The upper endoscopy I had a couple weeks ago was ugly. Erosive lesions all over. The bloating and pain have been bad for, at least, three years.

I have not had any gluten in weeks, no dairy, very little sugar (though Stevia). The gastronologist immediately put me on Prilosec. The concern is he did not verify if stomach acid is low or high. You can have low with Lyme or autoimmune.

Can’t figure out why he won’t do a ph test to check. I did the classic home burp test with baking soda but not sure if it’s reliable and the results were mixed.

I did take a little Pepto Bismal last night and felt better. I don’t think it would do that with low acid, but I’m wondering what I do and don’t know with Lyme and autoimmune.

Anyone been through the gastritis deal with Lyme?

Agree with Garzie's overall points, although one thing I would add, having been through both SIBO and gastirtis separately.

The functional medicine school of thought does seem to implicate low stomach acid as the cause. Garzie mentions this allowing SIBO to develop, which is true. But another mechanism i've seen speculated is that the stomach has too low of stomach acid, and it wont empty until the stomach is properly acidic, so the juices and food sit in the stomach for long periods, aggravating the stomach lining. Either way, it's low and not high stomach acid that is the suspected cause.

One thing you can do to find out is to buy some betaine. If it helps, you're low on stomach acid. If you immediately experience more gastritis, the theory is bunk. Never tried it myself because right when the betaine finally arrived my gastritis was just healing up and I didnt want to rock the boat.

The other thing to point out is that sjogrens is known to trigger GERD. Theory being that low saliva causes increased acidity. As w/ every symptoms based answer in modern medicine, it seems too simplistic and might be missing the forest for the trees. Sjogrens also lowers bodily secretions of many things, not just saliva and tears. I've read that it can and often does affect the secretion of digestive enzymes like lactase, so it wouldnt suprise me if its affecting the secretion of stomach acid as well and low stomach acid is the actual cause.

Gastritis may explain some of your mysterious bouts of nausea. It is awful.

Mine was caused by NSAID overuse, btw. Not sure if you are taking NSAIDs.

Post Edited (dcd2103) : 7/5/2023 10:34:40 AM (GMT-8)

Lot of interesting responses. I remember your issues with Gastritis, dcd.

All good points by everyone, which leads me to a comment/question:

I’m s well documented reflux, gastritis,etc… are often caused by low stomach acid. Seems Lyme and autoimmune can both cause it. As Garzie said, mainstream always seem to go with “take antacids.” No questions. No stomach ph tests or others that would assist in determining.

On top of that, a biopsy showed I do not have H. Pylori, which seems to lead to SIBO. He told me there was no bacteria in lining. From what I read years ago, that lowers chance of SIBO by 70%_80%.

So why don’t gastros do further testing to limit taking medications to potentially more harmful medications? Ignorance or stubbornness are obvious answers.

Apple cider vinegar, supposedly, helps build stomach acid, as well as mentioned betanine hcl. A test could help provide possible answers with no risks.

Make sense?

What you wrote makes sense. And as far as testing, similar to your report, it simply mentions “no H. Pylori detected.” In the testing method, I don’t even know if they checked for any other bacteria

It’s a cookie cutter process for gastronologists: Perform the upper endoscopy and biopsy, interpret results that are usually 90% similar and put patient on antacid, if gastritis is indicated. Not much thought process.

It’s noted in the report and by the gastro that I have had fundoplication surgery, which is where the fundus of the stomach is wrapped around the esophagus in the abdomen. Never anything like that done and would, definitely, be aware of it if I had.

When I meet with him Tuesday I’m sure he will insist I did and argue about testing for low stomach acid. He could have done so during biopsy. Now a blood test might show it or ph test.

One final note that fits your thought, Garzie. I have “erosive gastritis.” That can be caused by, from all I’ve searched, a number of reasons, one being bacterial infections, but only H. Pylori is mentioned. . “Atrophic gastritis,” which is different from erosive, is also caused by numerous causes, including autoimmune. It causes atrophy.

He should be able to distinguish and rule out autoimmune since he performed a biopsy.

Sorry so long.

