Low stomach acid

[Neal Winkler]

Dr. G, thanks. Should I just stick with my current dose or try to keep going up? Also, my stool this morning was darker than usual. I've been having green colored and very light brown.

[Garrett Smith]

I'd stick with the current dose. Darker than usual is OK (depending on the usual, of course!), really dark over a period of time isn't a good sign.

If you are feeling better, that's the best indicator. Give it some time.

[Craig Loizides]

Thanks, Dr. G. I have noticed absolutely no change good or bad since I started taking it. I suspected I might have some mineral deficiencies and this was supposed to help so I decided I would give it a try.

I was going to stop when my current supply ran out, but it bugs me a little that I never felt any burning sensation. I figure I should either stop taking it, change brands, or increase the dose, but I wasn't sure if it was safe to increase the dose any higher.

[Craig Loizides]

One more question - why does searching for HCl return no results? Is it too small a word?

[Garrett Smith]

Craig,
As it is your body to do with what you wish, there is no magical "ceiling" to dosing HCl. You can take more until you get to the "hot tea" sensation. As HCl is a "normal" part of the stomach environment, it isn't a problem unless someone takes too much. If you slowly raise the dose a pill (or a 1/2 pill) at a time, you should know when you reach the upper end of your stomach's tolerance.

Another thing to watch for is if you stopped taking it when it runs out and symptoms re-appear or you feel differently (better or worse). Sometimes we take "disappeared" symptoms for granted and don't realize they are gone until they come back.

As for your search issues, I don't know, are you searching on this board or another search engine?