Re: update

Gosh Jake,

I just realized I must have no stomach acid because I've been taking 3-650mg caps of HCl with no burn. And I used 5 caps last night with a small cut of salmon and veggies and had no burn then either. Wow.

I am focusing on eliminating the SIBO as I believe that to be the secondary reason for my symptoms. Hopefully in treating the SIBO, the conditions that allow the low acid will also be corrected. I have noticed something very interesting. I was having a warming sensation with the peppermint oil I've been taking. Over the past week and a half, I have experienced less and less of that to the point where it doesn't happen any more. I then ran across an article that stated that acid reflux is the result of low acid because when the stomach has high acid in it, it stimulates the sphincter to close. When acid is constantly low, the sphincter becomes lazy and doesn't seal tightly, but when adequate acid is regularly present it trains the sphincter to close tightly. I believe that with the addition of the HCl that this is what has begun to happen to me.

I have to be careful to really up my alkaline minerals as the my body seems unable to alkalize the extra acid which caused an IC flare for me last week. Since adding more calcium and magnesium to my already decent dose, I have been able to stop the IC pain, and continue the HCl. I haven't pH tested since I started the HCl, but after reading what others have posted, I believe I will.

For me, I'm fairly certain that my problems began with celiac. It damaged my absorption of minerals vital to the digestion process and physically damaged my small intestine, setting the stage for infection by bacteria. I have been on a gluten-free/dairy-free diet for nearly a year, and have had improvements from that. But, candida symptoms have persisted, likely because of the established SIBO that I never knew to treat. Correcting my stomach acid and eliminating the SIBO should allow my digestion and absorption to improve all around.

Good luck again, and thanks.

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