# Betaine HCL....or Prilosec



## ChocolateRain

Hi All,

It's been about 5 months now since the first symptoms appeared and I'm starting to get pretty desperate. They first showed up as undigested food and loose stools, to diarrhea, then now I feel full whenever I eat anything, even small meals. My doctor prescribed good ol' Omeprazole, more commonly known as the general version of Prilosec. I took Prilosec for 4 days and stopped because I felt no difference and my stools turned really dark, I would go so far as to say black, and pencil thin. Then I picked up betaine HCL, which increases stomach acid. I took anywhere from 1-20 250 mg, I never felt the burning in my gut nor any discomfort, but the more I take the worse my stools are and my bowel movements that feel like fire, even when I just take one. The only problem is that Prilosec makes the feeling of fullness linger for a whole day, so I eat breakfast and essentially nothing else. Betaine HCL clears this problem, but my stools never get any better. I've tested for Giardia, H. Pylori, pancreatic enzymes, liver, Celiac Disease and they all came back normal. I told my doc this and she told me to stay on the Prilosec for awhile longer or switch to an antacid or some other weaker acid suppressant. I will give the Prilosec another try because that's really the only thing I have to go on right now.

I also probably won't try the betaine HCL anymore because last night I passed out twice because it felt like I was trying to poo out my guts.

Do any of you have any suggestions as to what I should do? Any similar symptoms? I'm really just grasping at straws here and the only common answer I seem to get is "give it a few weeks."

Thanks.


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## thickthighs1

chocolate rain,

I dont know if your dr is a gastroenterologist or what,but i would suggest going to see one..I used to be on generic prilosec and never had dark stools..im wondering if you had any blood in the stools?

She is right about one thing,try to get off prilosec as soon as you can.It stole minerals from my bones..i couldnt open my mouth up wide enouugh to eat an apple..ridiculous.

Please let us know how it works out.


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## ChocolateRain

Thanks for the reply thickthighs. The first time I went to the doc, it was a GI and he said it was IBS. Whenever I went online and I searched up 'feeling full stomach acid' or 'too much stomach acid' I would always get links to symptoms of too LITTLE stomach acid, so I figured I had low stomach acid. It's only been a week really since I've been on the Omaprazole steady, and I can eat now. I hardly ever feel full, just satiated, but the main thing is I can eat. I even feel a hunger pang or two once in awhile. I hope that this progress continues because I've read a lot of people saying that treatment stops working for some, but depending on how bad the gastritis is (I think this is what I have...maybe) it may take a few months. At any rate, I will continue to stay the course and keep y'all updated. I found it difficult in finding resources where people posted how they got sick and if they ever got better.

Also, I have no idea why my stools were black before, but they are now a more normal color and I found that if I take Metamucil it really helps the BMs, albeit there is still some undigested food.

Thanks


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## Nojokeibs

ChocolateRain said:


> Hi All,
> 
> It's been about 5 months now since the first symptoms appeared and I'm starting to get pretty desperate. They first showed up as undigested food and loose stools, to diarrhea, then now I feel full whenever I eat anything, even small meals. My doctor prescribed good ol' Omeprazole, more commonly known as the general version of Prilosec. I took Prilosec for 4 days and stopped because I felt no difference and my stools turned really dark, I would go so far as to say black, and pencil thin. Then I picked up betaine HCL, which increases stomach acid. I took anywhere from 1-20 250 mg, I never felt the burning in my gut nor any discomfort, but the more I take the worse my stools are and my bowel movements that feel like fire, even when I just take one. The only problem is that Prilosec makes the feeling of fullness linger for a whole day, so I eat breakfast and essentially nothing else. Betaine HCL clears this problem, but my stools never get any better. I've tested for Giardia, H. Pylori, pancreatic enzymes, liver, Celiac Disease and they all came back normal. I told my doc this and she told me to stay on the Prilosec for awhile longer or switch to an antacid or some other weaker acid suppressant. I will give the Prilosec another try because that's really the only thing I have to go on right now.
> 
> I also probably won't try the betaine HCL anymore because last night I passed out twice because it felt like I was trying to poo out my guts.
> 
> Do any of you have any suggestions as to what I should do? Any similar symptoms? I'm really just grasping at straws here and the only common answer I seem to get is "give it a few weeks."
> 
> Thanks.


Sounds like gastroparesis. Doctors don't have any tools to deal with this since Zelnorm was removed from the market (I think it's available only in emergency cases). That was a 5-HT4 agonist that increased motility throughout the GI tract without creating diarrhea. I've yet to hear of even one actual person who had the negative side effect they were expecting from it (the heart beat changes), so if that happened to you, speak up. Still it was theoretically possible, so it was pulled from the market. A new drug like that died in infancy because the FDA delayed approval until the financial backers pulled out. Now a third one is in the process of approval.

