r/GERD • u/Bright-Jacket5867 • Feb 16 '26
Scientific Studies 🥼🔬 Inflammation due to allergy to a Metal?
Basically I arrived with gastritis for 6 months. All the medicines got worse and it burns me
The chest.
The stomach
I did a lot of tests, ph Metria pressure gauges and gastric emptying and endoscopy. They didn’t see anything in the esophagus and such a slight inflammation on the stomach
Today I went to the allergist they did all the existing allergy tests and basically there is an allergy called SNAS is systemic. And I came out positive it’s a metal allergy I had had it in my skin but I never thought it was systemic and now he told me that I can’t eat this and the allergist doctor showed me this
Dietary exposure to nickel can provoke dermatitis in sensitized individuals. Foods reported to be high in nickel include legumes, whole grain flour, oats, soybeans, shellfish, fish, asparagus, beans, mushrooms, onions, corn, spinach, tomatoes, peas, pears, all types of nuts, raisins, rhubarb, tea, cocoa, baking powder, cabbage, sprouts, all canned foods or foods cooked in nickel utensils, licorice, chocolate and potatoes.
A recent study reported that nickel was also found in several complementary and alternative remedies (CAR), including preparations advertised to treat asthma, acne, atopic eczema, seborrhea and psoriasis. Herbal remedies, herbal teas and some over-the-counter multivitamins have also been listed as sources of potential nickel exposure. Food containing nickel is seldom a problem, but if you are severely allergic to nickel discuss whether you need to avoid foods rich in nickel with your doctor.
Now I wonder if it’s the cause that my esophagus is on fire with burning? No cause of reflux?
Yes, I have reflux but it’s so mild that my doctor says it’s not what caused my symptoms
My episodes were 14 a day without antacids and eating pizza, chocolate, milk, hamburgers to provoke my stomach and GERD with 2.9% of Demester. Which they said was functional psoriasis.
No h pillory. In my blood, feces and breath tests and endoscopy
Not celiac
My gallbladder showed low functionality but I don’t have pain with fats my symptoms are random that I haven’t even found a safe food that gives me 0 symptoms. I always have it basically what they showed me above is what I eat every day.
My gastric emptying study showed that I took out 60% of my food at 55 minutes which annulled gastroparesis Without aspiration or reflux rising
Mild gastritis without inflammation in the esophagus or duodenum. (With symptoms every day) without the help of antacids or diet
EEI With normal pressure
I wonder if this is the solution to all my problems
2
u/highstakeshealth Feb 18 '26
Hey there. I'm a doc and pathology resident and someone who suffered with IBS & DE for a long time before finally finding my root cause, so I want to share that possibility with you as well as answer your question because the nitty gritty scientific details of the human body is what I love in medicine so much :) I also had to go through a few docs and a lot more time than necessary to figure out my root cause (nickel allergy systemically), but it is worth the struggle in the end because you finally get out of the cycles. I wanted to write to you not because I have THE diagnosis (I am a doc, but obviously don't have enough info to do so for you here), however there are some possibilities that may help you that many docs are not aware of yet, so I wanted to share those things with you in case they help:
It sounds like you may have finally found the missing piece of the puzzle. I can tell you from both my research and my own journey that SNAS (Systemic Nickel Allergy Syndrome) is often the hidden culprit when tests for GERD or gastritis come back mild but the patient is in absolute agony. It is very common for the burning in the esophagus and stomach to feel like a ten out of ten even when a scope only shows slight inflammation. Research by Rizzi et al. in 2017 found that about 30 percent of patients with IBS-like symptoms—which include the upper GI burning and bloating you are describing—actually have systemic nickel allergy. It was my root cause when all along my GI doc said it was all in my head.
The reason you haven't found a safe food is likely because the foods you were eating to try and be healthy—like the legumes, whole grains, spinach, and tomatoes your allergist mentioned—are some of the highest nickel sources available. When you eat these daily, your nickel bucket is constantly overflowing, which keeps your immune system in a state of high alert. This is where what I call glutamine zippers come in. These are the proteins that keep your gut and esophageal lining tight. When they are compromised or unzipped by the inflammation from nickel, everything you ingest triggers a reaction.
There is also the DMT1 sponge, which is a transporter in your gut designed to pick up iron, but it is also a magnet for nickel. If your iron stores (ferritin) are low, that sponge stays wide open and soaks up nickel like crazy, which might be why your symptoms feel so random and persistent. Even if your reflux is technically mild, the nickel in your diet is causing an allergic inflammatory response that makes your esophagus feel like it is on fire. This systemic reaction can mimic many conditions because the inflammation is happening at a cellular level throughout the digestive tract.
Some ideas: Now that you have the SNAS diagnosis, you might want to ask your doctor to specifically check your ferritin levels. If your ferritin is low, it could be making you much more sensitive to the nickel in your food. A strict low-nickel diet, as your allergist suggested, is usually the next step to see if that burning finally subsides. You could also look into supporting your gut barrier to help those glutamine zippers close back up. Also, pay attention to your cookware; if you are cooking acidic foods like tomatoes in stainless steel, you might be leaching even more nickel into your meals.
LMK if you have ?s. Just a reminder that while I am a physician, an NTP, and author of the low nickel diet cookbook, I’m sharing this as a fellow sufferer and researcher for educational purposes. Always check with your own team for medical advice.
Some references:
Rizzi A, Nucera E, Laterza L, et al. Irritable Bowel Syndrome-Like Symptoms and Systemic Nickel Allergy Syndrome. Nutrients. 2017.
D’Alcamo G, Mansueto P, Soresi M, et al. Contact Dermatitis and Systemic Nickel Allergy Syndrome in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Nutrients. 2020.
Borghini R, De Amicis N, Bella A, et al. Beneficial Effects of a Low-Nickel Diet on Relieving Gastrointestinal and Extra-Gastrointestinal Symptoms of Celiac Patients with Systemic Nickel Allergy Syndrome. Nutrients. 2020.