Dealing With Stomach Acidity

July 11, 2006 5:38 AM

How do I get rid of my stomach acidity problems?

I've always had a horribly weak stomach, and a fairly acidic one. In the past few years though, I've had a lot problems with stomach acidity. It causes discomfort, a very easily upset stomach, and is all kinds of no fun. I think a major cause (although not the only one) is stress; I stress out very easily. My diet isn't the best (too much junk food), but I'm not munching on onions and pickles everyday or anything, and I tend to avoid high acidity juices like orange juice. Dito with my fitness level, I'm not a big exerciser, and I have a paunch, but I'm not obese or anything. I've tried Tums and that sort of thing, with little success. Does anyone have any good ways of dealing with this?

posted by unreason to Health & Fitness (23 answers total)

I had a similar problem about 10 years ago, and tried a number of things (including really heavyweight prescription antacids). In the end the thing that SEEMED to make the biggest difference for me was cutting down drastically on wheat: I would only eat bread or things containing wheat during one meal a day (wheat is thought to be very hard to digest) - and I definitely felt a big improvement.
posted by bifter at 5:43 AM on July 11, 2006

You should see a doctor about this... I have some of the same symptoms, which are new to me. They're caused by gallstones, which I've opted not to treat for now.

The over the counter medication Prilosec will cut the acidity in your stomach. It takes a couple days to start working. You take a pill every day, and your stomach de-acidifies a great deal. Your problems are likely to disappear.

However, it's a good idea to see the doc, just to be sure that's all it is. You don't want to just mask a symptom if there's something more going on. If it's just excess acidity, Prilosec will probably straighten you right up.
posted by Malor at 5:53 AM on July 11, 2006

I had similar problems and found that chewing my food more helped reduced acid build up, as previously i was rushing my food down.
posted by toocan at 5:58 AM on July 11, 2006

See a doctor. If you have acid reflux disease you will need medication like Prevacid. You will also need to start taking care of yourself with a diet, etc. I definitely do not eat onions and will pick them off the ocassional burger or pizza.
posted by JJ86 at 6:08 AM on July 11, 2006

I've had good luck with Pepcid Complete lately. Until you can get to a doc of course. I've also been told to cut down on the wheat. Don't know if it will help since I haven't done it, but you may find it helps.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 6:35 AM on July 11, 2006

Definitely see a doctor, but one thing to think about: you say you have an "upset" stomach and that antacids don't help. Do you mean you have nausea and/or GI distress? Because if you do, that's probably something else, and anti-acid remedies won't do you much good.

Having said that, when I had GERD, the single best thing for me was walking... walking after eating, walking instead of driving short distances, walking the stairs instead of taking the elevator, etc. We're not talking about heavy duty exercise, and I didn't lose much weight, but it cut the stress, increased my fitness, and eliminated the need for me to take an expensive medicine. Worth considering...
posted by j-dawg at 6:49 AM on July 11, 2006

I had some similar stomach problems. Definitely go to a doctor.

But also, I suggest not drinking any caffeine, and not eating any spicy foods. Also, drink around 1-2 liters of water a day. The water helps me immensely. If I don't do that, I go right back to having stomach problems.
posted by milarepa at 7:01 AM on July 11, 2006

I've had great success with recommending low-carb, high-fiber diets as a solution.
posted by unixrat at 7:14 AM on July 11, 2006

Prop up the head of your bed several inches--a phone book or two--the elevation discourages acid reflux.
posted by Carol Anne at 7:19 AM on July 11, 2006

I agree with unixrat. High-fiber is the key towards straightening out gastric motility problems.
posted by mattbucher at 7:35 AM on July 11, 2006

Go to a doctor--I'm not exactly sure what you're describing as "stomach acidity."
posted by gramcracker at 7:59 AM on July 11, 2006

Try Zantac 150
posted by thirteenkiller at 8:09 AM on July 11, 2006

I had similar problems a couple of years ago. I went to the doctor. He diagnosed a mild ulcer (H. pylori antibodies by a simple blood test), and treated me for it---a week of antibiotics. For the next four months I was on medication, Nexxum, to reduce stomach acid production (a PPI he called it). I've since been able to go off the medication after the ulcer healed.

At the same time:
- I reduced my weight;
- stopped eating for three to four hours before bed;
- made sure to sleep on my left side---sleeping on the right apparently causes the gastric acids to flow up against the gastric sphincter at the top of the stomach;
- cut back on the coffee which was irritating the heartburn;

Once the ulcer was dealt with, after about 4 months, as I said, I've since been able to drop the meds and go back to my normal caffeine intake. Kept the weight down and the changed eating habits though. Most importantly, I don't hurt any more.
posted by bonehead at 8:58 AM on July 11, 2006

I've been to the doctor for this problem thrice. Each time, the treatment was the same: a *shrug* and a prescription of ranitidine hcl at 150mg twice a day. (Ill get acidic stomach so bad it will easily wake me up at 2:00 AM and keep me up for a couple of hours, hurting all the way through to my back).

