Posterboy's Blog

Is it NCGS or Low stomach acid misdiagnosed

Celiac.com Sponsor (A13):
Low Stomach Acid and Celiac Disease

Dear Gluten Intolerant please consider Low Stomach Acid as a possible Differential Diagnosis as a possible way to achieve remission of your GI symptom's.

“Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things”  2 Timothy 2: 7

Low stomach acid has now been linked to a probable cause of damage to the Small Intestine before and/or occurring with a

Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS) or Celiac diagnosis.

See this research as reported on celiac.com that discusses the increased risk of/for someone to develop celiac disease after taking PPI’s.

https://www.celiac.com/articles/23432/1/Do-Proton-Pump-Inhibitors-Increase-Risk-of-Celiac-Disease/Page1.html

Note how the article starts quoting

“Rates of celiac disease and the use of drugs to inhibit the secretion of stomach acid have both increased in recent decades.

A research team recently set out to explore the association between anti-secretory medication exposure and subsequent development of celiac disease.”

If these medicine are lowering stomach acid what cause effect relationship does/ could this have on Celaic/NCGS diagnosis is what he is postulating.

He goes on to say without being very technical (read the whole article for yourself) that

“The data clearly show that patients who use anti-secretory medications are at much greater risk for developing celiac disease following

the use of these medicines.

The fact that this connection persisted even after the team excluded prescriptions for anti-secretory medicines in the year preceding the celiac disease

diagnosis suggests a causal relationship”.

If even after a year OFF these medicines your chances of developing Celiac Disease (celiac disease) not to mention even NCGS which is much more prominent

surely the researcher is correct in postulating that there is a cause and effect relationship between low stomach acid and NCGS and/or Celiac disease.

Surely there is something we can learn here.

I now postulate some homework for the reader of this blog post.

Do some research for yourself and see if achlorhydia or hypochlorhydia symptoms don’t at least resemble in some manner all of the GI symptoms

you have been having. (I note some of the many symptom’s low stomach acid can present with below as referenced from Dr. Myatt’s online article

“What’s Burning You” for easy reference (It might not be what you think (my words))

It is important to note here that “some” symptoms does not mean all but many or several.

It is called a differential diagnosis.

It is an important diagnostic tool in medicine. Think of the tv show “House” where they spend the whole hour/over a week times going through the

‘differential diagnosis’ in short any one symptom can/have many different causes.

The trick is how to quickly eliminate possible outcomes as symptoms (many) go up.

All is usually never meet because that would make the disease in full outbreak and obvious even to the layman a condition described as “frank” or

“classic” Scurvy or Rickets as an example.

Sadly too often after 8 to 10+ years of testing after all the differential diagnosis’s are ruled out you are said by process of elimination to have Celiac Disease

if you are lucky or maybe NCGS and not some other acronym GI disease as I like to refer to them as a group.

GERD,IBS,UC, Chrons etc because if they turned down that street … . you are/could be in/at a dead end for they stop looking at the trigger (gluten)

as the cause of your gastric upset/digestive disorder(s).

So in summary if 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 of these symptoms overlap “many of’ these symptoms could be Low Stomach Acid related.

IF that is the cause/case for you then there is hope! For remission!

From Dr. Myatts’ Online article what’s burning you?

From Dr. Myatts’ Online article what’s burning you? Open Original Shared Link

Diseases Associated with Low Gastric Function

Low stomach acid is associated with the following conditions:

* Acne rosacea

* Addison’s disease

* Allergic reactions

* Candidiasis (chronic)

* Cardiac arrhythmias

* Celiac disease

* Childhood asthma

* Chronic autoimmune hepatitis

* Chronic cough

* Dermatitis herpeteformis

* Diabetes (type I)

* Eczema

* Gallbladder disease

* GERD

* Graves disease (hyperthyroid)

* Iron deficiency anemia

* Laryngitis (chronic)

