Helicobacter Forums

Hi helico_expert and others, just an update with me...

After the 2nd line treatment of antibiotics I've been experiencing, constipation easily, bloating pains in instestines when I wake up, gas, belching, esophagus spasms, acid reflux and a lot of pain in the back of my throat, doesn't matter what I eat it's bad. I do have stress and watching very careful what I eat, no dairy (for allergy elimination test), no spicy foods, no caffeinated foods and greasy foods.

Family Dr. came back to me with test results, nothing shows up. Family Dr. gave me domperadone and just said it could be my gall bladder causing bilirubin to go into my stomach making the gas problems. He believes the H.Pylori is gone and the fecal sensitivity test is good enough. I don't agree, and I think the UREA BREATH TEST is what I need so he agreed.

RESULTS

1. Gastro Endoscopy (surgeon didn't do swab and biopsy because he didn't think it was necessary for my stomach was not inflammed ) Surgeon said it was Normal, found no hiatal hernia, or any inflammation, no ulcers .

2. Barium XRAY - Negetive ( I was on Nexium) when this test was shown.

3. Fecal Stool tests showed No parasites, Ova, c.difficile, samonella etc..

So, I am confused and I was really upset the surgeon didn't take a swab or biopsy. I am going to consider taking the Breath test in about another few weeks. I was on Antibiotics about 3-4 weeks ago. I am currently on NEXIUM as well, so I have to wait a bit longer now.
My next steps are:

-Urea Breath Test
-Talk to new Gastroenterologist in a month and ask her to see if i can do an ALLERGY FOOD TEST (gluten, dairy)
- more PARASITE testing going to a special unit to do this in Toronto Canada (got referred by Family Dr.)
- maybe do the Metrametrix Lab Stool test? What do you guys think about this?
- Should I still push for my new stomach specialist to do another endoscopy and swab/biopsy to ensure H.Pylori is gone? or is the Breath Test good enough?

Thanks everyone for your support!

a breath test is accurate enough. in fact, stool test is as accurate. endoscopy is not necessary if you can organise another UBT. I believe your gastric problem may not be Helicobacter related. It's a bit unfortunate that no pathogen was identified. Perhaps some good bacteria will help?

Hi Helico_expert,

Yes I take Acidophilus already.. It helps a bit. I think the gastric problem is now something to do with my acid reflux maybe and the gall bladder may have problems.

Do you recommend the Metametrix Lab test for parasites?

Can I take h2 blockers such as Zantac before my UREA BREATH TEST? my acid reflux is really bad..

Is it for sure wait 2 weeks with not eating any PPI's such as Nexium before the Urea breath test?

unfortunately yes. The mechanism of Urea Breath test is.. H. pylori has the enzyme that will break down urea to produce ammonia and CO2 to neutralize the stomach acid. When there is no acid, the gene is turn off and so the enzyme will not produce more ammonia as that's just suicide.

so, when you take any thing that stop acid production, that includes PPI, nexium, H2-blocker, etc, H. pylori will simply turn off that enzyme to break down urea. Therefore, the urea pill from UBT that you swallow, will simply fail.

In addition, these PPI also increase false negative rate in stool test.

I have just complete my second treatment to destroy H-pylori and find that i am still experiencing heartburn. Does this mean that I haven't got rid of H-pylori.

My first treatment was a one week medication of Metronidazole 400mg, Clarithromycin and Omeprazole but this was unsuccessful in treating. So I was given the following over two weeks of Metronidazole 400 mg x 4 daily; oxytetracycline 250mg x 8 daily and Omeprazole twice daily. The side effects were pretty bad but since finishing course still experiencing heartburn. My other problem is that I am allergic to penicilin so my doctors do not know what to suggest if this course doesn't work.

Do I just sit it out until 4 weeks when I can have another breath test to confirm what has happened or should I go back to my doctor earlier?

Hello,

It takes a while after eradication for the symptoms to stop. Sometimes people still have symptoms several months after Hp eradication so don't worry. Your stomach need time to recover. However, you should definitely do a breath test 4 weeks after the treatment to confirm the eradication. We deal with penicillin allergic patients very often. There is other course you can take but lets see first if you still have Hp or not.

Good luck

I have just been diagnosed with H. Pylori after having various problems including esophageal inflammation, etc.
I am however a little confused as to why treatments offered are to counteract stomach acid. The research I have
uncovered suggests that H. Pylori thrives when stomach acid levels are low and is inhibited when stomach acid
levels raise. Surely the answer lies in either, medication or nutrition to raise levels of stomach acid to stave off this
infection. Is there anyone who can expand on this further.

Thankyou

The stomach is a very acidic environment where not many organisms can survive. H.pylori uses a special enzyme called urease that is going to convert urea into bicarbonate and ammonia which are strong bases. Thanks to this, H. pylori is able to survive in the acidic gastric juice (ph=2) and then safely grow in the mucus cells (ph7) protected by a thick layer of mucus. The treatment we use to eradicate H.pylori always contain a PPI: proton pump inhibitor to counteract stomach acid so the antibiotics can then do their job. Otherwise, antibiotics wouldn't work at such a low ph. I hope this answers your question. You can have more details on this page http://www.helico.com/?q=WhatIsHelicobacterPylori

I second that!
The acid blockers help the antibiotics work. Otherwise, acid interferes with the antibiotic activity in some way. As an example, look at clarithromycin. Why don't we use erythromycin which is far cheaper? Answer; because clarithromycin is stable in acid and active in the stomach. Also it is secreted in saliva so constantly bathes the stomach throughout the day. It also has active metabolites in the blood which are also antibiotics so it hits Hp from two directions, for a long time. Finally, acid blockers raise the the activity of it even more. AstraZeneca and Pfizer collaborated to develop these treatments 10 years ago, and they are still the best.

Hi everyone,

The Amoxxicillin and Flagyl worked for me. UREA BREATH TEST came back negative, this was second line treatment for me

First treatment was Amoxxicillin and Clarithomycin. I also had taken LOSEC and NEXIUM and stopped PPI's altogether. If I watch what I eat heartburn and acid reflux is fine and bloating is getting better. It is basically a lifestyle change to let your stomach heal. I also had to take APO-SULFATRIM for urinary tract infection so it messed up my gut for me again... healing once more...

Please don't stay on PPI's forever because they are not meant to be taken at such a high quantity for too long.. please do tests and make sure you have TOO MUCH Acid & not TOO LITTLE Acid before trying these PPI drugs that do more harm and side effects than you think.

Good luck everyone!