85 replies to this topic

[Dotty1]

I'm going to type out my problems here on this forum because I can't find a doctor who will help me .

I've taken HCl 3 weeks now. Acne went away 70-80% within three days.
I began including AVC tablets to get my stomach acid stimulated on its own.

I found I could take 9 HCl tablets and feel fine, but I lowered it to 2 to stay on the safe side.
I thought the ACV would help get my gastric acid working. I'm taking calcium (not raw), sublingual B12 and trying some high-dose protease enzymes.

I tried relying on just ACV during protein meals, but I break out without the HCl.
So I don't think I've succeeded in getting my gastric juices to function.


Any ideas to further stimulate them?

Edited by Dotty1, 26 January 2010 - 01:33 PM.

[Dotty1]

"Low salt diets can make it very difficult if not impossible for the stomach to produce adequate amounts of hydrochloric acid. The problem is not salt per se, but the quality of the salt. Using unrefined, highly mineralized sea salt is perfectly safe and healthful to the system."
Source: http://www.modernherbalist.com/betaine.html

I do eat a rather low-salt diet. I shall start increasing my salt intake with sea salts. I'll buy the rock salt and suck on the tiny rocks throughout the day and before meals.

Edited by Dotty1, 26 January 2010 - 01:37 PM.

[clovereater]

Hi Dotty,

I'm new to this forum but have been taking betaine HCL supplements for about 4 months now. like you i had to take large doses in the beginning to get the effect. my acne cleared up dramatically, better than with anything else i've tried. i noticed about a month ago that i seemed to reach a plateau and increasing the dose didnt give me any improvement. over the chrismas holidays i got lazy and took less HCL than usual for a couple of days. i expected to break out again but to my amazement i improved further. i'm now down to about 1 tablet a day from about 10 and all working fine. i would say give it time initially to start working. ironically your body cant absorb the nutrients it needs to produce HCL without having adequate HCL in the first place. i think what happened with me is my parietal cells started to produce their own acid after i was taking in enough nutrients helped by the supplementation. maybe taking too much HCL now causes a reverse effect for me. i dont know exactly what the mechanism is. i have tried higher doses and they seem to cause more spots so im happy to stick to the lower dose for as long as i need to and continue getting these results.

[Dotty1]

Hi Dotty,

I'm new to this forum but have been taking betaine HCL supplements for about 4 months now. like you i had to take large doses in the beginning to get the effect. my acne cleared up dramatically, better than with anything else i've tried. i noticed about a month ago that i seemed to reach a plateau and increasing the dose didnt give me any improvement. over the chrismas holidays i got lazy and took less HCL than usual for a couple of days. i expected to break out again but to my amazement i improved further. i'm now down to about 1 tablet a day from about 10 and all working fine. i would say give it time initially to start working. ironically your body cant absorb the nutrients it needs to produce HCL without having adequate HCL in the first place. i think what happened with me is my parietal cells started to produce their own acid after i was taking in enough nutrients helped by the supplementation. maybe taking too much HCL now causes a reverse effect for me. i dont know exactly what the mechanism is. i have tried higher doses and they seem to cause more spots so im happy to stick to the lower dose for as long as i need to and continue getting these results.

Okay, I won't freak out if my own gastric juice hasn't begun to work these last 3 weeks.

I just found a web page that agrees with you:
"Regular use of supplemental hydrochloric acid will in most cases "re-train" the stomach to produce higher concentrations of acid on its own. This process may take anywhere from several weeks to several months, depending on the individual. "
Source: http://www.modernherbalist.com/betaine.html

Thank you for your input! I'll calm down!!

[pimple_popper]

Take as many as you need to feel burning, then take that amount consistently for a few days. Then start to lower the amount by one pill, to see if you still get the same burning effect. If you don't get it with one pill less, then go back to the regular amount for a while. When I first started HCL about a month ago, it took seven before I could feel any burning after fat/protein laden meals. Now it only takes 3 and I feel the same degree of burning as I used to with 7, so I think my stomach is adjusting.

[dn7prh10]

Take as many as you need to feel burning, then take that amount consistently for a few days. Then start to lower the amount by one pill, to see if you still get the same burning effect. If you don't get it with one pill less, then go back to the regular amount for a while. When I first started HCL about a month ago, it took seven before I could feel any burning after fat/protein laden meals. Now it only takes 3 and I feel the same degree of burning as I used to with 7, so I think my stomach is adjusting.

What are you talking about when you say burning feeling? Is it a painful burning or a hunger burning?

[AussieSmile]

The burning feeling is caused when there is too much hydrochloric acid in the stomach caused by taking too much HCL. When this occurs you simply lower you dose next time and digest something alkaline.

[Dotty1]

Take as many as you need to feel burning, then take that amount consistently for a few days. Then start to lower the amount by one pill, to see if you still get the same burning effect. If you don't get it with one pill less, then go back to the regular amount for a while. When I first started HCL about a month ago, it took seven before I could feel any burning after fat/protein laden meals. Now it only takes 3 and I feel the same degree of burning as I used to with 7, so I think my stomach is adjusting.

