Too little or too much stomach acid?? How do I know?
Posted , 3 users are following.
I have minor gastritis type C . I often have abdominal bloating. But main issue is sore throat.
In October when health issues started my stomach did not digest properly for a few weeks. Then I caught a cold with sore throat. The cold healed eventually the sore throat remained. I was prescribed ppi. I took them a couple of weeks (20mg) without improvement. Later I tried diet and gaviscon advance. Then I tried pantoprazole twice a day (20mg) for two weeks and abdominal bloating got worse. So I quit with ppi. I am starting to think maybe my problem is too little stomach acid. What do you think? Is it possible? I am 32 years old.
0 likes, 6 replies
moon53540 mike14074
Edited
If you have gastritis it is likely your chronic sore throat is down to reflux. Do you take any painkillers like ibuprofen or any other medication like antibiotics or blood thinners? These can all cause reflux and upset your stomach. PPIs can give you IBS symptoms like bloating too. Another reason you may be having issues could be a food intolerance, do you notice your symptoms get worse after certain foods or drinks? Try and avoid or cut down on sugar, caffeine and alcohol, if you have any of these regularly. What kind of diet do you have? Spicy food can be a trigger for a lot of people's stomachs. Also greasy or fatty foods can be really bad and repeat on you.
You didn't say which PPI you took first, I would personally recommend esomeprazole and ask your doctor about alverine, it is an antispasmodic which helps with the IBS symptoms. If you take a PPI make sure you take vitamin and mineral supplements as they can stop you absorbing them so well. It may be that you are vitamin d or b12 deficient, as deficiencies in both of these can cause stomach problems.
mike14074 moon53540
Posted
Thank you moon for your detailed answer! Thank you for the advice! So if I understand you right you highly doubt I have too little stomach acid?
I only took pantoprazole. So you think esomeprazole is best. A lot of people seem to think that. Can you tell me why?
Concerning antibiotics and painkillers: I don't take any of that right now. I took antibiotics back in November. My diet is really good. Not spicy: I eat lots of oatmeal, full grain bread with only butter, bananas apples and vegetables, little fish and little meat.
moon53540 mike14074
Posted
If you have gastritis this is usually caused by too much acid. I haven't tried pantoprazole so I can't comment on it but I have tried lansoprazole and omeprazole and they just don't work as well as esomeprazole. I was told that you are not usually prescribed this on the NHS unless you have tried a couple of the other ones and they don't work because it is the most expensive. I was also told that most patients who don't get on with other PPIs get on best with this one.
I used to have to take it every day but I just take it when I need it now, which usually isn't that often but as I am on antibiotics at the moment I am taking them a bit more regularly.
Look up low acid foods and you can find a good idea of what to eat and avoid, certain fruits and fruit juices can be bad.
mike14074 moon53540
Posted
Alright, thanks! Did you also have chronic sore throat and how long did it take to heal when using esomeprazole?
Concerning alverine: I fear that it might also weaken the sphincter.
Thank you so much!
moon53540 mike14074
Edited
I took ppis for years before I got gastritis because I used to get heartburn and reflux from a young age. A couple of years ago I started to get really bad symptoms after taking Naproxen every month and then blood thinners after getting multiple PEs. One of the symptoms I had was a feeling in my throat like there was something in there and it would feel very uncomfortable particularly when swallowing and after my gastroscopy it felt really weird for a couple of weeks. I took 40mg I think for the first 2-3 weeks after because the procedure gave me even more symptoms then I cut down to 20mg as it started to feel a bit better. I was a lot better after about a month.
As for alverine it doesn't weaken anything, speak to your doctor about your concerns and they can explain how it works. If you don't want to take more medication though I find kefir yoghurt drink is very good for your type of stomach issues.
mike14074 moon53540
Posted
Alright thank you so much!!