* Lupus erythromatosis

* Macular degeneration

* Multiple sclerosis

* Muscle Cramps

* Myasthenia gravis

* Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC)

* Osteoporosis

* Pernicious anemia

* Polymyalgia rheumatica

* Reynaud’s syndrome

* Rheumatoid arthritis

* Scleroderma

* Sjogren’s syndrome

* Stomach cancer

* Ulcerative colitis

* Vitiligo

When low in stomach acid we become low in essential nutrients

Quoting from Dr. Myatts “what’s burning you”  online article

“Our bodies need 60 or so essential nutrients. “Essential” means that the body MUST have this nutrient or death will eventually ensue,

and the nutrient must be obtained from diet because the body cannot manufacture it. Many of these essential nutrients require stomach acid

for their assimilation. When stomach acid production declines, nutrient deficiencies begin.

Calcium, for example, requires vigorous stomach acid in order to be assimilated. Interestingly, the rate of hip replacement surgery is much higher

in people who routinely use antacids and acid-blocking drugs. We know that people who have “acid stomach” were already having trouble assimilating

calcium from food and nutritional supplements due to lack of normal stomach acid production. When these symptoms are “band-aided” with drugs

which decrease stomach acid even more, calcium assimilation can come to a near-halt. The result? Weak bones, hip fractures and joint complaints

resulting in major surgery.

Jonathan Wright, M.D., well-known and respected holistic physician, states that “Although research in this area is entirely inadequate, its been my

linical observation that calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper, chromium, selenium, manganese, vanadium, molybdenum, cobalt, and

many other micro-trace elements are not nearly as well-absorbed in those with poor stomach acid as they are in those whose acid levels are normal.

When we test plasma amino acid levels for those with poor stomach function, we frequently find lower than usual levels of one or more of the eight

essential amino acids: isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. Often there are functional

insufficiencies of folic acid and/or vitamin B12.”

Remember, these are essential nutrients. Deficiencies of any single one of them can cause serious health problems over time. Weak bones, diminish

immune function, failing memory, loss of eyesight and many other “diseases of aging” are often the result of decreased stomach function.”

It is me again reader.

So low stomach acid is the triggering agent (often) for low nutrients.

Make too much sense!

Now don’t take Vitamin’s for this condition where low Vitamins/Minerals are known to be low in patients who have this condition because . . . .

(if you do you won’t need to keep coming back to the doctor) I can almost hear the doctor say now.

Of course he/she doesn’t say that . . . just that the “average person” doesn’t need to take Vitamins.

Well I hate to break it too you . . . . but if you are having GI problems and reading this blog post on celac.com then you are not the

“average” person. You my friend or a sufferer or a friend of a sufferer still looking for answers.

If that is you then consider taking either powdered stomach acid – Betaine HCL or taking Niacinamide to help you reset your stress clock.

A Canadian researcher wrote about this connection 15+ years ago but still most doctors’ don’t understand this connection between about

how “Niacin treats digestive Problems”

Here is the full link so you can research it more yourself. Open Original Shared Link

And you might not after a first reading.

I didn’t believe it myself for over a year . . . but every time I thought about it – it (Low Stomach Acid) made/makes the most sense to me.

**** Note: research this yourself. Here is a link about how to take Betaine HCL (powdered stomach) for maximum effectiveness.

Open Original Shared Link

Don’t take my blog post as medical advice. It is only what I did . . . it might not work for you but I think it is worth a try especially

if you are not now taking an acid reducer. (see notes below about why this might) be more difficult if you are already taking an acid reducer . . .

because the rebound wall (see chris kresser link) keeps us locked in . . . sometimes for years.

Since I was not taking acid reducers at the time I took Betaine HCL my stomach problems improved and I am sharing this now in the hopes

it might help yours too!

Now back to (really) LOW stomach acid being diagnosed as HIGH stomach acid these days.

How can we know if it truly high or low? You’ve heard the phrase timing is everything well it is here too!

