I can't take R-lipoic Acid :(
 

My luck :(

When I take R-lipoic acid I get unbearable, horrid, awful, heartburn/acid reflux.

Doesn't matter if I take with food or withoutfood. I even used my ACV to try to help get over the heartburn.

This is very disheartening.

And I was getting ready to purchase Heart Tech and start the Pauling Therapy for my cholestrol but it contains high amounts of ascorbic acid, which apparently I can't take. I was so excited to start taking it cuz the research looks so promising.

This heartburn is killing me. :(

Try taking an antacid before the R-lipoic. Say 20 min before.

Then make sure you take it with a full glass of water.
If on an empty stomach it will move on quickly. If food is present, it will stay in the stomach much longer.

The antacid trick is on some websites.

My stomach problem is distressing me too.

What is ACV?

Do you experience heartburn/reflux even without taking R-Lipoic?

Thanks.

You mean like a tums ???

ACV is apple cider vinegar, which I have used to control my acid reflux for years.

However, right now I have had it controlled so great that it is no longer bothering me, haven't had to use anything or had any flare up for about 6 months, but I have also lost 30 pounds in last 6 months also. So, nope, not had any problems until I took the Rlipoic.

I also had the same problem when I tried to take natural calm which is a drink powder with ascorbic acid in it.

edit to say: it's more like a feeling of food coming up my throat than actual heartburn. more the acid reflux.

Oh, why did I not relate the apple cider with stomach problems? :)

Mine is not like the way you described it. Sometimes the pain goes to my chest travels to. My sside and to armpit. Though this rarely happens but most of the times - 6 days /week - its just heartburn and feeling like its empty that feels so uncomfortable. It makes my breathing even more difficult. Its confusing because tests are normal.

I'd try Gaviscon for protection. This tends to coat the upper stomach and esophagus to protect the tissues there from
acid reflux. It is especially formulated for GERD and heartburn.

Precautions in the pamphlets normally indicate to avoid taking antacid within 2 hours before or after taking other miedication? Is it better to space it longer or 2 hours is really enough?

I have had that kind of heartburn also, the chest pain and all the typical symptoms, but with this rlipoic..for some reason it is a slight burn, not a lot of pain, mostly the feeling of food coming up my throat, which I hate and is a concern for damage to throat.

Thanks MrsD I will try it.

Mrs D,
Does boiling ginger root good in calming stomach? I want to try it but am afraid it might aggravate my stomach.
Thanks.

My Gi Dr gave me Carafate but I haven't tried it because of concern on binding with other medicines.

People can have various rates of stomach emptying.

It can be because of taking drugs that slow the stomach like opiates or anticholinergics (Benadryl type drugs also).

Or it can be gastroparesis due to aging or nerve damage.

It can be because of the stomach contents itself, as chocolate and fat delay emptying. Coffee causes heartburn for some.

I can get heartburn from chocolate sometimes.

It can be due to excessive gas being refluxed. Excessive gas can come from bacterial dysbiosis or carbonated beverages,
certain food like the cabbage family, or from nervous swallowing of air, or excessive swallowing of air with food..like soups. I personally believe gas is a huge culprit in many heartburn cases.

I use ginger extract sometimes, but it can REALLY cause a burning reflux when taken at the wrong time or without enough water. You really haven't lived until you have a serious ginger event! :yikes:

I've had the same problem with R-lipoic acid, but didn't realize that's what it was until I'd already burned my esophagus very badly. I've stopped taking it altogether until it heals. I think I was taking more than necessary as well--400mg. When my esophagus heals I'll try the Gaviscon 20 minutes before and only take 100mg. Also, some of the things I'm being tested for have GERD as a symptom--like Sjogren's and paraneoplastic antibodies, so it could be that as well.

How much apple cider vinegar do you take per day for GERD, Stacey? I've heard of doing this, but I wonder how an acid can help when acid normally burns my esophagus.

Also Stacey, if you look at my first posting, there's a long list of good supplements to take, (many of which I learned about while lurking here before joining). These things can help as well. I got suddenly much worse when I stopped everything for a few days, but I'm improving again since I went back on everything except the R-lipoic acid.

For a detailed explanation of ACV go to: www.earthclinic.com

You can go to the ailments section and click on acid reflux or heartburn. They have such a huge testimony section it is amazing. Ive read there for years and still go back for more.

I take 2 Tablespoons of acv in about 4 ounces of water then add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. Use a tall cup because it fizzes up. You can use it up to 4 x a day. With a meal, after a meal, or anytime.

I do not like it on an empty stomach.

The baking soda (there is much discussion on that forum about this) changes the PH of the ACV so it does not hurt your teeth or cause burning tongue. Some people do not use baking soda. I do. Matter of fact the absolute worse heartburn or reflux moments I have get better when I use 1 teaspoon of baking soda alone in water. I do that when its a horrrrid episode and ACV alone is not working.

This remedy has kept me off nexium and any other meds for years.

