Abdominal Pains, GERD, The Cure, part 2!!

[Sickboy1]

It all started going wrong with the first wrong diagnosis" Heartburn and abdominal pain", i was given acid blockers without even testing my stomach acid levels, my acid levels were too low, not too high, this causes "delayed gastric emptying" and this condition allows food to back flow up into the esophagus, after years of suffering from this condition, damage is done to the esophageal sphincter and it weakens and the condition gets noticeably worse, the doctors prescribe acid blockers purely to stop the stomach acids damaging and burning the esophagus, but what actually is happening is the condition is getting worse, "gastric emptying" is getting worse allowing more back flow,but we feel a bit better because it is not hurting as much when it does back flow into the esophagus, so we feel that we need them from then on and so your ready for bringing on the next stage of the illness.
What we need to realise is our Ph in the stomach ideally should be Ph2, very acidic, this is a perfect Ph level for breaking down the food, the Ph in your esophagus ideally should be 7 neutral, so just because you get acid burning your esophagus does not mean you should neutralize the acid, it only means you need to sort out the back flow issue. Imagine your acid level in your stomach was Ph4, this would still be acidic enough to damage the esophagus, but yet it is too alkaline to digest food properly, poor digestion causes "delayed gastric emptying" which as we know causes reflux, so with most people the problem is not too much acid but not enough, so if you increased your acid levels, the food would get digested properly and the reflux would not occur. Most of the other stomach ache symptoms most people describe is coming from not digesting food properly and "delayed gastric emptying". Acid blockers make this problem worse over time and so reflux becomes more frequent although not as painful, this causes the valves between the stomach and small intestines to get even more lax due to high pressure destruction and dilation, so here you are well on your way to fundoplication surgery.
Please do not think this covers all cases, a lot of people have severe "lower esophageal impedence" and do require this surgery, but i just want to point out that a lot of cases may be cured without surgery.
So i am now in a place where i am not digesting food properly, causing bloating, and nutrient deficiencies, and stomach gurgling scenes like something out of the film "Alien". Stomach acid is crucial for good health and should not be getting blocked or neutralized.

So the next step was "domperidone" an antagonist, to speed up gastric emptying, causing strong contractions throughout the esophagus, stomach and intestines, these really do work, but as with all western medicines, it has side effects, the powerful contractions can cause pains long term, in the esophagus and intestines, as my symptoms described above, the food is getting pushed through the system faster before acid has had a chance to break it down properly, the malnutrition problem gets worse when linked to acid blockers you end up with no energy and feeling unwell in general, you then start getting stressed about feeling so unwell all the time, and your health continues to spiral down.

So next the doctors try me on a muscle relaxant"antispasmodic" to reverse the side effects of the "domperidone", this causes the valves between the esophaugus, stomach and small intestines top relax also, which allows more reflux and backflow of stomach contents, now the stomach is not emptying properly again and backflow becomes worse, because the sphincter is now hardly working at all, even off the shelf drugs like "Buscopan" are well known to cause lax function of the stomach valves, so now we get "bile" also joining the party back flowing into the stomach, "delayed gastric emptying" mixed with "bile" causes a gaseous build up, the stomach wall is aggrevated and reflux becomes worse than ever, but now you have "bile" attacking you esophagus and the pain really starts, think about it, if acid blockers only give partial relief, then the pain can not be caused by acid, the acid has been neutralized, so what is aggrevating the esophagus? "BILE", a big first give away that your pain is "bile " related is exactly that" Acid blockers will only provide partial relief" other symptoms are as follows " pale stools", "high white blood cell count", "severe esophageal pains without heartburn", "burning sensation in the upper abdomen with muscle weakness and inflammation", "attacks mainly at night", "attacks brought on by fatty foods", "pain upper abdomen spreading to shoulders" but remember that esophageal spasms/pains brought on by reflux even when acid is neutralized, must eliminate acid as the cause!

