GERD (Acid Reflux)

[Breukelen advocaat]

Maybe it's different down here in an area where allergies and environmental sensitivities are almost in fashion these days, but none of the medical professionals I know have failed to see or acknowledge gluten sensitivity and/or celiac disease. In fact, two of the people we know who have celiac disease are physicians themselves; one's a rheumatologist and one an internal medicine doc. Gluten reaction was one of the first things the allergists I've gone to since adolescence ever looked at as a possible cause of my eczema and allergies, which I've had for years. (It wasn't caused by gluten intolerance.) I think it's important for informed people not to assume it's the possible root of all illnesses.

It's much more common in Europe to test children and adults for gluten problems in a variety of medical situations. My brother in law is a therapist that works with Autism in England, and whole families go Gluten and Casein Free if their child is autistic.

Not all illnesses are caused by gluten, but it's way beyond just "classic" Celiac, which I have. My wife humored me until she took a test herself and is now on the diet. I was a naysayer myself until I became more familiar with the wide range of illnesses that are caused by this.

There are only a few facilities in the whole country that are experts on this, and most of them are not publicizing the the gluten "sensitive" people, who are the ones most at risk, because they don't have the celiac intestinal symptoms - and by conservative estimates that's at least THIRTY PERCENT of the population.

If it were only the official 1 in 133 people, several million people, with classic Celiac, I'd be less likely to make this effort. The actual number of people that should be gluten free is much higher than the two or three million that the medical pundits and Celiac gurus officially recognize. I think that itâ??s political, because the hospitals and universities have sponsors that would not like the American people like to hear the truth about the American diet.

Over 50 percent of our diet now has cow's milk and gluten grains. It is not going to be popular with the corporations that produce them when people find out that they are poisoning themselves.

They don't consume it in Japan, and outlive us. In fact, they have the longest lifespan in the world.

[Purple Banana]

II would really like more people to take advantage of the health improvements that are easily within their reach. It's the single most important step many people can take, and I wish I'd known about it years ago.

I've just sent, at my own expense, packages of information to my own neurologist - dietary information for treating autism, MS, and other disorders that her and her husband have had little luck in treating through their otherwise very successful, celebrated practices.

The secret is going to come out eventually, regarding this information. It's known in Europe and other parts of the world. For now, it's word-of-mouth because the medical professionals in the U.S. have failed to see it. I don't blame them for their lack of training, but there is no need to allow it to continue for political reasons.

I've smoked more than many of the people here put together, literally a mountain - and it helped me cope, and healed me to some extent, but it did not CURE me. A simple, drug-free, dietary change has accomplished this, and I'm just trying to help others sooner, rather than later - or, unfortunately, when it's often too late.

It may help a few people, but as one who works heavily in the medical field, I can assure you that telling a GERD patient to go on a gluten-free diet would not work. Gluten is digested in the large colon, not the stomach. It is broken down after it passes through the pyloric sphincter (Gateway from the stomach to the large colon) and many foods can trigger GERD- even a gluten free diet wouldn't help if the person ate chili peppers everyday. I have GERD, I've tried every concievable diet for it, no results, and many people I see with GERD are not affected by dietary changes other than spicy and fatty foods.

Taking anacids or indigestion aids everytime you have an episode will only hurt your stomach more because of the heavy amounts of harsh basic solutions that are contained in the meds- the body isn't used to those harsh chemicals; same with some of the Rx GERD meds out there. The yogurt is good because it provides lactobaccilli and other good bacteria (as well as milk) which lowers the acidic content of the stomach by having a gentle base byproduct of the bacteria, with the added base from the milk. For some people, a simple bacteria-laced pill once a day will do it, and sometimes even eliminate the problem. The whole "sleep with your head elevated" thing really does work; it keeps extra acid out of your esophagus.

If you do enjoy cannabis, I HIGHLY (pun intended) recommend brownies- no gastric irritation, longer high, and you get 100% of the THC rather than 60-ish% when smoked. I mainly eat brownies, and have become a strong advocate for them, although I do enjoy the occassional bowl.

I try not to be skeptic about radical miracle claims, but it helps when you have those idiots like Kevin Trudeau writing books about curing cancer and AIDS with dietary changes...