What are you talking about when you say burning feeling? Is it a painful burning or a hunger burning?

It is an "overly warm" feeling in your stomach. You'll just notice that your stomach doesn't feel exactly right. That means you have finally found how much HCl your body needs and that you should take one less pill. For me, I found that level at 9 pills. It isn't painful, just very different and slightly unpleasant. It took 3 weeks to finally reach that level and after taking the pills I felt a little nauseous. Not overly so, but just enough to wonder, "What is wrong with me?"

Edited by Dotty1, 26 January 2010 - 05:35 PM.

[recoverme]

wow.. you were taking 9 each meal?

You gave me this HCL advice.. I take 2 each meal.. one with the first bite and one with the last bite..

I'm seeing great results.

This post scares me..

[Dotty1]

It shouldn't scare you. I have been reading hundreds of articles about HCl supplementation and they say that the people with very low stomach acid usually must take up to 11 pills in the beginning. After 3 months or so, their gastric juices eventually "kick in" and they can begin lowering their dosage.

The scary thing should be the thought of how weak my stomach acid was. I think I wasn't producing any at all. I could not digest *ANY* protein without having a SEVERE acne breakout within hours.

Edited by Dotty1, 26 January 2010 - 05:51 PM.

[Dotty1]

Also, if you makes you feel any better, I saw medical students bickering on another forum about whether HCl was a product that would truly work because, as they said, "1-2 capsules of HCl is nowhere strong enough to equal what a stomach with truly weak stomach acid truly needs." They also said, "Anyone who has weak stomach acid would need to take at least 10 of those pills to notice a difference if they had a serious problem."

I have realized that I do indeed have very weak stomach acid and 9 pills makes a wonderful difference in my digestion and my acne. I have also met many people who have had wonderful results with their acne, too, and all of them have assured me that after a few months the body begins to make its own.

Edited by Dotty1, 26 January 2010 - 06:03 PM.

[DireStraits]

Ok so it been a week using Betaine HCl+Pepsin, I've been taking two 650mg pills with each meal. My forehead is a big problem area for me, whenever i've been taking HCl along with meals that usually trigger break outs my forehead doesn't break out but instead im getting these small pastules around my chin (well pretty much anywhere below my lower lip) seriously wtf?
Its like i've traded acne from one part of my face to another. This blows, whats going on?

Edited by DireStraits, 26 January 2010 - 06:55 PM.

[vegangirl]

With severe stomach acid depletion, you may want to look into underlying causes. Low stomach acid is usually a result of low mineral availability, thyroid malfunction, stressed adrenals, food allergies etc.

I would start taking ionic trace minerals daily along with calcium citrate and magnesium citrate (I would take all these first thing in the morning away from food). You will start to see an improvement within a week or so but it may take several weeks until you can start lowering your HCL intake.

Get a blood test and look for food allergies and a thyroid issue.

[Dotty1]

Dire, since you seem to have nothing to lose (but the facial placement of your acne ) perhaps you can try increasing your dosage (to 3 or 4) and see if it diminishes the acne on your chin... ?

Edited by Dotty1, 26 January 2010 - 07:09 PM.

[clovereater]

when i started taking hcl 30 mins after a meal i found it worked better.
if u eat carbs with your meal they need to be digested before the protein. hcl will interfere with this.

[Zanpakutou]

I'm having the same issue. I tried stopping cold turkey and breakouts came soon after. I'm going to continue taking them and researching more about it though. I can't deal with letting my skin get out of control after the length of time it took to get clear.

[Dotty1]

Zanapou - Did you happen to see the post where naturopaths explained that it can takes several weeks to several months for the body to be "re-trained" to produce its own HCl? They said that on average, their patients will use HCl for three months (plus or minus a month) before they can lower their dosage.

Edited by Dotty1, 27 January 2010 - 02:33 PM.

[Zanpakutou]

Zanapou - Did you happen to see the post where naturopaths explained that it can takes several weeks to several months for the body to be "re-trained" to produce its own HCl? They said that on average, their patients will use HCl for three months (plus or minus a month) before they can lower their dosage.

Yes, thanks. I'm leaning towards doing something like this because I truly believe my stomach acid is low. How it got this way, I'm not exactly sure, but the results of taking HCL are too significant. I'll probably be trying different things like the Virastop, but I can't stop HCL completely, as you know it takes a very long time to get rid of acne scars, especially the aftermath from cysts, even ones that never came to a head.

[Dotty1]

You should look into having a "digestive enzyme" test at your doctor's office. My naturopath just said the digestive enzyme test should have been done the moment I said I could not digest protein or that HCl helped me.

Edited by Dotty1, 27 January 2010 - 05:17 PM.

[Dotty1]

Yes, that is what we thought because we couldn't find any research on the topic. But I've been searching for weeks now and finally found that "prolonged use" meant many years. It is completely safe when used for a few weeks or a few months. Health professionals usually find it takes 4 months on average to "retrain" the stomach cells to release normal amounts of gastric acid again.