I would ask your doctor if he thinks this new drug would help you or not, and if he says it would, ask him to write to the FDA on your behalf, maybe with a statement from you, in support of the drug.

en (dot) wikipedia.org/wiki/Prucalopride

As for what to do now... there aren't many options. Vagus nerve stimulation has been experimentally tried. If you already have a TENS unit, that might be a possibility. A good GI doctor would know about this option, but they'd have to be reading current research, not just sticking with what is "available clinically."

If you're asking whether I think you should take either Betaine HCL or Prilosec, I'd say neither. I'd go for a walk after eating, or do some very gentle stretching type yoga to get the food moving. I don't trust protein pump inhibitors, it's like using a grenade to kill an ant. Anyway, stomach acid should be there, it's supposed to be there. People have had some success with apple cider vinegar (either as a powder supplement or the liquid), or even small amounts of berries with every meal (berries are a source of citric acid, which you can buy, but it's incredibly powerful and easily misused). If it was me, I'd also explore accupuncture and regular massage, even if all I could afford was chair massage. A daily hot bath before bed wouldn't hurt anyone either and I can't think of a better way to relax and get things moving.

I think I would also take many of my meals in liquid form. A protein drink can be a simple as OJ, whey powder, almond butter, frozen berries, and a spoonful of fish oil, buzzed in a blender with a liquid multivitamin (Flora, I think has a liquid multivitamin). Make a double amount, and take the second half to work. Hope that helps.


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## ChocolateRain

Well, I felt pretty good for a little bit, so I came off the Omeprazole. Things were going well...I could eat a little more and not get bloated. I started taking digestive bitters just because I never got over the feeling like it's not gastritis because I have zero pain. I got steadily better, but felt the need to take digestive enzymes because I wanted to eat more meat. The digestive enzymes made me super bloaty and miserable and I realized that it made me feel like when I was taking the NOW Super Enzymes (these were packed with digestive enzymes and a bit of betaine hcl). So for some reason my dumba** thought it would be fine and dandy to take the betaine cause it was probably the enzymes killing me prior (this time it only included betaine and pepsin). It worked for a day, so I was surprised when I started getting full from small meals again, especially since they were very low in protein. Long story short, I'm gonna go back on the Omeprazole for a month ( Dr. originally told me 2 weeks, then 4 weeks) and see how it goes. I hate to admit it, but the 2 weeks I was on Omeprazole, I really did feel the best, even if I felt that the results tapered after ~1.25 weeks.

Also, whenever I say I feel full, I guess what I really mean is I feel bloated. But I do not look bloated at all, it just feels like there's gas in my upper abdomen and if I burp it'll feel awesome. It just doesn't want to come out and if it does it usually does not alleviate any of the pressure. Also, another symptom I had early on was difficulty breathing on my back. If I lied down on my stomach, the problem would go away. This problem is not as prominent as it was early on, but after eating I definitely feel like there is an unswallowable pill at the back of my throat that makes breathing a smidge harder.

Nojokeibs, I originally thought gastroparesis was what I had as well, but most people say there is extreme pain that comes with it. I find that the more protein I eat, the more bloated I feel. I am going to the radiologist on Tuesday to get an ultrasound to rule out the possibility of gallbladder issues.

Oh and if anyone else has any opinions, also note that I exercise pretty much every day save for weekends, eat super clean and never eat any sweets, coffee (anymore), or alcohol (anymore). Eating flavorful food or bland foods seems to have no apparent impact on how I feel afterwards and I take a probiotic before bed and kefir in the morning. I feel like I'm turning into a hypochondriac with all the horror stores out there on the web and it makes it really hard for me to believe that this little pill can cure what ails me when everyone is saying it's evil. All the same, I will do my best to stay the course even though I've done a pretty lousy job thus far.


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## Nojokeibs

If that's what works then stick with it.

It might be worth it to investigate what exactly a proton pump does in your body besides make stomach acid. It might lead to an on-again/off-again use of PPI's, or it might not, depending on how they affect you. I can provide some resources though.

Simple explanation of the proton pump and how it is inhibited:






You may want to consider Zantac and the like. If you switch off between the two, maybe the side effects won't be so bad.

Don't get confused between "protein" pump and "proton" pump. The proton pump is a specific type of protein pump that only acts on Hydrogen ions. Another place where you find a proton pump is near the mitochondria where hydrogens floating around are recycled for extra "free" energy. Some people blame their PPI use for a lack of energy for this reason. But if you're already feeling sick, you're not likely feeling energetic, so just use it.


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## ChocolateRain

Thanks for the info Nojokeibs. Yeah, I am aware of the side effects of PPI's that's why I really wanted to get off them. The only side effects that I noticed during the time I've taken them is a gross slightly sour taste in my mouth, weight gain and an inability to lose the weight (only while I'm taking it), and maybe a slight decrease in energy but that could just be the fact that I don't feel normal so I obsess over it. When I stopped taking them, I don't think I noticed any acid rebound, maybe a slight burning in the chest one time that went away.

