relief from symptoms

[sharid]

My daughter has tested positive for H Pylori. She is on her 5th day of treatment, and seems to have no relief from her symptoms. I am worried that the H Pylori is resistant to the treatment. She was on lots of antibiotics for ear infections as an infant. Should she be seeing some relief by now, or is it too early?

[Helico_expert]

I think the right thing is to follow the standard protocol, which is finish the course, wait for 2 weeks without any acid reducing drug, then do a follow up breath test. If negative, she is free from H. pylori. If positive, go back to GP, tell him about resistance, and get another set of antibiotics.

H. pylori treatment is long and in some patients, experience side effects. But it is all worth it. So, please be patience and finish the antibiotics.

[sharid]

Thank you for that advice. That is what we will do, although the Doctor says there is no need to be retested, I will insist on it. I am just wondering about other's experience as far as relief of syptoms. How long into treatment before we can expect her pain to go away?

[Helico_scientist]

Once you have finished your treatment and are Helicobacter negative, it takes a while for the stomach to recover. Somes patients have to wait several months to see their symptoms disappear. It depends on the severity. A good and healthy diet could help. Be patience

[Kordax]

I finished my treatment a week ago today and my stomach still hurts and I have slight nausea. The symptoms are not like they were before I started the meds though (bloating, burping, nausea, etc.). I figure when you combine the antibiotics and the bacteria that was in my stomach, I should expect some damage in there. I am going to push through it and wait for my follow-up test on the 7th to see if it is gone. I used the PrevPac treatment, BTW.

[Helico_expert]

hi, the recovery may take some time. Tell us your follow up result later on.

[Kordax]

Reporting back. I went to my general physician (not the one who diagnosed and treated me, that was a walk-in clinic doc). I explained my diagnosis, treatment and how I am currently feeling. He said that he didn't see a reason to retest me unless I started getting the symptoms again. He said if I was treated for H Pylori properly, we should assume it is gone until we have reason to believe it came back. He was aware of the fact that retesting blood would give a false positive so that was out. I asked about the breath test and he said it was an expensive test and if it came down to me feeling sick again, he would rather scope me, do a biopsy and see if there was an ulcer. As for how I am feeling, I have been finished with the PrevPac for a little over three weeks now. I had some nausea and cramps for a little over 2 weeks after finishing the two weeks of medicine but that is all pretty much gone at this point. I am back to about 95% of foods with no problems whatsoever. Really greasy food gives me a little gross feeling at night but other than that I am back to normal.

I give so much detail because when i was going through all of this I wanted to know how people felt throughout the whole process and also afterward. Just so everyone knows, you can rid yourself of this and get back to normal, no matter how down you get about having it. I remember being really annoyed by always feeling sick and how I just wanted it to be gone. Hold strong and if at all possible, take the medicine exactly as scheduled because it will hopefully be worth it in the end. Best of luck!

[Helico_expert]

i disagree with your dr about retesting. the resistance is growing and you should know if you are really cured. nevertheless, it is true that the breath test can be expensive.

[Helico_scientist]

I also think the breath test is important. If you are still positive, it is a good idea to go through endoscopy and sensitivity testing. I'm glad you are feeling better though. Thanks for encouraging comments. Good luck