I Am 23 And Healthy For The Rest, I Take

Posted on Fri, 1 May 2020

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 1 May 2020 Answered on

Last reviewed on

Question : I am 23 and healthy for the rest, I take Ritalin and have been heaving terrible concentration issues(way worse than regular add) after my first meal for the entire day and worsen after every subsequent meal, since the past few weeks, I thought it was linked to my GI problems (chronic diareah for a year) (they will look at my gut soon but postponed due to corona) the problem is so bad that you can compare it do drinking 3 beers, I also have no energy, the doctor checked my vitamins and inflammation markers, but al was ok, I changed diet to avoid my recently acquired allergy to gluten and dairy, I thought the concentration and tiredness problem was to a leaky gut, toxins of indegested food getting into my blood, but after being on a liquid soup diet the problem still continued at the same level, I thought I was going crazy, until I read that acidosis had around the same symptoms I had, and I drank a few glasses with baking soda and that solved the issue within 10 minute compared to the whole day, should I get my blood PH tested tomorrow at a "emergency doctor" or wait til Monday ? I'm 99% sure I have metabolic acidosis after a meal.my question is not if I have it or not but if it is dangerous for me atm

Answered by Dr. AJEET SINGH (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Chronic diarrhea may cause acidosis.

Detailed Answer:
Hi...
Welcome to 'Ask A Doctor' service.
I am Dr. Ajeet XXXXXXX

I have gone through your query and here is my opinion.

The most common cause of metabolic acidosis is uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, kidney failure, and loss of bicarbonates from gut due to diarrhea.

Bicarbonate is the base that helps to keep the blood neutral.

In your case, a possibility of acidaemia can not be ruled out as you had chronic diarrhea.
Both diarrhea and vomiting can cause this type of acidosis.

There is no immediate need for you to rush to an ER because the body compensates acidosis with the help of lungs which excreted more of CO2 (acidic in nature) to get rid of extra acid.

Long term metabolic acidosis is definitely bad for the vital organs and may cause end-organ dysfunction.

Baking soda is a good treatment for immediate relief from occasional acid reflux and gastritis but excess of it can cause side effects like gas, bloating and diarrhea.

When you would visit your clinician on Monday, he would procure an arterial blood sample for ABG (Arterial blood gas) analysis.

It reveals blood Ph, amount of oxygen, carbon dioxide, base (sodium bicarbonate), lactic acid, and salts (sodium and potassium) in the body.
An acidosis, if found is usually managed by intravenous fluids and sometimes, sodium bicarbonate.

Hope that I have answered your query.
Let me know if I can assist you further.

Stay healthy and stay blessed.
Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee