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)

if you have issues swallowing you need to see your gp.

wrt water: I don't drink at meal times, I find if I do I get reflux. I leave a bit of time either side.

Sounds like me before I was diagnosed with my stomach ulcer. You really don’t want to stop the medication for that, and your doctor should be sending you for an endoscopy with those symptoms.

@silentpool - this is the issue with Helicobacter pylori. It colonizes areas at the lower end of the stomach, where it neutralizes acid by producing ammonia from urea. The resulting lower acidity of the stomach contents is detected and leads to increased stimulation of acid secretion in areas at the upper end of the stomach, from where it might escape into the lower oesophagus.

Trouble swallowing needs a Dr visit Imo.

I've been referred to the hospital but not clear if they are seeing even urgent referrals at the moment. Was just curious to see how common trouble swallowing was along with all the other symptoms.

@Redcherries what lead to them deciding to do surgery and what kind did you have? Has it made a difference?

My turned out to be part of my dairy intolerance. I stopped dairy and IBS, reflux and acid all stopped.

Live natural set yoghurt or keffir will give you relief long term.

I know it sounds counter-intuitive but try apple cider vinegar tablets. The issue may actually be not enough acid the symptoms of which are exactly the same for excess acid!

It works like a dream for me. All pain gone within minutes

On a lighter note, I find my acid completely disappeared when I cut out processed sugars. It came back a year later when I started eating them again.

On a deeper note, my husband’s acid only stopped with a colostomy bag! They tried everything over the years, including gall bladder removal. His bowel just didn’t function properly and it twisted a lot,

I have had heartburn and reflux.for years . Large meals really really make things worse for me as do ones that are too high in fat.

Diet definitely can help .This diet worked wonders for me and helped me know which foods trigger me ( caffeine, raw onions, too much dairy, too much vinegar/ lemon ect in food, anything too spicy)

www.amazon.co.uk/Acid-Watcher-Diet-Prevention-Programme/dp/1781808562/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=acid+watchers+diet+book&sprefix=acid+wat&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1594980272&sr=8-1

I would warn you it is quite an extreme diet at first but it is only.for 28 days to begin woth. Then you can start eating some of the banned foods after that to see what is a particular problem for you

I must admit I don't keep.to it very well nowadays but my acid stomach is slightly worse again , though it has never gone back to bring as bad as it was before I tried this.

Milk makes my stomach so much worse. Took me a long time to figure out, as everyone jumps to recommend more milk when you have acid trouble.

It's a hard process trying to figure out what sets you off, OP, good luck with it!

@CovidBowie The seal between my stomach and oesophagus wasn't closing properly causing the constant regurgitation, on top of that I produce far too much stomach acid. I had a Nissan fundoplication which is where they wrap the top of the stomach around the bottom of the oesophagus. It means I can no longer burp or be sick but I was regurgitating food and drink over 50 times a day, I lived with sick bags, bowls and tissues in my hand constantly.

The surgery was very successful, although I can't have fizzy or eat a big meal now I don't have reflux but it also went wrong, they accidentally cut the artery between my stomach and spleen so I nearly died of blood loss and I lost my spleen. Its not an operation I would recommend without lots of research, I had to leave the support group as it was so negative with peoples issues since the op. I also have all of the keyhole surgery scars plus the emergency open scar which runs from my cleavage to my bikini line, I look like a shark attack victim, but I don't mind those. I am a bit pissed off though as having no spleen means I've fallen into the shielding group which sucks!

I had it chronically for years. Took omeprazole but eventually GP said shouldn't be long-term.
Have stopped it completely by not eating after 7pm, eating smaller meals, drinking less booze. Very rarely get it now, unless I've had a big night re. food/drink.

There are a number of things that can cause (or mitigate) acid reflux and heartburn OP. Omeprazole is the first line treatment for it but I'm personally not a fan of it and long term use can cause a number of gastric issues. I found ranitidine far superior but obviously it has been removed from the market currently.

