As a pharmacist, I have nothing else to add to this article as this article covered everything important about stomach acid.
When i practicing in the community pharmacy, PPIs were the one drug I counseled all my patients to stop right away.
We forgot that these drugs are poisons. Literally poisons that should ONLY ever be used as a last resort, but as you said, society has inverted the truth.
Fortunately, we are seeing a movement, a positive movement in the profession so that is something to be happy about.
To be honest I stopped reading after Q#12 with Alternatives to PPI's. That's all I needed to know and all I have been doing anyway. Doctors lying to us over having too much stomach acid, oh my, whodathunkit. My 1st bout of heartburn was during pregnancy. Nothing worked, except milk. I drank about 2 gallons a week which produced an 11 1/2 pound baby. I was the size of The Hindenburg so I don't recommend my solution to others, but it has worked for me every time since then. The amount of people I know who pop Tuns like a kid eating candy is in-credible.
You have heartburn, hit that bottle of Braggs long lost at the bottom back of your fridge. Take a casual walk around the block after eating, don't lay down, don't drink alcohol, wait some time for coffee and dessert. Eat slowly. Tomato sauce does me in. Never eat Italian food without a glass of milk. Works every time. And therein lies the solution.
Listen to your body, it's talking to you. What did you eat, and when, what did you do afterwards? Hit the couch and fell asleep most likely. I never do that and others complain to me about not letting them help me clean-up after a dinner. I thank them, but NO. Takes some time to pull my kitchen back to before dinner status and that's all the time I need to get my digestive juices in action so that I can comfortably sit down afterwards and engage in conversation. I never allow anyone to mess in my kitchen or break a piece of my century old china and will go down in history as, "why does everything have to be her way?". There's a reason for what I do.
Great post. Like all medicine, some of it seems speculative. I particularly was impressed by how you are bringing out that medical treatments often cause the diseases they purport to cure. Keep hammering on this; everyone should hear it.
I'm also thinking that the belt i like so much may give me sour stomach. I hate to change into an old geezer with a jumpsuit but it looks like that's coming.
PPIs cause magnesium deficiency and this commonly causes atrial fibrillation which can result in stroke, a disaster.
That was a really excellent article, thank you. I only wish to add that chronic mercury toxicity is epidemic in our society although pretty universally undiagnosed. Mercury interferes in many places in the HPA axis. Looking on the diagram on p. 32 in "Amalgam Illness" by Andy Cutler, PhD, I see that it can interfere in the signals between the brain and the pancreas and then again in the pancreas itself's ability to produce digestive enzymes.
Mercury also messes with those aspects of the immune system that deal with yeast and other bad guys. In my own experience, disbyosis causes reflux. My chronic reflux improves with treatment for that. (usually oil of oregano and probiotics).
I got terrible acid reflux, couldn't eat a thing and lost weight when Covid started and the world went mad. Consequently I postulate that when there is a lot of stress, my microbiome gets out of whack.
I tested for H. Pylori but was negative. I think you are probably right that these bacteria can be pathogens when they get out of balance but probably have some role in the system. The protocol for killing them with antibiotics is pretty dire. Gum mastic is great stuff! What stopped me being sick from the Covid nonsense, and that overnight, was Cat's Claw.
Thank you. 1st learned tums & rolaids actually increased stomach acid back in the early 80’s. Gastric acid - Acid Reflux - GERD - heart burn, the evolution of stomach acidity Prilosec .......This report ought to be acknowledged by every primary care doc out there - I thank you a 2nd x
Thank you for this article. If stopping these drugs causes rebound, it would be very helpful to have specific instructions for weaning oneself off prilosec.
The instructions I received (after 13 straight years on Omeprazole) was to lower my dose every two weeks by 5 mg. (I was on 40 mg.) What became necessary was my doctor providing a prescription for 10 mg tablets since you cannot get that OTC. You can only get 20mg - and it becomes difficult getting 5mg increments.
At the same time I converted to a low carb way of eating and have stuck with it religiously for over 2 years now.
When I reached a daily dose of 5-10mg of the PPI, I began to add into my daily morning and evening routine an ACV “cocktail” so that when I finally stopped the PPI a month later I was already using ACV. The cocktail consists of 16oz water, 2T ACV, 1T lemon juice, 1tsp of fresh grated ginger, 1tsp of cinnamon, and pinch of sea salt. (Sort of tastes like a liquid apple pie, lol) I froze fresh ginger in 1” chunks so I could easily and quickly grate a piece for about 4-5 days, putting the piece back into the freezer each time.