There is enough research that shows the benefits of taking ACV daily that makes me keep it as a staple in my life. My teenage boys will even ask for it the minute they feel a cold coming on. It really is amazing stuff. Earthclinics has a lot of info on it.

p.s. ACV will completely get rid of warts. :)

edit: ONLY use organic ACV with the "mother" in it. (stuff you see floating in the bottle)

MrsD I had an experience with ginger once...it was when I was juicing. :)

I add a good Apple Cider Vinegar to water every morning for a lot of reasons!:)

Thanks Stacey. I'll bike over to the local health food store and look for some organic apple cider vinegar. I was reading that link you gave and someone on it said that it could be an iodine deficiency. I used to take 2 drops of lugol's iodine everyday but stopped. I think I'll try that again as well. Also raw almonds were suggested. I might try that too. Hopefully, I just burned my esophagus though with too much R-lipoic acid and it just needs to heal. I'm not sure. It would be nice to get off the lansoprezole though, if these home remedies could really work.

I one does not take enough water with things, or sometimes lies down right after...you can burn you esophagus severely.

I recall one doctor (husband's family gp) I had when I was in my 20's...He foolishly swallowed a 500mg tetracycline pill, without water...and it dissolved in his esophagus and gave him a horrible 2 weeks burn.

Capsules open quickly. Tablets can take 20 minutes or 1/2 hour to disperse. So you will want to wash down the capsule with 6-8 ounces of water.

There is another factor you might look at..a lifestyle thing.

If you filter your water, into a pitcher, algae can grow in it.
This can cause serious heartburn.

Also using a filter that needs changing can do it.

We noticed this on vacation where we filter lake water twice.
Even then when exposed to sun, algae will grow quickly in the pitcher. At home too. There is algae in our drinking water as well out of the tap.

No that's not it. I just started using a tap filter and it's fresh, but I'll be sure to change it regularly.

The radiologist didn't say of any indication of gastroparesis.
I have been observing what triggers the discomfort, its basically everything I eat. Mind you, I am not eating much of those you mentioned. I m not ruling out - the ever scapegoat - stress. Since I had the PN symptoms I was so stressful - which was compounded when I was diagnosed with MAC.

Mrs.D, is it possible to have this heartburn without the feeling of gas. Remember, I used to be so bloated. I don't feel bloated asnmuch as I used to but the queasiness remains.

MrsD is so right about the water thing. My mom did the same thing with an antibiotic, it burnt her throat. Same thing can happen with nexium.

My acid reflux use to be soooo bad. I was about to give in and get on RX meds but after reading and reading I stuck with the ACV and baking soda for a long time. People expect results to fast. It doesn't get bad overnight and it is NOT fixed over night. It takes time to heal.

My reflux has been completely gone for several months now. i use to have to sleep practically sitting up. Now I am comfortably laying down again. SO NICE.

I stopped eating all white flour, pasta and sugar. I don't know if that did it or losing the 30 pds. I am still overweight, but reflux has been gone until I took rlipoic, which I am not taking today and all is fine so far.

Umm..may be tmi but...since cutting out white flour, pasta, and sugar, I do not have gas, bloating, farting (yes i couldn't help it, lol) and belching. All gone. lol

I KNOW it's from my weight gain. Last time I was severely depressed, about 15 years ago, I gained 40 pounds and it was the first time I ever had GERD. I had to go on Omeprazole. Then I lost 50 pounds and it went away entirely. I've noticed as soon as I hit the overweight mark though, it will start to come back again. Unfortunately, with this current depression I've gained back all the weight and the GERD is back again. But I've never not been able to control it with proton pump inhibitors before. Mostly, I really, really need to take the weight off. So I should go for that bike ride to the store now....

Krista, about the iodine...I bought the Idoral and tried to take it however if you have eaten lots of bread and have bromene in your system it cause a "herx" action which happened to me. I got lots of cystic like acne, but not acne, bumps and headaches. :(

I believe in iodine so I still take it but only occasionally. I can't take it the way it needs to be taken because I never wanna stick it out past the herx reactions.

I take it for thyroid though, not acid reflux.

I've never had that problem with pure Lugol's iodine. You can get it from any compounding pharmacy. It's inexpensive. I take just 2 drops a day. You can take up to 4 drops a day for a week or so if you have an infection or want to get a beginning burst of it.

So I went to get that stuff from the store. I took the apple cider vinegar with baking soda. Haven't noticed anything yet. I should buy some straws because I have sensitive teeth. I put some Camphor/Menthol ointment on one foot and it's burning more than the foot without it. It doesn't work for me. And I have to take back the Salonpas because I just noticed it has Fragrance in it and I'm allergic to that. The Aspercreme with aspirin in it seems to help my wrists though. The one with cream feels better than the one without it.

ACV is not a get fixed quick thing. You have to consistantly take it and as you do it will work.

I don't believe anything works that quick. It takes awhile for a body to get sick, it takes awhile to heal.

apple cider vinegar also helps with joint pain
 

This is an old post but I thought I'd add a thought for those reading later ....

I am also trying the apple cider vinegar thing to help with joint pain. Often PN and joint pain go together. Couple of tablespoons a few times a day.

Too early to comment on results but this natural remedy was recommended by many sources.

One of my doctors suggested taking Gaviscon to help with GERD. I started taking it relatively regularly. One of my other docs is getting more and more into holistic medicine (not sure what he would call it...but that is close enough). He took a test for aluminum and I was sky high. It was the Gaviscon. I stopped the Gaviscon and retook the test three or four months later and it was significantly
better. I won't buy this product anymore.

I'm experimenting with taking low dose H2blocker (two tabs daily) and one Prelief before meals. I also drink some aloe juice almost daily. Getting improvement. GERD is awful! Trying hard to get good results without any dangerous meds or high dosages of meds...making some headway.