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Hi all,

I received so so many replies and stories. Thank you. Over all consensus was
that heartburn does not typically go away with the removal of gluten from
the diet. Some people did not see improvement. Some have seen gradual
improvement on the gluten free diet. Many who have frequent heartburn are on
a prescription medication such as Nexium, Prolosec, etc.

It was suggested a hiatal hernia could be the cause, which a scope could
confirm.

One woman cut out dairy and introduced probiotics and her heartburn
improved. 
Others have eliminated other food allergens or (personally) irritating foods
such a corn or caffine or high sugar foods from their diet with success.

One woman suggested contacting Dr. Stephen Wangen, a celiac himself, at
http://ibstreatmentcenter.com/. She also stated that many celiacs suffer
from too little acid rather than too much (which I have come across in other
readings in the past 2 weeks).

Along with the suggestion the issue might be hypo- rather than
hypercholoridia (low rather than high stomach acid) came the suggestion to
take Betaine. A milder version of taking betain (for milder heartburn) is
taking vinegar.

One woman suggested trying Heartburn Stop.

So, for myself, heartburn was my first symptom that began my frequent trips
to the doctor. This happened 16 years ago, 14 yrs before my diagnosis. I
went through all sorts of tests--scopes, barium shakes and xrays, testing my
valves. Everything came back normal. So for 15 or 16 years I have mostly
been on prescription medication, Nexium being the most recent. Everything
gave me heartburn if I didn't take the prescription. Then we got new
insurance and the new insurance refused to cover the Nexium when I ran out.
It took 10 days to petition it, during which I took zantac and then pepcid.
I was in a ton of pain during that week and a half. Finally the insurance
responded to my doctor's appeal and said, "she can only have Nexium is she
tries these other 4 drugs and none of them work for her." So now I was a
guinea pig. By this time I'd begun doing more reading than I'd ever done on
Nexium and the other medications and decided I would be better off if I
could find a way not to depend on these things the rest of my life. Plus I
got the first new drug on the list and it wasn't doing the trick. I didn't
feel like experimenting on myself (in that form) for weeks.

Thankfully, I had been to see a nutritionist before the insurance fiasco
happened and had a follow up appointment scheduled. In our second
appointment, we focused on my heartburn and ways to help my digestive system
heal. So I have been taking Betaine for 2 weeks now. I have also added kefir
to my diet and other foods that are high in probiotics (miso, kombucha) as
well as bone broth and nettle tea. My blood sugar is more stable than it has
been in forever. I don't quite have the level of Betaine worked out (still
get some heartburn) but it isn't constant and certainly is way better than
the week I switched from Nexium to Zantac. I am encouraged and grateful to
be finding ways to do more than cope...way more...and fully expect to heal
over time.

I also went ahead and had an abdominal massage and the therapist showed me
techniques to massage my own stomach and bring some symptom relief as well
as massages to encourage healthy digestion. She also recommended rubbing
castor oil on my stomach and putting heat on it for 30 to 60 min 3 times a
week. Castor oil absorbs great in the skin and aid in digestive and immune
health. Just what I need!

So, all that to say I have come full swing from the purple pill of purple
pills to attempting to not just alleviate but heal my symptoms and my system
naturally.

Thanks again for your responses and for reading mine,
Cris

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