I did that twice a day for the first month or so. Then I reduced it to just the mornings for 1-1/2 years and it worked well. Today I am lazy and I’m only adding the lemon juice, ACV, and ginger. For some odd reason I suddenly have had breakthru burning in my stomach for the past month (no reflux but severe painful burning) and I have added back an evening dose of ACV water to help. I have also added the BCl supplement and probiotics. I’m thinking of adding digestive enzymes now because the burning can be severe.
But I’ve successfully weaned off and remained off PPIs for two years now and up until a couple months ago it controlled my stomach problems.
Good luck to you! Takes tenacity but is worth it.
EDIT: I don’t have a gall bladder. I know people are able to dial back to using the cocktail just a couple times a week because they have a healthy functioning gallbladder.
Also, after 13 years on a PPI, I was diagnosed at a very young age of 55 with severe, advanced osteoporosis. I have the bone density of an 85 year old with a T-score of -3.7. Trying to build back bone from that level for the past four years, and it is extremely difficult. I’m trying, but I doubt I’ll ever get it above -3.0 which is still a severe level. PPIs are very dangerous.
For improving bone density: K2, magnesium, and vitamin D! Grass fed, raw full fat dairy! Trust me — K2 is magical for bone health, but it’s found in all the things we’ve been told to avoid. Certain cheeses, raw milk, liver. The Weston Price foundation is a good source of information about how traditional foods are the recipe for strong bones and teeth.
Thanks for this excellent encapsulation of AMD’s research/articles. It is really helpful to have all the essential points bulleted for quick reference.
Great topic, great analysis. I'm seldom troubled by stomach acids. But, when I am, I have a useful and benign treatment : I take a quarter teaspoon of finely powdered charcoal. This does the job of absorbing irritants and poisons from the stomach without any chemical ingredients?
One thing not mentioned here is that low magnesium levels also weaken the lower esophageal sphincter. Many vegans are able to reduce GERD symptoms with magnesium supplements.
This is by far the best analysis and presentation of this topic that I have seen! Thank you so much. (And now I know why my dear mother suffered through ocular injections and still went blind.)
My mom is having terrible rebound acid after stopping… all her other nightmare symptoms are gone & she feels great .. except for the burning. Thankfully her new Dr has changed her diet 🙏.
As a pharmacist, I have nothing else to add to this article as this article covered everything important about stomach acid.
When i practicing in the community pharmacy, PPIs were the one drug I counseled all my patients to stop right away.
We forgot that these drugs are poisons. Literally poisons that should ONLY ever be used as a last resort, but as you said, society has inverted the truth.
Fortunately, we are seeing a movement, a positive movement in the profession so that is something to be happy about.
PS: the weight loss craze is another inversion of truth we’re seeing right before our eyes: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/the-hidden-struggle-in-health-care
To be honest I stopped reading after Q#12 with Alternatives to PPI's. That's all I needed to know and all I have been doing anyway. Doctors lying to us over having too much stomach acid, oh my, whodathunkit. My 1st bout of heartburn was during pregnancy. Nothing worked, except milk. I drank about 2 gallons a week which produced an 11 1/2 pound baby. I was the size of The Hindenburg so I don't recommend my solution to others, but it has worked for me every time since then. The amount of people I know who pop Tuns like a kid eating candy is in-credible.
You have heartburn, hit that bottle of Braggs long lost at the bottom back of your fridge. Take a casual walk around the block after eating, don't lay down, don't drink alcohol, wait some time for coffee and dessert. Eat slowly. Tomato sauce does me in. Never eat Italian food without a glass of milk. Works every time. And therein lies the solution.
Listen to your body, it's talking to you. What did you eat, and when, what did you do afterwards? Hit the couch and fell asleep most likely. I never do that and others complain to me about not letting them help me clean-up after a dinner. I thank them, but NO. Takes some time to pull my kitchen back to before dinner status and that's all the time I need to get my digestive juices in action so that I can comfortably sit down afterwards and engage in conversation. I never allow anyone to mess in my kitchen or break a piece of my century old china and will go down in history as, "why does everything have to be her way?". There's a reason for what I do.
Great post. Like all medicine, some of it seems speculative. I particularly was impressed by how you are bringing out that medical treatments often cause the diseases they purport to cure. Keep hammering on this; everyone should hear it.
I'm also thinking that the belt i like so much may give me sour stomach. I hate to change into an old geezer with a jumpsuit but it looks like that's coming.
PPIs cause magnesium deficiency and this commonly causes atrial fibrillation which can result in stroke, a disaster.
