Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm pretty shocked this has worked as well as it has, but it has been about 2 weeks and I feel great with no pain at all. Before I found Betaine HCL my daily regimen was 1 PPI in the morning (usually Pantoprazole or Dexilant), chewing Tums or Gaviscon off and on, taking 1-2 Zantac and then coupling that with 2-3 doses of Carafate when the pain got to be so much that I couldn't sleep. My GI doc put me on the PPIs and Carafate after doing an upper endoscopy and a Bravo study earlier this year and confirming that I do in fact have reflux problems. Despite the prescriptions and me supplementing them with Zantac and Tums/Gaviscon I was still in pain most of the time. I started doing a bunch of my own research to try and figure out an alternative cure since I did not want to go back to the doc and possibly be put on even stronger PPIs or multiple PPIs a day. I stumbled upon Betaine HCL and the UK imported Gaviscon which gets high reviews in some of the GI forums. I ordered both from Amazon and the Betaine came in first so that's what I tried first. I planned my experiment for a Saturday just in case it went bad and I was in a lot of pain. I'd rather be miserable at home than at work any day. When Saturday came I went cold turkey off all acid reducing meds (PPIs, Zantac, Tums, etc.) and just took 1 Betaine before each meal. I experimented with 2, but I feel about the same when I take 1 or 2 so taking 1 is more economical. The fancy UK Gaviscon finally arrived, but sits unopened in the medicine cabinet. I'll update this review as time goes by, but so far I am incredibly grateful for this product and for all the people that took the time to review it since you are the ones that led me to finding it. Who would have thought the real culprit of my pain could be the exact opposite of what the prescription drugs were doing. UPDATE - it has been 6 weeks and the Betaine is still working and I am still completely off PPIs and Carafate. There have been a couple of days when I chewed two Tums, but still a vast improvement over taking all those prescriptions and still being in pain most of the time. One thing I have noticed is that the dosage doesn't seem to be constant. This mirrors what I have read in other reviews and in my own research on dosage as well. I have started varying the amount I take according to what I am eating so I will continue to refine and tweak the dosage until I find the optimal solution that works for me. With some larger meals I have taken up to 4-5 capsules so my original system of 1 capsule before each meal doesn't seem to fit all cases. UPDATE - it has been about 12 weeks now and the Betaine is still working and I am still off heartburn meds. I have found that I can skip a dose or two and still have no symptoms so that's a relief since I often forget to bring it with me when eating out. I got a little too confident and skipped several days and the heartburn did come back, but only lasted a couple of days after I resumed a regular Betaine regimen. That tells me I still need to keep taking it, but at least I don't have to panic if I miss a dose or two. UPDATE - it was exactly 5 months ago today that I bought my first bottle of Betaine. I am still heartburn free and still completely off Pantoprazole, Nexium, Dexilant, Gaviscon, Tums and Zantac. I have probably been through about 10 bottles during that period and find that I am averaging about 10 capsules a day. Not much has changed since my last update. I generally take 2 with breakfast (granola bar and coffee) and then 4 each with lunch and dinner (larger, heavier meals). UPDATE - a little over a year now and still heartburn free and not taking any antacids or PPIs. So, why post an update? Well, the Betaine solved my heartburn problem really quickly, but it turns out I had another long-term issue that I had no idea would be related or affected by Betaine use. I have had really bad IBS for many, many years. Had a few endoscopies and colonoscopies and nobody could suggest anything other than dietary changes. Long term Betaine use also seems to have cured that problem. No more urgent trips to the bathroom several times a day. Between that and the heartburn this product has literally changed my life. UPDATE - I made it almost 2 years being completely pain and symptom free, but something happened about a month ago and all of a sudden all my symptoms came back and Betaine stopped working. I have had to come off it completely and am back on PPIs, Carafate, Zantac, Tums and the EU Gaviscon. Having had it work so well for so long has me completely confused as to what could have happened since I had not varied my dosage or diet. I suppose it could be stress related, but that's just a guess and I have had plenty of stress in the past couple years so I do not think that is the likely culprit. I've tried to troubleshoot what might be going on and before giving up and going back on meds I tried increasing my dosage thinking that may be the issue. I also threw in Super Enzymes and DGL Plus, but no luck. It still either feels like someone is standing on my chest, there is something stuck in my throat or I have burning. I have scheduled an endoscopy for 10/16 and will report back, but I figured I'd throw this up there in the off chance that somebody has experienced something similar and might be able to help point me in the right direction. It's difficult to figure out if high or low stomach acid is the problem and since these worked so well for me for almost 2 years I can't get it out of my head that low stomach acid has to be the problem. I suppose it is possible that a month ago my body decided to start producing a ton of stomach acid and taking Betaine was just pushing me way over the normal levels, but it doesn't seem likely to me. I'll keep this updated as I try to figure it out, but if anybody has any tips I'm all ears. UPDATE - endoscopy showed mild gastritis (much less than before according to my GI doc), but no new clues about what could be causing it. My GI doc is ignorant of Betaine so that conversation went nowhere, so I am back on Dexilant. I tried to stop Dexilant cold turkey and go back on Betaine, but had a lot of symptoms later in the day so went back on Dexilant again and now am feeling pretty good. I'm all ears if anybody has any ideas or tips as to why this would work perfectly for years and then all of a sudden stop.