Newbie...

[snojul]

Hi all. I am so thankful to have found this site. My brief history and questions.

I went to ER 3 weeks ago for chest and back pain in left rib cage directly under breast. After x-ray and blood work, the diagnosis was pleurisy and I was given heavy dosing of Naproxen. I took medicine as directed.

On Tuesday, February 3, I ended back at ER after explosive diarrhea ended with dehydration and passing blood with mucus. Cat Scan with contrast and blood work showed bacterial infection in intestines and H-Pylori. Doctor stated that previous doctor giving me the Naproxen was the worst thing for H Pylori and I never had pleurisy. That was actually pain from the pylori. Gave me IV with heavy doses of Levothyroxine and Flagyl then sent me home with a prescription of Cipro, Flagyl, and Prevacid. Took it for a week to clear up the bacterial infection in intestines first.

On Wednesday, February 4, I passed a big blood clot from intestinal tract.

On Friday, February 6, I passed a smaller blood clot shaped like the intestine. ( no blood since)

On Tuesday, February 10, Started the Pylera medication with Protonix. (I am allergic to penicillin) I have had a clean digestive tract since the 3rd. All goes pretty much straight through. It is formed but still small and loose. Today the heartburn and belching has started back up again and a slight pain in the ribs is back. I am assuming from fighting the infection. I am eating small meals and trying to stay close to the BRAT diet while on this medicine.

Questions...
1. During the medication process, will symptoms come and go?
2. I am not taking probiotics or any dairy at the moment as I don't want any interference with the medicines. Is this the right thing to do?
3. Looking back over my life, as a child and teenager I had constant stomach issues and they gave me Naprosin for pain. Then in my 20's, the doctors said I had ulcerative colitis with possible Crohns. My symptoms went away and into remission with each of my pregnancies. Then in my 30's, I lost 20 pounds in 1 month and hospitalized for a week to finally end with a diagnosis of hypothyroid. After being on medicine for thyroid for 6 months, I felt better in my 30's than I ever did. Then back in December of this year (46 year old female), my thyroid went haywire again tsh was 22 on scale of .4-4.45... then I get this. I am assuming, that I have had pylori since childhood and the NSAIDs just spurred it and the thyroid going hypo again made the pylori reactivate. Your thoughts?

I just wanted to let others know my experience in case it is similar to theirs.

[Helico_expert]

thank you for sharing your story.

Naproxen, or so call NSAIDs, have the side effect of reducing stomach mucous. many people who take long term NSAIDs to prevent stroke ends up having ulcers in the duodenal. In the modern society, NSAIDs are responsible for 50% of the stomach ulcers.

to answer your question,
1. During the medication, symptoms may come and go. Varies from patient to patient. However, more patient tend to experience the side effect (eg. diarrhea) more than the reflux.
2. Not taking probiotics or any other medication to avoid drug drug interaction is a sensible thing to do. After all, I believe the probiotics will be killed by your antibiotic treatment anyway. Nevertheless, there is no harm trying if you feel that you should take some to prevent bad flora growing up.
3. It is very likely that you were infected with H. pylori when you are young. Studies have shown that children as young as 2 years old is already infected with H. pylori.