hypochlorhydria....

hypochlorhydria is defined as a deficiency of acid in the stomach....  resulting in a high ph in the stomach....  and reduced digestion....  which causes malabsorption....  the body has trouble....  the body cannot....  get enough nutrients from food....  

once again....  like atrophic gastritis....  hypochlorhydria is brought on by h pylori....  it causes gastritis....  which eventually causes atrophic gatritis....  which eventually causes hypochlorhydria....

eye think that the hypochlorhydria is brought on by two things....  h pylori producing a substance that lowers the ph of the stomach....  and....  atrophic gastritis....  which is where the cells in the stomach that produce the stomach acid atrophy....  and....  stop producing acid....  

and yes....  eye have this as well....  eye now have hypochlorhydria....  there is definitely overlap in trying to cure hypochlorhydria and atrophic gastritis....  eye think that atrophic gastritis ultimately causes hypochlorhydria....  so fixing hypochlorhydria will involve fixing atrophic gastritis....

eye asked my gastroenterologist....  what eye can do....  after he told me that eye had atrophic gastritis pernicious anemia and hypochlorhydria....  eye asked him what eye can do....  and he said....  nothing....  eye guess that he has been listening to too much of nothing by the script.... :-)  and then eye asked him....  what if eye took betaine hcl and digestive enzymes....  he told me....  stay away from betaine hcl....  it will burn your throat....  yet....  eye found other gastroenterologist websites....  that recommended betaine hcl and digestive enzymes....  and eye have found many functional doctors who recommend taking betaine hcl....  what is up with my doctor....  is he an outsider....  does he want me to get so sick....  that eye come home....  eye do not know....  but something is up....  when your doctor steers you away from treatment....  especially....  when everyone else recommends the treatment....

so....  the first thing that eye did....  was to start taking betaine hcl with pepsin and digestive enzymes along with every meal....  eye do not know if it has a direct affect on atrophic gastritis....  but....  it is supposed to help one digest their food....  which hopefully....  will help with the absorption of essential vitamins and minerals....  eye am also drinking some apple cider vinegar every morning....  eye need to consider drinking a little apple cider vinegar before each meal....  as it is also supposed to encourage the stomach to produce stomach acid....  and....  it has a low enough ph to digest food.... 

eye did a little research last night....  and eye need to consume zinc and magnesium and iron....  they seem to be required for the stomach to produce acid....  eye am not sure about melatonin....  eye have seen some research that says that it promotes the production of stomach acid....  and then eye have seen some research that says that it inhibits the production of stomach acid....  but the same article says that it promotes the production of gastrin....  which....  eye think promotes the stomach to produce acid....  eye am currently taking all four of these items....  zinc and magnesium and iron and melatonin....

if melatonin reduces the production of stomach acid....  it might still be good for me to take it....  because eye take it at night....  when eye do not need stomach acid to digest any food....  and the reduced stomach acid MIGHT protect my stomach while eye sleep....  allowing it to heal....  

this is all that eye am doing to target the hypochlorhydria at this point....  but eye am continually searching for solutions....