Hi running wild,

One thing you could ask the doctor is if he or she might be mistaking what is actually fungal gastritis (caused by candida overgrowth) as erosive gastritis.

I've wondered if you have candida in the past.

If that's the case you definitely don't want to take PPIs. Would make it a lot worse.

Thank you for those kind words, running wild. Also, I'm sorry to hear the motherboard in your laptop bit the dust. As George Carlin would say, it's now with "The Big Electron" in the sky. We'll catch up in time. Take care.

Hi, pinkblossom:

In most cases, I think that supplementing with Betaine HCl with Pepsin is supposed to be temporary. The idea is to provide short-term support and relief, while addressing the root cause of low stomach acid. Ultimately, the goal would be to help the stomach recover its ability to produce acid naturally. Long-term supplementing might be warranted, however, if one's ability to produce stomach acid is permanently impaired.

If you get a burning sensation when taking Betaine HCl with Pepsin, that might mean you already had sufficient stomach acid. Have you had a direct measure of stomach acid, such as with a Heidelberg Gastrogram Study?

Now, to answer your original question...

One thing that I think has helped my GERD somewhat is to raise the head of my mattress a few inches. The way I did it was to use a couple of the throw pillows from my couch and put them between my mattress and pedestal. Some people put a brick or a couple of two-by-four board under the legs of their box spring. Or, they sleep on a wedge pillow. Anything that helps lift the head a few inches above the stomach, so there's no backflow of liquid, if the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) isn't functioning properly.

I still have an occasional episode of GERD, but not often and it's usually just a day or two at the most. I've had it for years, no matter what diet I've followed. about 25 years ago, I took a prescription Proton Pump Inhibitor (PPI) for a short while, but decided to stop taking it. I think it was Omeprazole (Prilosec) that I took, but it might have been Esomeprazole (Nexium). It was one of those two. I don't think I took it for more than a month or two. Back then, I was being prescribed several medications for several issues and quit them all out of frustration.

Just within the past three years, I started getting GERD when eating a particular junk food that I would sometimes buy. It was this product: https://www.justins.com/products/dark-chocolate-almond-butter-cups At first, I wasn't sure it was them, but it happened a couple more times. So, I stopped buying them.

The only other meal that I've repeatedly noticed causing me GERD is when eating an excessive amount of a gluten-free pasta dish I make. It's brown rice pasta, a jar of low-sodium pasta sauce, a can of no-salt-added diced tomatoes, 12-15 cloves of garlic, a diced onion, onion powder, garlic powder, and some unsalted broth. If I have a bowl or two, I'm fine. But, when I'm really hungry, I tend to eat like a hyena and will eat three or four bowls, despite knowing full well I'm going to be miserable and wish I hadn't done so. I'm guessing maybe it's all the tomato products (acidic), but I don't really know for sure.

When I do have a flare of GERD, I usually try to eat a light meal. Sometimes that helps, sometimes not. If not, I'll go buy a 4-pack of Reed's Ginger Beer (non-alcoholic) and drink one somewhat "slowly" over 15-20 minutes. https://drinkreeds.com/products/#ginger-beer If that doesn't help, I have a bottle of Mylanta Classic on hand and will take 1-2 teaspoons: https://mylanta.com/heartburn-medicine/mylanta-liquid-antacid

That's about all I have. I hope maybe something here will be helpful - or, lead you to something helpful.

Good luck,
Dude

pinkblossom,

If you've not seen the following thread, maybe give it a read.

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=4316934

Specifically, please see the document I linked in the first post of that thread.

Other gut-related resources...

https://drruscio.com/gut-health
https://www.youtube.com/@drrusciodc

https://theplantfedgut.com
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=will+bulsiewicz

https://infinityholistichealth.com
https://www.youtube.com/@gutmicrobiomequeen

https://www.siboinfo.com
https://www.youtube.com/@allisonsiebecker4595

https://sonnenburglab.stanford.edu
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=justin+and+erica+sonnenburg

I've no idea who's right, who's wrong, what works, or what doesn't. It's probably not exactly the same for everyone. Like Sherlock Holmes, if one rules out enough things, eventually, whatever remains must be the answer. That's the theory, anyway.

Best wishes,
Dude