So armed with all my research i demanded a PH test, and guess what, I did not have high acid levels in my esophagus but high alkaline levels, so they put doctors admitted it looks like "bile reflux" not "acid reflux", that's nice isn't it after 5 years of being on the wrong medication, 5 years of medication actually making the problem worse, i had research this myself and fought all the way otherwise i could still be getting batted back and forth with wrong medications.

Now remember back to when i spent 3 days in hospital with no medication and no food, and i felt great after, i was not eating, the bile was not being produced, the stomach was back to normal function after 3 days off the medication, funny that the cure was staring at me all along, stop all medication to get gastric emptying and acid levels back to normal and do not eat foods which promote the production of stomach bile and "fundoplication was not required", i now have the option of "bile diversion surgery" where the bile gets dumped further down the small intestines, to stop it entering the stomach, if you do not fight to find the underlying cause only "YOU" will suffer long term, "Esophageal cancer" "Stomach Cancer" is where it is ultimately heading with not much quality of life leading up.
I just hope that upon reading this, it may help some long term sufferers like myself and you can get diagnosed properly before its too late.

I have opted to not take the route of surgery for now, i am controlling my stomach bile by healthy eating, i am controlling reflux by eating small amounts regular and sleeping elevated, I am not taking any medication and gastric emptying has improved ten fold, my stomach valves are getting stronger and i am going to build on that, think about it, Q:How can bile get into your esophagus if your stomach is emptying properly? A: it can't!!

Remember where it all starts, maybe you used to over eat, maybe you just need to stop smoking, it can be a little problem that starts this whole thing, don't jump on the medication band wagon, i went to the doctors with a stomach discomfort and heartburn and ended up with a serious illness and in hospital several times, i was terrified at the thought of coming off acid blockers, i thought i would be in agony after 12 hours, the 1st day was very uncomfortable, but i did not get the "upper abdominal pain" i just ate dry toast every two hours and took sips of water in between, i could literally feel my stomach starting to digest food properly again, so there was no reflux, after sleeping elevated the next day, my stomach and body felt on the road to recovery this is just 24 hours and my body had almost returned to normal like somebody had turned the clock back 5 years.

Why are these cases increasing in number every year, 126million cases of GERD.
Acid blockers and indigestion remedies are the best selling drugs in the world, you really need to start reading about how the stomach acid works and what causes GERD before reaching for Acid blockers or Acid neutralizers ever again and doctors need to stop "putting a lid" on conditions with these medications. Good luck!

[Sickboy1]

It sounds like gastritis, what medicatiion are they giving you?

[girl171381]

Okay so I'm 15 years old and I think I have reflux. I seem to notice it comes and goes. One day ill be good the other I won't be. My stomach hurts reallly bad and it burns. I cant eat when it happens because I feel like throwing up. I go to the doctors and they just give me medicine. I don't know how to make it stop. What should I do?

[Sickboy1]

I totally agree with what you said, when the system backs up and food stops moving, it most definately leads to reflux in the stomach, that is why i recommend to everybody to try colonic irrigation as part of the treatment, it jump starts the digestive system to get moving again, bowel movement is very important as if the bowels are not emptying then the stomach has trouble emptying also, which inevitably leads to reflux.
Thanks for your input rchie

[Sickboy1]

Forgot to ask, did they put her on prevacid because she was on anti inflammatory drugs? If she has been on NSAIDS for any prolonged period of time then this is very bad for the stomach and it could take up to 8 weeks to heal and could well have developed stomach ulcers. I am just wondering why the doctors would put her on medication to treat stomach ulcers, you can see how one medication can lead to other problems and it can create the viscous cycle requiring further medication and so on, it can be never ending once you start with the westerm medication.
If she is has developed gastritis or stomach ulcers i would look for a herbal and natural cure otherwise you will never break the cycle, but you may be looking at 8 weeks of further problems before she starts getting better but please stick with it, if she stays on medication she will never get better and things will only get worse long term.