[Purple Banana]

Gluten-free is good though, I am gluten, soy, milk, egg, and peanut intolerant, and I actually lose weight now, but my GERD isn't nearly as bad since I started taking the bacterial supplements.

Good for you for actually doing research on gluten-free, Breukelen advocaat, and hopefully your Celiac improves; that can be quite a handful if you've a bad case :\

[birdgirl73]

it passes through the pyloric sphincter (Gateway from the stomach to the large colon) ...

Hey, Purple Banana! I enjoy the heck outta your posts and your clear, straight-talk when it comes to health stuff. You're well informed and level-headed. But it's actually the small intestine (jejunum, duodenum, ileum) where the gluten digestion begins--and which the pyloric sphincter opens into. We're just been taking the gut apart piece by piece in anatomy. It's the ileocecal valve that opens into the large colon downstream another 22 feet or so at the end of the small bowel. I figure you already know that well and just got your colons temporarily switched. That's always happening to me! Slippery devils, those things. (LOL!)

[Breukelen advocaat]

Gluten-free is good though, I am gluten, soy, milk, egg, and peanut intolerant, and I actually lose weight now, but my GERD isn't nearly as bad since I started taking the bacterial supplements.

Good for you for actually doing research on gluten-free, Breukelen advocaat, and hopefully your Celiac improves; that can be quite a handful if you've a bad case :\

I've already had "allergy" tests in NYC for milk, egg, and soy - which were negative. I stongly suspect that I have a casein intolerance, which is very common with Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. Because my cholesterol tests showed somewhat elevated borderline/high numbers, I've given up my previous hard-boiled egg, which I had 5X times a week. I still consume some soy, but never have the soy milk - that's too much for my system.

I recommend Vances Dari-Free, which is a milk substitute made from potatos.

I also take vegetarian, non-dairy bacterian L. acidophilus NAS called Natren Mega Dophillus. It benefits the small intestine, which is very important to maintain for people with Celiac and other food intolerances.

Do you know of any other good labs, besides Enterolab, that do food intolerance tests?

[Purple Banana]

Thanks, birdgirl, you're right, I did mess them up. I was smoking a bowl while typing that, so pardon me :P

Breuk, I don't know of any other labs offhand, but I can check in the database where I work to see if I can't find any others; I'm sure there are more other than Enterolab, even if they are one of the larger ones.

Any sort of natural bacterial flora are excellent with stomach issues, I love taking my bacteria and having laypeople ask what it is They get pretty grossed out.

I WOULD try the potato based milk, unfortunately, I am also very insulin resistant, so very few, if any carbs for me, otherwise, it's Type II diabetes later on... So my food options are extremely limited, but I figure its worth feeling better and living longer. I'll check out the lab on Saturday and see what I can't dig up.

[mogeen]

improved 90% within 1 week, stopped taking the meds in 3 days and after 3 months I'm normal except with some occasional heartburn. Strange enough though when I went on vacation and it went away as well. No smoke on vacation and I didn't eat 3 hours before bed. I had a long break from the vaporizer and and within 2 days of firing it up I'm getting heartburn again. Maybe it is the munchies and eating too late or there is something about the vapor that irritates the throat sphincter. Still trying to figure that out since giving up smoke would be a drag. Apple cider vinegar cures many people and I always found that green apples made me feel better. Something about too little acid causes the same symptoms or that the vinegar helps you digest quicker and properly. I also found that B12 Complex helped me immensely along with Folic Acid. On vacation I didn't have the vinegar, I ate and drank everything I wanted including Danish hot dogs and beer, just took the B12 and the Folic Acid and didn't eat close to bedtime, ate a big breakfast but stayed away from Fruits in the morning and I was 100% normal, no IBS no GERD.

[HippyNsoldier]

The thing is though, Ive seriously tried everything from ACV,L-glutamine to every single RX they could hand me...they work for about a week then wham its worse and Im told take more...Ive had GERD since 2003. I turn bright red,vomit like crazy,cant breath...this happens when I drink WATER!!! so, they finally removed my gallbladder in Oct 2010 because I had huge gallstones guess what still have lovely ole GERD. It REALLY screws with your life, like I cant move without hurting....then somehow I ended up with IBS I eat really well, really good balence, plenty of fiber....changed my diet 1000% nothing helps.......I take probiotics everyday drink the probiotic yogurt etc etc so sometimes it doesnt matter what you do your still SOL