Gerd Developed After Going Gluten Free

[dth]

I am new to the forum. I have been diagnosised gluten intolerant by Enterolab and have the celiac genes as well. All traditional celiac tests, blood and colonoscopy biopsies, were negative. I and my family have been on gluten free diet since 12/2006. I was diagnosed with GERD after being gluten free for a year. Oddly enough, my husband's acid reflux has also gotten worse on the gluten free diet. Does anyone have any experience with this type scenario?

Thank you

[kenlove]

I never had a problem with it until a year after being gluten-free. Doc said it's as much a function of age (56) as anything else.

Usually wakes me at night a few times a month and I'll sleep in a lazy boy after that.

ken

I am new to the forum. I have been diagnosised gluten intolerant by Enterolab and have the celiac genes as well. All traditional celiac tests, blood and colonoscopy biopsies, were negative. I and my family have been on gluten free diet since 12/2006. I was diagnosed with GERD after being gluten free for a year. Oddly enough, my husband's acid reflux has also gotten worse on the gluten free diet. Does anyone have any experience with this type scenario?

Thank you

[jerseyangel]

Although I was ill for many years before being diagnosed with Celiac, I never had reflux until after I went on the gluten-free diet.

In my case, it was another food intolerance and as soon as I cut out legumes, the reflux cleared up on it's own. Celiacs can have sensitivities to other foods that don't become evident until the gluten is taken away.

Perhaps it's something else you are eating like soy, corn or legumes? Dairy?

Welcome to the board

[Ursa Major]

The problem could be the gluten-free replacement foods. They are often very high in starch and sugars, and are very hard to digest.

If I eat gluten-free bread, cookies or cake I invariably get acid reflux. The more I eat of those things, the worse it will get.

Try going very light on officially gluten-free foods, and eat more naturally gluten-free food, like meat, vegetables and fruit (not too much fruit, as that isn't good either). It may help tremendously.

[bluejeangirl]

Another thought is the wheat breads were soaking up the acids before. Have you ever noticed if you dropped bread in water it will almost double in size as it soaks up moisture? Also if you had been eating bread with some whole grain in it you'd be missing the fiber which helps to move things out.

I remember we were told to eat soda crackers to releave morning sickness when pregnant for the same reasons.

Gail

[BRUMI1968]

I think I know what you're saying when you say "wheat breads were soaking up the acids before", but wheat is highly acidic. I think I know what you mean, however.

As to the acid reflux - you should definitely analyze your diet to see how it is acid or alkaline. It should be extremely alkaline. This means vegetables and fruits. Nuts (except almonds), meats, dairy, and baked goods - are all acidic. Even though some veggies seem acidic (tomatoes, oranges, etc.), they have an alkaline reaction in the body.

If you eat a lot of meat/nuts/dairy/baked goods, you are overly acidic. Most Americans are. (You can google acid/alkaline to find out which foods fall into which categories.)

You can also buy at the co-op or health food store or vitamin store, little strips on which you pee, and it will give you a reading of your urine pH. It will be high in the a.m., but should lower as you eat throughout the day.

Also, some spices can lead to acid reflux...I"m thinking cinnamon. I don't have acid reflux at all, but I'll get mild heartburn sometimes after I drink Bengal Spice tea which is based in cinnamon.

A last thing to consider is that some research is pointing to the fact that many Americans do not have enough stomach acid to properly digest their foods, and that often the symptoms of this can mimic acid reflux. It seems counterintuitive for sure, but if you have good health insurance, you might ask about that, and about getting tested for appropriate stomach acid levels.

[nmw]

Reflux is what lead me to do a type of elimination diet after 1 1/2 years gluten-free. I discovered several intolerances and tested positive for IgG allergies to several foods.

Dairy gives me horrible reflux.

[gfp]

It could just be a function of age or a change in diet or both ... going gluten-free you have undoubtedly changed what you eat and what your body is accustomed to, I guess the longer you were undiagnosed the more used to the old foods your body is.

It could also be a hangover from pre-diagnosis ? where your body was trying to get every ounce of nutrition from what you ate... so producing more acid?

As Ursa say's many gluten-free replacement foods are very starchy and hard to digest. I still find buckwheat very heavy and get reflux if I eat a lot. All in all it could be a mix of all of these.

[BRUMI1968]

I just wanted to reiterate that anyone with GERD/heartbearn/acid indigestion should look into the levels of their stomach acid. They may well be too low.

In the 1930's, the Mayo clinic pumped a bunch of peoples stomachs to measure stomach acid (not how they do it anymore - now an easy test) and found that over half of folks over 60 had substantial low amounts of stomach acid.

There is a book (I have not read) called "Why Stomach Acid is Good For You" by Jonathan Wright, MD and Lane Lineard, PhD. Dr. Wright has a clinic that treats GERD/heartburn/acid indigestion, etc., and finds that most folks that come in with GERD-like symptoms have low stomach acid.

One last note...a lot of doctors have been telling folks to take acid blockers, as have commercials, when they get indigestion or heartburn, without having suggested you get the levels of your stomach acid tested. These acid blockers are making it so that folks can't digest their foods properly, especially if they had low acid to begin with. I actually just learned that GERD is a term/condition that was invented by MERCK, as a marketing tool for their drugs. Heartburn does exist, chronic heartburn does exist, but the term GERD was invented by a drug company, to make it easier to get folks permanently on acid blockers, the very things that may be increasing the incidence of GERD throughout America. (Unfortunately, much of our doctors' educations past medical school come from drug companies, so this easily seeped into common parlance and even the diagnostic books of physicians.)

Food for thought. I bring all this up because I had mentioned it before, then saw a whole thing on B12 absorption today that talked about how many Americans have low stomach acid. Thought it was an interesting coincidence.

[shacon-bacon]

Wow I'm glad you posted this b/c I've only been gluten free for about a month but have noticed I've been getting heartburn a couple times a week, whereas before the only other time I had it was when I was pregnant. Guess I'll have to reevaluate some things.

[fedora]

I get heartburn from fatty foods- salmon and pesto.