[Sickboy1]

Hi,
I think i would be very anxious also if my baby was having these problems, i have two girls 3 & 5, thankfully they have never had any digestive problems, except Cholic as a baby.
If it started at 3 week old, what were the symptoms, i really need to find out where it all started, is this your first child?
I find it crazy that doctors would start blocking stomach acid from 3 weeks old, a babies digestive system is not working properly until they are much older, hence why they throw up all the time, reflux is completely normal for any baby up to 3 months old and is to be expected.
I would seriously get your daughter off any medication and i truly believe that if she had not been put on prevacid at 3 weeks old here digestive system would now be working properly, it breaks my heart when i hear of a little girl suffering like this, but kids are a lot more resilient and i am sure the effects of medication for the first 15months of her life will be completely reversible.
Have you tried taking her off the medication? If you are going to try then do not give in after a couple of days if she is still having problems, please wait it out and try to let her digestive system find its natural rythm again, and i am sure she will be in no less discomfort than being on the medication.
What was the doctors diagnosis to warrant giving acid blockers to a baby?
My eldest started waking up with hiccups on a morning, due to my problems i knew what was causing this straight away, laying flat and stomach acids aggevating the esophageal valve while she sleeps, i elevated her mattress about 6 inches and it stopped and she still sleeps like a log, i thought about it and realised laying flat is not good for anybody of any age, it is not natural and is not something we would choose in nature.
I.e. if you go to the park on a sunny day would you choose to relax on a flat spot or an embankment, i know when i go to the park i see everybody relaxing on embankments or even if slightly inclined they will always lay so that the head is higher than the feet, i have never seen anybody do it the other way round. Needless to say i also propped up my youngests matress the same, they both say it is comfortable.
Think also why when in hospital they never lay you flat, they always elevate you from waste up.
This is the first step in helping your daughter.
The sloshing sounds in her stomach is typical of poor digestion, the breathing problems are also linked to stomach problems, when your stomach is bloated it puts pressure on the diaphragm, which makes it difficult to take a deep breath, when this happens give her "lemonade with a teaspoon of salt in" this will make her do a big burp and will relieve the pressure.
The pain she is suffering from is most probably also due to trapped wind, it can get trapped in the chest in your sides and can really be painfull, but again this is all due to poor digestion and delayed gastric emptying, when her stomach starts emptying properly again all the gas and sloshing noises will go away.
Ok now to why your daughter is having digestive problems, firstly this is due to the medication, but there may be an underlying problem, which at this age i can only suggest could be a food allergy, at her age i would recommend researching blood type and known food allergies, certain blood types are known to have problems digesting certain foods.
Also take her to get an allergy test, a proper one at a specialist clinic, they will test her against the 50 most common foods that are known to cause allergic reaction.

Does she still have a good appetite? If she does then this is good, Toddlers with stomach problems can start to have an aversion to food in general, if this happens do not worry, do not try to force her to eat as this will fuel the aversion, as painfull as it is for a mother, wait for her to say she is hungry and let her eat of her own accord and at will, kids do not need a lot to eat, they are more resilient than we give them credit, i had to stop my wife from getting stressed trying to force feed the kids all the time, she would get stressed that they were not eating.
When we tried my method,the kids would tell us when they were hungry and they would eat without any pressure to do so, they eat very little when left to their own accord and they are perfectly healthy and sometimes wish they did not have so much energy, also we live in a very hot climate and it is natural that kids do not need much fuel, half a sandwich and they are off running about for hours, we have to realise how tiny their stomachs are and how efficient there bodies are at turning food into energy, but we obviously still make sure they get a balanced diet albeit in small ammounts, thankfully they both love fruit and they eat their vegetables.

Anyway quite a bit to take in there, keep me informed, i would love to hear in a week or so that your daughter is getting better or that you have found the root cause for her digestive problems.

[rchie]

try searching the net but be careful sum information are misleading.

but for me I tried a week of all soup, bread, fruit (apples and bananas) and fruit juice diet. I also take INTRA food supplement, I bet its one of the contributing factor because it cleans the colon. some experts say that gerd is also caused by constipation.