That was a really excellent article, thank you. I only wish to add that chronic mercury toxicity is epidemic in our society although pretty universally undiagnosed. Mercury interferes in many places in the HPA axis. Looking on the diagram on p. 32 in "Amalgam Illness" by Andy Cutler, PhD, I see that it can interfere in the signals between the brain and the pancreas and then again in the pancreas itself's ability to produce digestive enzymes.
Mercury also messes with those aspects of the immune system that deal with yeast and other bad guys. In my own experience, disbyosis causes reflux. My chronic reflux improves with treatment for that. (usually oil of oregano and probiotics).
I got terrible acid reflux, couldn't eat a thing and lost weight when Covid started and the world went mad. Consequently I postulate that when there is a lot of stress, my microbiome gets out of whack.
I tested for H. Pylori but was negative. I think you are probably right that these bacteria can be pathogens when they get out of balance but probably have some role in the system. The protocol for killing them with antibiotics is pretty dire. Gum mastic is great stuff! What stopped me being sick from the Covid nonsense, and that overnight, was Cat's Claw.
Thank you. 1st learned tums & rolaids actually increased stomach acid back in the early 80’s. Gastric acid - Acid Reflux - GERD - heart burn, the evolution of stomach acidity Prilosec .......This report ought to be acknowledged by every primary care doc out there - I thank you a 2nd x
Thank you for this article. If stopping these drugs causes rebound, it would be very helpful to have specific instructions for weaning oneself off prilosec.
The instructions I received (after 13 straight years on Omeprazole) was to lower my dose every two weeks by 5 mg. (I was on 40 mg.) What became necessary was my doctor providing a prescription for 10 mg tablets since you cannot get that OTC. You can only get 20mg - and it becomes difficult getting 5mg increments.
At the same time I converted to a low carb way of eating and have stuck with it religiously for over 2 years now.
When I reached a daily dose of 5-10mg of the PPI, I began to add into my daily morning and evening routine an ACV “cocktail” so that when I finally stopped the PPI a month later I was already using ACV. The cocktail consists of 16oz water, 2T ACV, 1T lemon juice, 1tsp of fresh grated ginger, 1tsp of cinnamon, and pinch of sea salt. (Sort of tastes like a liquid apple pie, lol) I froze fresh ginger in 1” chunks so I could easily and quickly grate a piece for about 4-5 days, putting the piece back into the freezer each time.
I did that twice a day for the first month or so. Then I reduced it to just the mornings for 1-1/2 years and it worked well. Today I am lazy and I’m only adding the lemon juice, ACV, and ginger. For some odd reason I suddenly have had breakthru burning in my stomach for the past month (no reflux but severe painful burning) and I have added back an evening dose of ACV water to help. I have also added the BCl supplement and probiotics. I’m thinking of adding digestive enzymes now because the burning can be severe.
But I’ve successfully weaned off and remained off PPIs for two years now and up until a couple months ago it controlled my stomach problems.
Good luck to you! Takes tenacity but is worth it.
EDIT: I don’t have a gall bladder. I know people are able to dial back to using the cocktail just a couple times a week because they have a healthy functioning gallbladder.
Also, after 13 years on a PPI, I was diagnosed at a very young age of 55 with severe, advanced osteoporosis. I have the bone density of an 85 year old with a T-score of -3.7. Trying to build back bone from that level for the past four years, and it is extremely difficult. I’m trying, but I doubt I’ll ever get it above -3.0 which is still a severe level. PPIs are very dangerous.
For improving bone density: K2, magnesium, and vitamin D! Grass fed, raw full fat dairy! Trust me — K2 is magical for bone health, but it’s found in all the things we’ve been told to avoid. Certain cheeses, raw milk, liver. The Weston Price foundation is a good source of information about how traditional foods are the recipe for strong bones and teeth.
Thanks for this excellent encapsulation of AMD’s research/articles. It is really helpful to have all the essential points bulleted for quick reference.
Great topic, great analysis. I'm seldom troubled by stomach acids. But, when I am, I have a useful and benign treatment : I take a quarter teaspoon of finely powdered charcoal. This does the job of absorbing irritants and poisons from the stomach without any chemical ingredients?
One thing not mentioned here is that low magnesium levels also weaken the lower esophageal sphincter. Many vegans are able to reduce GERD symptoms with magnesium supplements.
This is by far the best analysis and presentation of this topic that I have seen! Thank you so much. (And now I know why my dear mother suffered through ocular injections and still went blind.)
My mom is having terrible rebound acid after stopping… all her other nightmare symptoms are gone & she feels great .. except for the burning. Thankfully her new Dr has changed her diet 🙏.