Timeline is important in any diagnosis.

IF your stomach acid was HIGH as you often hear (everywhere) you hear take a Proton Pump Inhibitor aka acid reducer’s for heartburn/GERD

(medical name for heartburn) then eating food (carbs, greasy things) wouldn’t bother you.

The acid would cut it up but if it is already low/weak then even a little acid can burn your esophagus which is not coated like the stomach

to protect you from high acid.

BUT if it is low to start with then food will WEAKEN our/your acid so that you lose the food fight your in and things (carbs/fats) become to ferment,

rancidify and cause heart burn.

Leading in time to Non-Celiac disease first and with enough injury (and time) to Marsh lesions qualifying you for diagnosis as a Celiac candidate

/ patient. See above link between/about PPI’s in the year preceding a Celiac diagnosis.

If you (can) be that patient and weight the xx number of years for all this damage to occur, there is a better way it is called digestion!

A virtuous cycle can replace the vicious cycle you are now in – it is caused digestion.

Digest your food with healthy stomach acid and your body will thank you for it with the God given burp.

A healthy child burps (at 6 months of age normally) and a healthy adult should too and you will again after taken Niacinamide 3/day for 6 months

or this is not the right diagnosis.

*********Note this is not medical advice only my experience with Niacinamide and my many years researching this topic as a fellow sufferer.

Let me make these disclaimer(s).

If you are a) experiencing heartburn that causing vomiting (with unintended weight loss) you may have a special case of heartburn that feels like

heartburn (on steroids) that is really Bile Reflux and taking Stomach is not something you should do without medical advice and supervision.

See this NYtimes article that discusses the many complications often seen with Bile Reflux patients and why it is treated as Heartburn often and

why Bile Reflux is especially hard to recover from. Open Original Shared Link 

you are already taking an acid reducer then the chance you will get better (off of acid reducers completely) is only 50/50 on your first try but going low CARB

can help your transition.

Otherwise most people will get better when taking BetaineHCL for gastric support and Niacinamide to help them/you reset your digestive processes.

See this online article about how Jo Lynne Shane got off Nexium for good. Open Original Shared Link

and her Epilogue  Open Original Shared Link

You will see she still struggles some but is much better when she let her natural digestive juices do their job. I call it the “Natural Order of Things”.

See this article about the digestion process being a North South Affair from the bodywisdom website Open Original Shared Link

Taking it (Niacinamide) (or any B-Vitamin) should be taken 2 to 3/day (too keep up serum levels) for 3 to 4 months (the time you can store B-Vitamins) in the liver mostly.

Once you have a distinctive BURP that displaces the bloating and sense of “I am going to explode” if I eat another bite (though you haven’t eaten half your meal)

then normal digestion is occurring again.

If you stool did not sink before this process (of taking Niacinamide begun) and burping became your “new normal” then it (your stool)

will begin to sink too!

Burping without bloating is the “Natural Order” of good digestion.

Don’t stop this process of taking B-Vitamins as Niacimaide or Slo-Niacin 2/day for at least 4 months then you should see most of your

GI symptom’s go into remission. (I did not say "cure" but remission from your cross contamination's (flares/symptom's etc.) might be possible.

Because our defenses are now strong enough to cut up proteins before they reach our small intestine (where most of the damage is done).

Think of a castle with a moat around it (stomach acid is designed to protect us) when it is low (the moat doesn’t protect us) and when the moat

is dry the castle becomes a ruin!!!

So do proteins (lactose (casein), gluten, soy, seafood etc.) to our small intestines (they become ruined) when our stomach acid (moat) is low or worse dry!

I repeat again Timeline is important in any diagnosis.

All heartburn is not equal. IF your stomach acid is truly high then it WILL occur between meals when there is no food to tamp down the fire

(occurring in your stomach) not your esophagus.

The excess pressure from fermented carbs push open the trap door allowing the low acid you have to burn the lining of your uncoated esophagus.