This treatment, while not lightning fast, works. It takes at least a half hour or so for the pill to help with acute symptoms, and weeks to eliminate the chronic recurrence, but it does make it go away for a few months, eventually. Ranitidine is just Zantac. The over-the-counter Zantac does not recommend that dosage, so I'd see a doctor before trying it yourself. But the OTC dosage is certainly beneficial, too.

Taking ibuprofen can set off such an acidic episode that lasts for weeks for me, so I try to avoid it.

I'm sure eating a better diet and exercise help a bit, but be wary of all the advice you get: everybody gets upset stomachs, so there are a million-and-one unproven bits of "folk wisdom" cures. Only engage in such "cures" if they are otherwise beneficial, even if ineffective at treating your problem, and see a doctor.
posted by teece at 9:24 AM on July 11, 2006

I was diagnosed with GERD about 10 years ago, and they put me on Tagamet (cimetidine), which was damned expensive, but worked really well.

These days, I take famotidine (the latest in the -dine family*) 20mg BID; Sams Club sells it 2x130 for about $7.

It has the happy side effect of making me lose weight -- I no longer eat to absorb acid, I eat because I'm hungry.

(*Yes, I know; nizatidine is available in generic now, but Sams' doesn't stock it. Yet.)
posted by baylink at 9:25 AM on July 11, 2006

If you're a coffee drinker, try switching to Toddy Coffee.

It's a cold brewing process that strips much of the acid (~67%). You can actually taste the difference in that your coffee comes out smoother-tasting, or mellower. Use whatever beans you like to start with. It's quite good, and I'm pretty picky about coffee.
posted by nadise at 10:55 AM on July 11, 2006

Please go see an Internist or someone who specializes in GI problems.

That said, I find Zantac to be pretty effective. I try to take it before I am going to eat something I think will make me sick, before drinking alcohol, and definitely before taking Advil.
posted by radioamy at 10:59 AM on July 11, 2006

For whatever it's worth, I let myself go for a few years, didn't eat as well as I should, didn't exercise so much, too little sleep, spent my days at a desk, drank too much coffee, got stressed about too much... and started getting an acid stomach (amongst other more predictable symptoms like tiredness and weight gain).

I think one's body has ways of telling you things and one should try to listen. I suspect, in my case, the acid problem was an early symptom of more general unhealthyness. Better food, better sleep, and more exercise cured it. I only get acid now if I let myself get into the old bad habits for a few weeks.

That's not to say your problem is similar, of course. Go see a doctor.
posted by normy at 11:08 AM on July 11, 2006

There are a bunch of different things that could be causing these symptoms, including: ulcer, gluten (wheat) allergy, gallstones, inflammatory bowel disease, acid reflux, and probably some other things. IANAD but those are the things I was tested for when I presented similar symptoms.

Of course, which treatments will work for you will depend on which of these problems you've got. So see a doctor.

In the meantime, stick to bland foods (spicy and overly sugary and fried foods are all triggers for GI distress for me) and avoid coffee and soda.
posted by joannemerriam at 11:29 AM on July 11, 2006

What bonehead said... I put off seeing a doctor over this for about two years - it was the H. Pylori thing again.

Perhaps as well as this you have a weak stomach valve which allows acid to get back up into your gullet, the longer this goes on the worse the damage will be in the long run.

The advice that bonehead gave is spot on, I'd add to this:

- no binge eating bulky foods in one go
- less tight clothes around the gut area

I actually lost a bit of weight after this, I think subconsciously the heartburn was making me choose more crap over real food.

It's all eminently fixable - do it asap!

Good luck!
posted by snailer at 2:04 PM on July 11, 2006

I've had stomach acid problems and they're not often caused by the same thing, as previously stated.

One was an ulcer. Can't drink coffee anymore (although maybe I can now, but now I have an aversion).

One was lactose intolerance. Now I take lactaid when I'm going to eat pizza.

And one was minor weight gain. I was in no way fat but I was not my thinnest or healthiest and as soon as I dropped the weight and started eating better (which is mostly to say: less) and exercising it went fast away. The same is true for my partner (whose doctor never discussed weight loss as an option because 1. he was scared of being sued for calling him fat and 2. yay drug companies!).
posted by birdie birdington at 6:15 PM on July 11, 2006

Thanks, all. I'm going to see the doctor eventually, but in the mean time I'm definitely going to adjust my diet and exercise and follow some of the other tips here. Thanks again!
posted by unreason at 5:39 AM on July 12, 2006

I have been doing a lot of research around raw foods. I recently attended a seminar where the Standard American Diet (SAD) was discussed. One of the things that was suggested was to reduce or eliminate meat (and dairy) from the diet because they metabloize into "acid ash" in the body, especially because of the fats. Sugars will also turn to acid when digested. I do a lot of running and swimming and I kept getting bad reflux. I've cut down on meats and I do a lot of raw foods and juicing and the problem went away immediately. Good luck!
posted by tendecades at 7:10 AM on July 13, 2006