Ask Doctor Jack & Mary is a monthly feature where we round up the best questions we’ve been asked, and turn it into consumable information for our readers and listeners. Have a question for Dr. Jack & Mary? Ask Here
Dr. Stockwell, I finally listened to your pod cast on acid reflux and I found out that I was not taking enough of the long life enzymes and Zypan. My wife has stopped taking the Omeprazole. We are eating okra everyday. If you have any other products for us please let us know. She has lost a lot of sleep with heart burn. I have a lot of burping all through the night and bloating. Would you tell us exactly how many pills we should take during the day? – Ottis
Hi Ottis…podcast 102 has a suggested protocol to follow when starting with Zypan. It is a handout at the end of the podcast. Something you can put on the fridge door. But we can’t really offer personalized advice via this column. This is more for general questions and concerns. If the generic protocol from podcast 102 doesn’t meet your needs, there could be something else going on that we will only be able to determine with a full work-up. We encourage any listener who wants our help to take our Symptom Survey and get a free 30 minute consult. No obligation, and this way, our advise will be well-targeted to root out your particular issue and address it.
I’ve been listening to your podcast for months now and your podcast has helped me a lot. I just listened to a recent episode 102 about Heartburn and my mom, who aged 63, actually was diagnosed with reflux esophagitis recently and has had indigestion problems for many years. I don’t really think her medications are working because she’s still having stomach aches and indigestion problems. Her doctor said the weakness of her upper esophageal sphincter is causing acid reflux and esophagitis as well. One important thing is that she also found out that she’s had Gallstones, she never knew about it. And she had her appendix out in her 30s which I’m not sure if this is related to her digestive function. So I was thinking about buying a Zypan for her but was worried if Zypan will make her reflux esophagitis even worse since it has pepsin in it.
I would greatly appreciate your advice and thoughts on this. – June
I would start with Gastrex for a month. It does not have HCL in it and is easier to use when someone has this kind of digestive dysfunction. After a month, or maybe less if she responds quickly, substitute Zypan for Gastrex. The pepsin in Zypan is active only at a pH of 2 or less. Your mother’s stomach has probably not seen that in decades. Zypan has been such a life saver for so many heartburn sufferers that I am surprised Big Pharma isn’t on the bandwagon.
Another thing is that your appendix is the “tonsil” of the intestines. It is a filter and a storage place for the immune system’s watchful eye, making sure nothing from the large intestine is coming back into the small intestine, just as the tonsils in the throat are the same kind of watch dog for that area. A swollen tonsil or appendix is a sign that an infection is present, not that they need to be removed. In a crisis situation, then of course you do crisis care, but short of that find out why there is a problem.
When I did my undergraduate work in college I worked as an orderly in the nearby hospital and started to train as a scrub tech in surgery. I was amazed at the number of emergency appendectomies that were performed and when opening the abdominal incision, they discovered the appendix to be just fine. Of course they removed it anyway. With “prophylaxis” in mind.
I hope this helps…..your mother can get a free 30 minute consult with our nutritionists just by asking. Have her call our clinic: 866-867-5070
Your LongLife Energy Enzymes – in the description it talks about pancreatic cancer. Have you found this to be helpful in combating other types of cancer? My aunt has had ovarian cancer and we wanted to see if this might be able to help her. Thank you
Sorry your aunt is dealing with this. It is certainly possible that LongLife Energy Enzymes will make a difference as she combats her cancer, but we try to be cautious here and recommend two things: 1. She consult with her Oncologist about any changes to her treatment. 2. She call our office so we can do a proper nutritional evaluation. Our Forbidden Doctor product may not be the best fit, but there are many options and we will have a clearer picture of what she does need if we can do a full work-up. Have her call our clinic: 866-867-5070. By the way, the LEE Enzyme can do nothing but good for her digestive system and her overall health. But she needs more specific care to make sure we are targeting this properly.
I am reordering this week and want to know if there is a daily protocol for kids. I give my toddler cod liver oil every morning and this morning gave him one chewable cherry catalyn. Can I give this to him every morning as a daily multi? And how much per day can I give him? I started with one pill since I am not sure. Also is there anything else I should give him daily like the mineral supplement? – Dajana M.
That is so fantastic that you are giving your growing little boy Catalyn and Cod Liver Oil! What beautiful building blocks you are instilling in his growing body. Catalyn is a beautiful supplement and is perfectly safe to give to him as a multivitamin as it is our designated multivitamin out of all the Standard Process whole food supplements. You can do 2 per day as a safe amount for him – one in the morning and one in the evening.
You can also try giving him Trace Minerals B12 for his mineral supplement – 2 per day for this one as well!
Great questions this month! Keep those questions coming everyone!