TL;DR version: I seem to have low stomach acid. It seems to be the culprit behind poor sleep, morning nausea, and nasal/sinus issues. I’d like that to be higher, naturally.
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I’ve been dealing with sinus/nasal drainage for at least the last 15 years. Had a few surgeries, trialed allergy meds, corticosteroids, sinus rinses. Really not much luck with any of it.
A year or so ago, a new-ish doc suggested maybe it was “silent GERD” and put me on pepcid and prilosec. Those made things somewhat better, but he wanted me off of them. Mainly he was just wanting to know if that was the issue. Luckily, he was concerned about the long term use of them and wanted me off.
He suggested I stay away from acids, but orange juice actually made me feel better. A bit of research led me to thinking that I was dealing with insufficient acid, rather than too much. Reflux seems to be a symptom of both too much and too little acid. So a few months ago, I tried apple cider vinegar, and that improved things a bit.
More recent research led me to trying Betaine HCL capsules. If I remember to take them (and take enough), this helps tremendously. I also sleep better, probably due to better nutrient absorption.
Out of curiosity, I took some on an empty stomach the other morning when I was feeling bad. Absolutely zero burning feeling. Actually made me feel better. I didn’t realize my stomach acid was actually low enough to tolerate HCL on an empty stomach.
I’ve read that if I keep the HCL supplementation up over time, I should naturally start producing the right amount of acid and no longer need them. I’m a little iffy on the physiology of why that would ever work.
Is there anything else to try as far as increasing stomach acid levels?