Interesting that you should mention alternating between a H2 and a PPI. I sort of feel like a PPI is overkill simply because all my symptoms occur 1-2 hours after I eat. I feel great in the actual process of eating, but then I slowly feel like my stomach is getting bloated up for a few hours and it may or may not go away before bed time. I'll look into it and see if it's worth it as my prescription for Omeprazole makes it nearly free to use. I'll look for the lesser of two evils in this case.


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## ChocolateRain

Just thought I'd do an update. I was feeling better gradually until I ate half a steak. It didn't occur to me that low stomach acid plus a very medium rare steak might not have been a good idea. I ate it and got a fever the very next day and now it feels like my progress just got taken back a few weeks. I felt a little hungry today so at least not all hope is lost.


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## ChocolateRain

Hmm...so I just got an endoscopy/colonoscopy and the doc said my esophagus was mildly inflamed, but other than that everything looks normal. They took a biopsy and it will be another few days before I receive my results. Upon hearing this news, I stopped taking the Omeprazole cause It's doing nothing for my stomach and have been getting heartburn for the past 3 days or so. I'm really just hoping that this was a side effect of coming off the meds. I think that the heartburn is slowly subsiding each day, as now I have to really think about whether I feel a burning or not.

The docs have since been telling me that I'm stressed out. Them telling me that I'm stressed is stressing me out. But then they sort of...planted the idea in my head. I go to class on Saturdays and take extension courses while working full time. While work is not particularly stressful, testing and waiting for grades are slightly worrisome. I think in terms of anxiety, yes I am an anxious person but I am able to realize when I'm blowing things out of proportion and calm down from it relatively fast.

My symptoms of IBS and Gerd don't seem to get any worse when I am particularly stressed out so I am extremely reluctant to believe this diagnosis. Does anyone else have an IBS/Gerd diagnosis triggered by anxiety? I've read around and it seems as if most who have it have flare ups during high stress events.My appetite now is nonexistant and I only eat because I get woozy. My stool is now more formed because of probiotics but there is still undigested food and I have to go quite frequently. Still no stomach pain but I'm really starting to run out of ideas. As always, any input is appreciated. Thanks.


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## Nojokeibs

ChocolateRain said:


> Hmm...so I just got an endoscopy/colonoscopy and the doc said my esophagus was mildly inflamed, but other than that everything looks normal. They took a biopsy and it will be another few days before I receive my results. Upon hearing this news, I stopped taking the Omeprazole cause It's doing nothing for my stomach and have been getting heartburn for the past 3 days or so. I'm really just hoping that this was a side effect of coming off the meds. I think that the heartburn is slowly subsiding each day, as now I have to really think about whether I feel a burning or not.
> 
> The docs have since been telling me that I'm stressed out. Them telling me that I'm stressed is stressing me out. But then they sort of...planted the idea in my head. I go to class on Saturdays and take extension courses while working full time. While work is not particularly stressful, testing and waiting for grades are slightly worrisome. I think in terms of anxiety, yes I am an anxious person but I am able to realize when I'm blowing things out of proportion and calm down from it relatively fast.
> 
> My symptoms of IBS and Gerd don't seem to get any worse when I am particularly stressed out so I am extremely reluctant to believe this diagnosis. Does anyone else have an IBS/Gerd diagnosis triggered by anxiety? I've read around and it seems as if most who have it have flare ups during high stress events.My appetite now is nonexistant and I only eat because I get woozy. My stool is now more formed because of probiotics but there is still undigested food and I have to go quite frequently. Still no stomach pain but I'm really starting to run out of ideas. As always, any input is appreciated. Thanks.


If probiotics are helping, then keep looking for different ones, try to find ones that are not milk based, such as sauerkraut, kombucha, etc.. Maybe they'll give you something you're missing and things will work better.

There is a correlation between anxiety and IBS but that by no means makes it certain that you will definitely experience a causation effect. If that's not the case for you, then it isn't. The doctor was just covering the bases.

I was a way for a bit, so I didn't have a chance to notice your post. I'm surprised it was missed by others too. I hope you're well and things are looking up.


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## MikeGWS

I had the same experiences with Betaine HCL. Actually picked up this book on Amazon and it looks like other people do too.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N1GMT36

Have you tried food journaling? Look at what causes intolerance and digestive issues. I found the following triggered issues:

- Dairy
- What
- Corn
- Soy
- Night shades and "Lily" (onion, garlic, leeks) plants

You situation sounds similar to mine but I'm doing pretty good now. Had a nasty case of SIBO and Candida that was wiped out with peppermint oil and some anti-biotics.

Hang in there - hope you get better soon.


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