Has anyone had success treating upper digestive issues with alternative treatments??

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I have been suffering daily with upper digestive issues for a number of years now. Daily nausea, burping hours after meals, pain, bloating and acid. All rather unpleasant and it's really getting me down if I am honest.

I have had so many tests over the years including gall bladder scans, a SeCHAT scan, colonoscopies and several gastroscopes. The latest gastroscope earlier this year found nothing other than a 1cm sliding hiatus hernia but they told me this is very small and wouldn't be causing the issues and have left me to it.

I have tried all the standard treatments and remedies such as the acid watchers diet, I watch what I eat and drink in general, I am very careful with my diet. I have tried various PPIs and H2 blockers but I have the added issue of also suffering from IBS and those medications give me awful diarrhoea (and headaches too).

So I live off Gaviscon and Pepto Bismol but they have stopped working well and now I am considering trying alternatives.

Google will showcase a lot of 'alternative' products such as Slippery Elm, Marshmallow root, DGL and even adding in something such as Acid Cider Vinegar as, apparently many naturopaths believe these issues are created by low stomach acid and not high although I am loathe to add in extra acid tbh in case it causes me more harm than good.

I am loathe in general to go spending a fortune on alternatives as money is a bit tight but would happily do so if I thought they could help but I am also mindful of my IBS and don't want to go upsetting that via anything I take to treat the upper issues. It can be quite the vicious cycle.

Symprove probiotic is fantastic
has genuine clinical evidence supporting it
nothing harmful
very safe
a 3 month course to reset your microbiome
it may be worth cutting out gluten / uPFs/ white carbs for a few months too
aiming for low fodmap diet (avoiding gassy cauliflowers etc)

trying to eat whole foods; Greek yoghurt, kefir.

and doing a food diary to work out your triggers
i find raw fruit on an empty stomach can really trigger me

generally caffeine, eating late, alcohol, smoking and stress can all make IBS worse (so cbt and exercise can help for stress reduction)
The above has helped a lot with my IBS and reflux
i hope it helps you too

Strangely Mounjaro has solved acid reflux and IBS for me as a welcome side affect to weight loss.

I could barely walk or exercise for acid reflux without being sick before I started taking it.

I know you say you don't have much money but if you meet prescribing criteria could be worth a thought.

Any "natural" remedy that actually reliably works is medicine. Aspirin was developed from willow bark. Quinine was developed from the bark of another tree and was a natural remedy against malaria for hundreds/thousanfs of years before its scientific mechanisms were understood. The things you see adverts for aren't prescribed by clinicians because there is insufficient evidence that they work reliably. However there will always be some people who claim they had a benefit, even if there's a lot more people who just wasted their money and saw no benefit. Some of this will be placebo effect. If you can afford it there's probably no harm trying though.

Do you have a list of foods that you know you can digest safely without these issues? I know someone whose digestive issues were diagnosed over a long period where she started off eating nothing but chicken breast and spinach for weeks then gradually tried other foods one at a time to isolate what caused the issues.

I've never considered using probiotics to treat acid reflux, I'll look into that, thanks.

I've kept a a food and symptoms diary for years. I only drink water, avoid gluten, wheat and dairy as they are they main triggers for my IBS and I'm on a modified low fodmap diet having worked with several dietitians over the years.

I can't find any real trigger for the upper gut issues other than stress. I have a very stressful life which unfortunately I can't do a lot about atm another than practice daily meditation and have regular CBT sessions.

I have a BMI of 20 so wouldn't qualify for weight loss jabs.

Apologies, you didn't mention weight in your first post.

Good luck with finding a solution, it's really hard to live with these conditions.

I have worked with many dietitians for my IBS and know my triggers and have adapted my diet accordingly however nothing helps with the acid and upper issues.

As I've explained, I have tried all prescribed medications and now at a loss as what to do next.

At this point and getting nowhere with conventional medicine I am prepared to step outside the 'norm' and try anything else whether that be from anecdotal evidence or not hence the reason I started this thread.

I am one of those cases who was on high doses of Ppis for years and saw my condition worsen, to the point where I could barely eat or swallow water at one point. It turns out I had low stomach acid instead of high stomach acid. Started taking vinegar with my meals and the betaine HCI supplements. Never looked back since!

