To think that you must be able to cure acid with diet?

[Callardandbowser]

I have recently had acid stomach and every morning I wake up, I have an acid taste in my mouth, a burning feeling in my intestines and pain where my gall bladder used to be (I had it removed a year ago)
I was prescribed omeprazole and it did help with the heat sensation, gurgling stomach and reflux but it didnt help with the pain where my gall bladder used to be.
I take good quality probiotics and am a healthy weight/ in good health otherwise.
I tried to come off the omeprazole but it now feels worse than before!

Surely this can be controlled/ cured with a diet change/ exercise?

Has anyone else experienced bad stomach acid and recovered from it?

Thank you for reading.

(For background, I’m 35 and eat a low carbish diet with plenty of veg and drink 3 litres water a day)

My Dr (who can only see me over the phone and I’ve had 2 appointments over the past month) gave me Omeprazole twice now.

Mine settles a tiny bit with a glass of milk (I don't drink milk normally). I can also control it a little by watching what I eat, but I now take omeprazole every other day.

I have terrible acid when I hit a certain weight. I had it both my pregnancies aced also now that I am overweight.

The only things that helped were losing weight and drinking a teaspoon of bicarbonate soda mixed with water.

Yours sounds much more severe than mine, though, but I sympathise as it's awful!

Research an alkaline diet. I have LPR and have found there are definitely foods that trigger it. For me it’s white bread, processed food, white wine and chocolate. However, stress and being overweight are also big factors for me and I’ve had to go back on lansoprasole as I’ve had a terrible flare up over lockdown. I really need to lose some weight but a, finding it very difficult at the moment.

I’ve also invested in an alkaline water filter from amazon. Not sure whether it’s made a massive difference but figure every little helps!

what helped me is not eating 2 hours or more before bed. and also stopping drink at least one hour before lying down.

omeleazole is a very potent medicine. great for short term use, but withdrawal is awful and it can cause issues with nutrient absorbtion.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.
I’m really sceptical about long term drug use but I also don’t want to be on fire internally all the time!

I found this helpful-
Foods and drinks that you may want to limit or avoid include:
Alcohol.
Caffeinated beverages.
Chocolate.
Citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruit, lemons, limes and tomatoes.
Fatty foods such as full-fat dairy products, fatty or fried cuts of meat, cream sauces as well as oily and greasy foods.
Garlic and onions.
Spicy foods.
I read somewhere to suck marshmallows or licorice. The reflux was affecting my voice so sucking something helped that.
I also bought silicolgel online which helped.
But having pain in a non existent gall bladder should maybe be checked by a doctor.

Also - raise your bed. Either a couple of books under the end or a rolled towel under the mattress. Just pillows has too much scope for sliding down.

I get that you are wary of long-term medication, but you wouldn't say that to an asthmatic, epileptic or diabetic. Sometimes people need medication. The long-term effects of uncontrolled acid are not good.

Thank you, I just don’t understand why it’s happening fundamentally, is it something I should just accept as part of ageing?
I will try to cut the things out that you’ve mentioned.
Thank you all.

I find green leafy veg very helpful - also I found a website once which recommended as much raw veg as possible. No idea about the science but it seems to me to be helpful

Get gaviscon advance, brilliant stuff.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=JkJu9OAJ8l4 you might find this video interesting

Depends what's causing the excess acid. If it's a Helicobacter pylori infection (very common) or a gastrin-secreting tumour (Zolger-Ellison syndrome: rare, and more common in men, but not unknown in women), it's unlikely that you'd be able to control it just by diet. Have you had any investigations?

Have you been tested for Helicobacter pylori?

I stop getting it if I stop eating bread.

Very sad. But true.

Thank you. I don’t eat sugar often maybe once on Mother’s Day and once on my birthday but not as a lifestyle. Even carbs I keep low never eat bread, pasta, cakes, rice, so I’m not sure why.
But the HP thing seems an interesting avenue.
My Dr said that after this 30 day course of Omeprazole he will send me for a scan on my ex- gallbladder to see if there are any stones left.

Watching with interest as I am really suffering with LPR at the moment, nothing has helped at all so far including max doses of meds, buckets of Gaviscon Advanced, raising head of bed, not eating for 4 hours before bed and giving up all drinks except water, spicy food, chocolate. I am trying to lose more weight too although BMI 25 so not v overweight. Eating nice things is about all there is to look forward to in lockdown but might need to exclude more as I have never identified a trigger .
They can test for H Pilori with a breath test that you do at home and post off. You have to be off meds ideally for 2 weeks beforehand though. Ask your GP for one, I got it sent directly to the local pharmacy.

Be careful with milk, it stops the immediate discomfort but the fat content can increase acid production and make it worse in the longer term. Water is much better as it dilutes the acid, but you already drink lots.

Omeprazole isn’t an instant fix, it slows acid production and takes a while to work in my experience, rather than being like taking a rennie.

Mine was so bad I had to have surgery as it triggered constant regurgitation of food, liquids. I’ll try to remember anything else that helped but water was the key for me. Interestingly I could eat things like chilli and curry and drink red wine (not white) with no issues, a salad would cause issues, I did better with white foods like potatoes and pasta and well cooked veg. Apples were the work of the devil.

Sleep on your left side, if you aren't anyway.

The way your body is 'plumbed', it means the acid can't get back up. It makes a big difference.

Apples were the work of the devil.

Apples crucify me. Same with cucumber

Tomatoes I'm ok with as long as I don't have too many (so two days in a row is a no-no). Too much dairy over a day also seems to be a big issue for me.

Its the removal of the gall bladder that's causing it, not old age in your thirties.
The list Bluemooon gave is a good idea to try excluding individually and see which has an affect.
I have no gall bladder and have to be careful with coffee, fizzy drinks and takeaway burgers and chips.
Have a look at Fodmap but you probably don't have to do it that intensely.

Biggest culprits for me are

Alcohol
Caffeine
Tomatoes
Pastry
Really greasy food eg fish and chips
Onions

Must admit I tend to eat what I want and take the medication

This may not be the case for you, as others have said, it may be related to your gallbladder removal/h-pylori but I just wanted to draw peoples attention to Low stomach acid. It can cause similar symptoms to high stomach acid but needs completely different treatment. A family member suffered for years and went back and forth to doctors for h pylori treatment, PPIs and it turned out she had low stomach acid. She’s been taking HCl supplements for the last 9 months and she’s like a new person. Worth looking into for anyone who has been having a hard time and isn’t finding any relief.

Low stomach acid

Has anyone ever had problems swallowing?

I used to suffer from acid and stomach ulcers. My lightbulb moment was when I read that people with excessive acid can have naturally low levels of stomach acid and the body is forced to overcompensate. I stopped taking antacids, started taking digestive enzymes and looked into my diet.

I try to eat a gut friendly diet and enzyme rich diet eg. Bone broth, probotics, use vinegar in cooking, low in processed food, low dairy (as it doesn't agree with me).

OP, you are drinking a lot of water. That may be an issue if you are already low in acid. I would look into a gut friendly diet and perhaps spend some time supplementing with digestive enzymes until your body re-sets.