Stomach acid update -- and yes, more questions

[Guest guest]

Unfortunately, I still have more questions than answers, though I got

's book back, and it may address at least some of them, but I thought

I'd give those of you eagerly awaiting every bit of news from my intestinal

tract (and you number in the thousands, I'm sure) some new information to

momentarily slake your bottomless thirst.

To summarize, I can use one word: Wow! I haven't had such terrific

digestion in years. Not the faintest hint of disturbance to be

found. Absorption on the other hand... who knows. There are some strange

things going on there, which I'll get to momentarily.

Those few of you who are actually interested may remember that Thorne

Research and Twinlabs Betaine HCl supplements both gave me major reflux

problems, bad enough that I had to quickly stop taking them. I'm still not

positive why, but the fact that Pure Encapsulations gives me little to no

reflux and has a lot less pepsin per pill is suggestive. From what I can

tell (and what I reported in my last discussion of the matter here on the

list) Thorne, Twinlabs and most other HCl supplements include much more

pepsin than anyone would ever produce on their own, though this is a

tentative and uncertain conclusion, since data seems to be so thin on the

ground. Of course, it also could just be that Pure Encapsulations is just

a better product with a better grade of ingredients, but though I'm sure

that's true of it compared to Twinlabs, I'd thought Thorne Research was

supposed to be a good brand.

I'm taking rather more HCl than I could ever manage with other brands, and

it seems to be working marvelously. Besides the vastly-improved digestion,

I have somewhat better energy and mood and I'm getting more

productive. I'm hopeful that improved protein digestion and absorption

will make weight training a viable option in the relatively short term.

Unfortunately, I've also developed what seem like some odd side effects: a

couple splits on my hands for the first time in my life, and a trace of

eczema on my ears, which I used to have a tremendously worse case of when I

was little. Do any of you have any idea what on earth is up with that, and

what I might do to correct it?

I'm also concerned about B12 absorption. My understanding is that the

stomach cells which produce acid and pepsin are also responsible for

producing intrinsic factor, and while I'm getting pepsin with my HCl

supplement, I'm not getting any intrinsic factor. Sublingual B12

supplements all seem to have nasty ingredients like sorbitol, and DMSO has

the smell and itch factors. Any thoughts?

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