I keep coming across stories like yours. I need to seriously look into this as I'm finding even drinking water increases my belching.

Have a look at SIBO also if you have upper digestive issues and IBS. There’s a breath test you can do, most often privately

I did ask my gastroenterologist about this but she refused to order a breath test because she said the tests are notoriously unreliable often giving false positives. I have looked at the test and treatment privately but the test alone is approx. £150 and the Rifaximin to treat it is £200 for a 2 week course and often people need several courses to fully treat the overgrowth. I can't afford that atm sadly.

My husband had severe GORD and oesophageal pain. Plus it turned out an oesophageal hernia. He had surgery to implant a Linx implant - a ring of magnets that keeps the oesophagus more tightly closed preventing acid splashback etc. It was life changing for him. He’s only had maybe one attack since.

How was that detected? I have had scans and gastroscopes but nothing other than a small hiatus hernia has been picked up.

It is. I had one dose and things are much much better but not perfect. There are natural things you can take also that will help, like artichoke and ginger extract with your largest meal and before bed (to help with gastric emptying and the upper digestive symptoms), and magnesium before bed. I do notice if I miss these. My private gastro said be careful of probiotics, because if it is SIBO, they make it worse. After treatment I had to do Symprove for a short period, but only after the bacteria load had reduced

I have struggled with gastro symptoms all my adult life. I find propranolol, which I was given 10 ish years ago for palpitations, also works on my gut in a beneficial way. I have no idea why so I don’t know if it’d work for you, but just wanted to share my experience in case it helps.

In addition to whatever else you decide on, Yogi Tea Stomach Ease tea helped me with digestive issues.

It's true that herbal medicines aren't classed as medicines because there is insufficient evidence but sometimes that is because no one has looked, often because there is no money in it so no motivation to run a trial.

Obviously do all the known things first but then you can experiment on yourself, one thing at a time. I use herbal remedies on myself and my animals, most make no difference but some definitely help - it's easier to see in animals because of the lack of a placebo effect .

So many issues are related to inflammation, pp said weight loss drugs helped which could be their anti inflammatory effect. Plenty of herbs and minerals which are effective in small reductions in inflammation, as are reducing foods known to cause inflammation and fasting or timed eating.

You sound like you are really suffering, I hope you find a way to improve this.

I fucked up my stomach/gut by eating something wrong. I wonder whether it was pre-cooked rice. It was months of pain and discomfort to the point where I thought I might as well quit my job as it was too much (I need to speak a lot). Have private insurance, they did all the possible tests. After almost a year they told me it was all in my head. Fuckers.
I went down the alternative route and I was cured quite quickly. I still remember crying when I ate a boiled potato again for the first time as it tasted so good and filling after so long on bland food and pain.
I can’t remember what the other things were, but do get the pills in the photo if you can. You take them half an hour or so before meals and they helped me a lot. I feel for you, it was a really shit period in my life.

(I took them again for three days for a random discomfort recently and they worked again)

Thank you, I will look into the artichoke and ginger and I have been wanting to trial some magnesium for a while as I have a lot of issues with aches and pains but want to try something more gentle on the stomach, like the bisglycinate version. I am on some of the SIBO FB groups but a bit apprehensive to try anything like oregano oil as it's supposed to be quite potent, hopefully I may have some joy with the artichoke and ginger?

Oh that's interesting as I've wanted to try this as I had read it can help with anxiety and as most of the antibiotics that I have tried make my IBS worse I was wondering if Propranolol may help?

I will take a look, thank you.

Thank you, I am definitely open to try anything atm, nothing the NHS has offered me or anything that I have tried for myself has worked long term so I am up for trialling anything that may be of benefit, it's got to be better than my current situation!

Thank you, I will go check those out.

I ended up terrible upper gastric pain because of the amount of time I was on NSAIDs. One night I thought I was having a heart attack it was that bad. I do take Pantoprozole for it, but I swear by Twinings Spiced Ginger tea. I used to drink a lot of peppermint tea, I have IBS too, but that makes the pain worse. If the pain gets bad I take ginger tablets from Holland and Barrett but I’ve not had to do that for a long time.

Don’t go down the oregano oil route. I did and the pain was horrendous.

I love Silicol Gel - natural product, little sachet type things. Use them if I even feel slightly iffy.