See also this online article by Chris Kresser to study this more about why/how this could be a case of medical misdiagnosis in more detail

Open Original Shared Link

This is part of a 3 part series that I think you will find very informative.

This (low stomach acid) is a vicious cycle. STRONG stomach acid makes it a virtuous circle/cycle.

Now food benefits you because low acid not only causes heartburn it limits your body’s absorptive ability by limiting its ability to cut up your food

into digestible peptides and amino acids which are no longer harmful to your Small Intestine but helpful to your overall health because nutrients

can now be absorbed because the food particles are now small enough to not cause harm to your villi.

I hope this is helpful and it helps you the way it helped me.

Maybe it will help you in a similar manner.

I write this only as a guidepost on your way. May you find your way back to digestive peace! The “Natural Order” of things! Praise bee to God!

It is not a long way if you know the way . . . . from someone who has found his way back God being his help!

There are more things I could say . . . but this post is getting kind of long but you get the gest.

I noticed someone else on the celiac.com noticed the same improvement when they treated their low stomach acid and thought

it was time a blog post talked about it.

It is so much easier to consume all this information in one setting instead of hunting and peeking through several thread posts.

Search for the posterboy on celiac.com and you will find it is my focus (how low stomach acid is misdiagnosed) and how Niacinamide helped me

to restore its “Natural Order” in the digestive process because it helped me!

Here is the link to the Prousky’s abstract. 15+ years is a long time for people to continue to suffer but if the research it right then

Niacinamide might help you too!

Open Original Shared Link

Let’s hope it is not another 15 years before doctor’s and people realize low stomach acid can explain many of the same symptom’s an IBS, NCGS

or even a Celiac patient might experience given a long enough time for these conditions to develop from too low a stomach acid to

protect our Small Intestine.

See link at start of this blog post posted here again for convenience.

https://www.celiac.com/articles/23432/1/Do-Proton-Pump-Inhibitors-Increase-Risk-of-Celiac-Disease/Page1.html

And it is worth noting about the time Celiac disease started (began to be more prevalent) / to increase in the population Acid reducer’s

became more and more popular.

*** Some plot the increase in time to Roundup usage but I am not buying it. PPI’s increase seam more plausible to me based on the relatively

new research (less than 5 years old) is pretty current by research standards and the near linear response to increased first H2 stomach acid reducer’s

then PPI’s in the population at large.

*****Note: after I finished writing this blog post new research that in my mind confirms this connection was reported on celiac.com today

that notes the link between gastric pH and impaired nutrient absorption.

This very topic as I was getting ready to publish my post about low stomach acid possibly being diagnosed as Celiac disease on my posterboy blog

mentions how a Celiac patient’s absorption can be impaired by gastric pH.

https://www.celiac.com/articles/24738/1/Can-Celiac-Disease-Impair-Drug-Therapy-in-Patients/Page1.html

Where they (researchers) say/ask discussing Celiac Disease and whether it (celiac disease) can impair drug therapy in patients.

Note the opening paragraph discussing this topic quoting

“Celiac disease is associated with numerous chronic conditions, such as anemia and malabsorption of some critical vitamins.

Changes in the gastrointestinal tract, rates of gastric emptying, and gastric pH are responsible for impaired vitamin and mineral absorption."

 i.e., low gastric pH can effect absorption.

It stands to make reasonable sense to me they are related conditions and one is being diagnosed for the other often or at least one is being

confused as the other and treating one (raising your stomach pH) might treat the other since many of the symptoms’ are the same.

*** this/these opinion(s) are my own and do not reflect an endorsement by celiac.com of these ideas, comments, thoughts or opinions.

I hope this helps! You the way it did me!

Good luck on your continued journey,

Remember **** This is not medical advice and should not be considered such. Results may vary. Always consult your doctor before

making any changes to your regimen.

2 Timothy 2:7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

Posterboy by the Grace of God,