Could it be bile reflux?

Reflux

12 Jun

This month I’m talking about reflux and in this second blog Im discussing bile reflux.

From the mid-90s until around 2018, I was suffering from gut issues and was ignorant of the root causes of my many symptoms.

I had got used to the pains in my chest and the bloating.

I had the pain so often that I used to think, ‘I wonder if this is what a heart attack feels like'.

Sometimes it was a stabbing pain and sometimes it was a more persistent pain.

Honestly, it is a long time since I have experienced the pain and it’s hard to remember.

This is what our body does, when the pain goes you forget how bad it was.

In 2000 as well as IBS symptoms and chest pains I suddenly had an anaphylactic reaction to soya. I had food intolerances, daily headaches, daily stomach pain and fatigue.

By 2010 we started to travel to Africa and because I knew I would be eating food that gave me terrible reflux such as pastry, bread, cakes and lots of alcohol, I found an over-the-counter anti-acid which worked.

They meant I could eat anything. I would suffer from reflux pop a pill and it went away.

Day after day for 14-21 days I did the same thing.

On four different trips, I was suddenly and embarrassingly struck down with 24-hour diarrhoea and vomiting. On one occasion the diarrhoea started while we were on the truck.

Pooing behind a truck isn’t my idea of safari luxury.

On each of these trips, I resorted to travel antibiotics.

Unfortunately, while the antibiotics enabled me to get on with the trip they were making my IBS, reflux, allergies, headaches and migraines worse. But at the time I didn’t understand why.

Why am I telling you all this?

One of the reasons for the vomiting and diarrhoea on holiday was the fact that I had amongst other issues dysbiosis and bile acid reflux. My gut was compromised and allowing in non-beneficial bacteria. I was reducing my stomach acid with anti-acids and allowing bacteria my body did not know how to deal with into my dysbiotic gut.

So what is bile reflux?

Bile is produced by the liver and stored in the gallbladder.

Bile acids are crucial for the digestion and absorption of fats.

An increase in cholesterol levels,

Read my blog for causes of high cholesterol,

https://www.food4healthyguts.com/blogs/is-high-cholesterol-bad

and a decrease in bile flow can result in an accumulation of bile sludge. I know that sounds disgusting.

Other root causes can be pregnancy, rapid weight loss, a gall bladder issue and some medications.

Symptoms of bile acid sludge can include;