You need further investigation into why it's happening. Have you had a gastroscopy to check for hiatal hernia, for example? I would be asking your GP to refer to gastro.
Details of diets to reduce acid reflux etc. Can easily be found online and it is mostly a case of trying exclusion diets and keeping a food diary until you establish what helps and what hinders.

Diet aside I find switching to smaller meals (more frequently if required), not drinking too much with dinner, no alcohol or caffeine, and never eating after 6pm very helpful. No lying down after eating either. Proper probiotics.

Sounds a lot but you do adjust and it's worth it.

I have suffered with indigestion since my gallbladder was removed. I take lanzoprazole which helps a lot and top up with a gaviscon equivalent as and when needed. I find a number of things trigger mine. Dairy, fatty meals, eating late, lots of bread or potatoes (I seem to be fine with grains). The worst thing is alcohol (particularly wine). I have given up dairy and don't really eat fatty meals. I am now working on giving up alcohol after a particularly bad episode. I am already vegan but aiming for a whole food plant based diet and to eventually be able to give up the medication.

I had this after my GB was removed. Turns out that I have a hiatus hernia and the chamomile and mint teas that I was drinking were relaxing the hernia and giving me acid reflux. The hernia is also the culprit behind the problems that I was having swallowing bread.

@Redcherries I'm so sorry to hear about your experience, it sounds horrendous. I'm glad you're doing better now. I want to avoid surgery obviously so looks like an exclusion diet is needed as standard food avoidance and meds haven't worked.

Personally I think dairy makes it worse. Fizzy drinks, sugar, alcohol make it worse for me. Have you tried probiotic tablets?

I came on to mention H-pylori but others got ahead of me. My stomach was so bad due to H-pylori that I couldn't eat anything at all without omeprazole and about a bottle of gaviscon/packet of Rennies a day. Initially I thought it was noro virus, it took 2 years to get better. I had to take more than one course of antibiotics and have had subsequent digestive issues. I was dehydrated, anemic, so underweight people thought I had anorexia. Milk did help occasionally but not for very long. There was nothing dietary I could change as it wasn't food related. I couldn't eat!!

I have taken and eaten probiotics ever since and will for the rest of my life! Anything that might prevent that feeling coming back! My heart burn used to feel so bad I thought I was having a heart attack. I have had heartburn in 3rd trimester of pregnancy which wouldn't have been effected by diet either as it was hormonal!

So get your hormones checked, h-pylori, referral to gastro. It'S not always got another cause, sometimes it is just dietary. But often it isn't! It can be a sign of cancer and can lead to ulcers.

I suffer from heart burn, acid. I can’t drink fizzy drinks. To much carbohydrates are a no no, even though I love them, bread, cakes, potatoes, pasta, I should only have a small amount, small portion sizes, eat lots of fruit veg and lean meats. Don’t eat anything 3 hours before you go to bed. I can’t eat anything after 6.

I second the low stomach acid note above. Its more often the cause than high.

I had my gallbladder removed 5 years ago, I was young and not overweight in the slightest. I've been managing the acid by cutting out fried/processed food, porridge oats (weirdly they exacerbated it), high fat things like ice cream, and limiting water intake with meals. I was told at one point to eat smaller meals/snacks, more frequently, as if I left it too long between food, all that bile that was slowly being created was just sitting there with no food to break down! So basically eat something every few hours.

I'm currently 6 months pregnant and it's unbearable, I get it every day and I am really trying to avoid taking Gaviscon if I can.

Those people suggesting probiotic tablets, are there any specific ones you recommend?

In addition to the good advice already in the thread, please be aware of rebound symptoms if you try stopping omeprazole cold. It happened to me - every time I tried stopping my PPI, my reflux symptoms came back worse than ever. I think also I used to suffer from too low acid symptoms in the evening, as drinking a can of diet fizzy pop used to really ease the pain.

I weaned myself off over few days, and used Zantac instead to help if symptoms got too bad, but sadly that isn't available any more, but you could try Gaviscon instead. I used to take rabeprazole once a day, so my weaning off schedule was Day 1 9am, Day 2 3pm, Day 3 9pm, Day 4 no tablet, Day 5 would have been 12 noon but symptoms had really subsided by then so I didn't bother.