Diagnosed after 3 years of severe bloating.

[Jake_shunt]

Hi guys, new to the forum and recently diagnosed with HP.

I'm a 22 year old male from Australia.

For the last 2-3 years I have had sever abdominal bloating (I look 8 months pregnant) however had no other symptoms.
I always thought it was due to my extremely poor diet. Recently I got fed up with my appearance and being embarrassed to take my shirt off.

For the last 2-3 months I have cut out all alcohol, dramatically changed my diet, joined the gym and started to see some results.
However after a few weeks my results hit a plateau and after a discussion with my girlfriend I decided to go to the doctor.
About a week and a half ago I visited my GP and the Dr suggested I take a urea breath test, a positive reading for HP was the result (a positive reading was around 200 units, my result was 866 units in my breath test). I had never heard of helicobacter P before being diagnosed.

I am currently on a course of Nexium HP7 and am due to take my last dose on Monday 22/12.
After reading many posts on the forum I feel lucky as my reaction to the medication has been mild. The first day my stomach hurt but after that I had no symptoms other than a bad taste in my mouth and feeling hungry quite soon after eating.

My bloating seems to come and go, some days I'm flatter than others.

This forum has given me great peace of mind knowing that this infection is not uncommon and some success stories have given me great hope. I just wanted to share my story and receive any advice or feedback. I also wanted to ask as my infection had obviously been around for an extended period of time, is it to be expected that my recovery may take a while ?

Thanks for your time

[Helico_expert]

great story. Thanks for sharing. I think you have a high chance of eradicating H. pylori with your HP7 treatment. We need more story like yours. Normally people who get cured dont bother posting in the forum. That's why this forum is commonly filled with patients with difficulty curing or lots of side effects.

[Jake_shunt]

Thank you helico_expert !

This may be a silly question but is it possible to transfer HP through kissing and sharing food/drinks? My Dr suggested my girl friend do a urea breath test. Was just wandering if she could pass it back to me if she did have it once my infection is gone?

Thanks !

[Helico_expert]

Not silly at all. The current believe is, it's difficult to pass H. pylori via kissing and sharing food. But it is not impossible. We have evidence that showed couple carrying very similar H. pylori strains. So, I would recommend the same, get your girl friend check.