do we find - our doctors don't put their brains in gear either and hand us one drug after another to deal with the side-effects of the one drug that makes normal life possible. Without looking at how those drugs are actually creating the problem. Grrrrrrrrrr :bleep: :steam:

EileenH

Hi Eileen and Mrs O

That is all rather alarming - but more so for those of us who needed omeprazole BEFORE the steroids!

By the way, I see a conradiction here. Mrs O, you say you take lemon juice to REDUCE stomach acid but this article says it INCREASES it. Which is true???

By the way, Mrs O, do you take the lemon before each meal?

Beev :?

Yes lemon and sugar for me too !!

Yes this Omeprazle is confusing if it stops Calcium working ? Also Alendronic Acid can give you aches and pains which steroids are supposed to be controlling in PMR so how is anyone to know if its the chicken or the egg ????

Yes Granny Moss my Italian brother in law and my nephew eat lemons as they come !! When B in law was staying once I had got things out ready for dinner while they were out left ingredients on the side including my last lemons for lemon chicken and thyme lemon and oil roasted baby potatos and he came out in the garden chomping on one of the lemons !! It took a while for him to understand why I was going \" Oh no not the lemons \" as he was used to helping himself to what he wanted and it has become a joke between us and I buy him bags of lemons , lemon knives , lemon pottery etc !!

Only one pancake Very restrained after last weeks excesses !!

Mrs G

MrsG - that's basically what I was saying in the AA thread - that by handing out all these drugs at the same time you have no chance knowing which is causing the problem. And the GPs also say \"oh no, don't think its that\" which suggests that they have not read even the basic data sheet for the drug they are handing out. It hasn't taken me much searching to find official drug side-effect lists that mention it - and I don't have access to Medline. Most of the stuff is in the public domain. And I don't use dodgy websites either - can identify THOSE at a 100 paces! :lol: It is also suspected that the drug companies have carefully omitted some of their findings during clinical trials with one or two of the drugs - economy with the truth is the kind way of describing it I believe. :wink:

Hi Beev

The reason I personally take lemon juice squeezed in warm water first thing every morning and have done so for many years is because I learned it was a wonderful detox.

Although I have personally never suffered from reflux even whilst on steroids and without stomach protector drugs, I do wonder whether my daily lemon drink has helped in that direction as well as the live yoghurt.

I have a couple of friends who suffer with reflux and they have tried lemon juice squeezed in a glass of warm water a little while before each meal with great success. I believe our MrsK has also found it useful.

However I think whether you are successful or not with lemon juice will depend on whether you are a person who either produces too little stomach acid or too much. Reflux can also apparently be caused by a lack of acid in the stomach. Do you know which applies to you?

It's a complicated little fruit :? in that being acidic people expect it to aggravate their reflux but the fact that it becomes alkaline in the body means that it balances out both the acid and alkaline.

I can understand your concern after reading all the recent adverse comments about Omeprazole especially as you have been taking it in the days even before steroids - have you discussed it with your GP?

MrsO

Mrs O - no I don't know which applies to me. I only know it started very suddenly a few months before the PMr - that's why I.ve often wondered it its connected.

I think GPs seem to presume its too much acid.

I am having problems with it recently even with the Omep so might well try your lemon method to see how it goes.

Thanks again. Hope you are feelong ok at the mo.

Beev

Beev

I've just been looking up acid reflux and lemons and came across the following article describing a test to see if you are either too low or too high in stomach acid:

\"The lack of stomach acid may be corrected by drinking lemon juice with hot water about 20 minutes before a meal. In fact, a simple test to differentiate stomach hypoacidity from hyperacidity can be tried at home. Take a tablespoon of either straight lemon juice or mild vinegar. If the acid reflux decreases, the person may be hypoacidic. If the lemon juice or vinegar increases the burning sensation then it may be safely assumed that the person was indeed hyperacidic. In the second case drinking plenty of water immediately will decrease the discomfort.

Citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons and grapefruits are said to be acidic and increase the production of gastric acid with negative conseqences for those suffering from acid reflux. However, recent studies show that though these fruits are acidic they actually have an alkalizing effect in the body. But as each person is different, they may not have the same effect on everybody.\"

Yes thank you Beev, I'm feeling good but guilty - I've eaten a couple of pancakes so back on the diet tomorrow! :roll:

Take care and keep well.

MrsO

Mrs O & all,

Wish I was only feeling guilty after the pancakes :oops: :cry: , but I have had to return to my bed as my poor stomach is so ill.

It is totally self-inflicted, as I know that I cannot eat eggs....but of course I just could not resist trying a couple :wink: .

I have tried making them with egg substitute, but they just aren't the same :o .

Also aching all over today....but thats probably from all the hopping in and out to the loo last night :roll:

They were yummy, but were they worth it?? No...won't be eating them again :cry:

Love to all, pauline

Oh dear Pauline. Sorry the pancakes turned on you I missed out altogether having got all the ingredients out of the cupboard/fridge I proceeded to make stewed apple, I think its the brain that's stewed, not the apple :lol: ). Hope you'll soon be feeling a lot better.

Lizzie Ellen

Poor you, Pauline - that's so unfair that you have to pay for enjoying a little treat. I suppose pasteurised egg would have the same effect....eggs is eggs so to speak :wink:

As soon as you feel better you must indulge in something really special that you can enjoy without nasty after effects.

I was wondering as you cannot eat eggs does that mean that you can't have the flu vaccine? I know they used to ask people if they were allergic to eggs before giving it - I don't know if that's changed now as I haven't had the vaccine.

Hope you feel better really soon, Pauline. :ok: :cheerup: :rose:

MrsO

Poor you , Pauline. Un oeuf is un oeuf indeed!!

Mrs O - thankyou for doing that research for me. I presume it must mean that the acid AFTER the meal is worse or better, because you don't get it before the meal.

Trouble with me is that, on the whole now (maybe because of the Omep), I don't get reflux. I had a big flare up which lasted for months after starting the 1mg tablets, but I dont take them anymore.

Now, when I eat a large meal or anything more fatty or have a chocolate binge(!) I get a tightness across my chest and that leads on to mucus production which lasts for several days. So, I don't actually feel the burning sensation which is normally associated with reflux. I did in the beginning, before the Omep and before PMR - it was constant, even after a cup of tea.

I think the best thing to do now is to get off the steroids (!) then try to get off the Omep - then I will try the lemon thing. Within about a week, I will be down to 2.5mg every day so, if all goes to plan, I should be off them by the summer.

I haven't had pancakes yet - we decided to wait till Friday evening because we like to have a bottle of nice French cider (from Brittany) with them. When we do, we tend to eat too many though!

Beev