Helicobacter Forums

In early April our 15 year old daughter was diagnosed with severe Fe Def anaemia (marked microcytosis and anisocytosis of red blood cells, Iron <2, Ferritin 1, Haemoglobin 69 g/L) after complaining of on-going nausea and lethargy which we had initially thought may be due to anxiety. It turns out her anxiety was due to feeling so unwell. A subsequent blood test was negative for coeliac but positive for Helicobacter pylori. Although the breath test was negative she completed the one-week combination treatment of Clarithromycin, Esomeprazole and Amoxycillin in late April. She had also been taking the iron sup Ferrograd C twice daily and by mid-May her red blood cells were showing signs of recovery and her Iron had restored to 16 umol/L (Ferritin 22; Haemoglobin 131). As she still felt unwell (nausea, background headache, occasional stomach cramps and sharp pain under rib cage) and this was impacting her school attendance and her life in general she then stopped the iron sups in the hope that this was the cause. Her symptoms did not resolve, however, and in early June her iron levels had again dropped significantly. She had an iron infusion in late June and a gastroscopy/colonoscopy in early July that found no sign of any upper or lower blood loss site. During the procedure biopsies were taken to test for H. pylori and coeliac disease, and we await these results with interest. If anyone with personal or professional experience of Helicobacter related anaemia has any useful treatment, dietary or other advice after reading this we would love to hear it in the interests of restoring our daughter's health.

Does anyone have any ideas about whether Helicobacter can impact on ferritin levels, continuing for some months after the Helicobacter has been successfully treated? Our daughter was recently diagnosed with chronic migraine and her symptoms worsen when her ferritin level dips, which it has been doing all year when not on sups. Her endoscopy/colonoscopy and breath tests after Hp treatment were all clear and there is no evidence of coeliac disease. It is hard not to believe that the Helicobacter set this up.

Helicobacter pylori suck up iron like a sponge. There has been study that showed improvement of iron deficiency anemia. However, keep in mind that Helicobacter pylori is only one of the many factors of iron deficiency.

here are some supportive literature.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10896071

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20201716

Thank you. We will read these with interest.

Hi,
I just found this forum today as I was diagnosed with H Pylori several weeks ago. I have been dealing with low ferratin numbers and hair loss (there is a link between the two). I saw your post about anemia. I was just wondering how your daughter is doing? Is she better? Has the H Pylori been eradicated? If so, have her iron levels gone up? I'm just wondering (but will never really know) how long I've had the infection and if that's why I've been dealing with hair loss for all these years.

Thanks =)

Hello,
Thanks for your response. The two gastroenterologists who've seen my daughter in the past year both believe the H. pylori has been eradicated. Anecdotal evidence that has come our way since suggest that gut bugs like H. pylori affect hair growth and improvements occur once the problem is treated.
My daughter had her third iron infusion in 12 months just a couple of weeks ago, on June 30. Her ferritin levels have continued to drop quite sharply after each of the previous two infusions and were down to 9 at the end of May. We then upped her intake of Spatone (a liquid iron supplement) and (Flintstones) children's iron sup. from the USA and her ferritin improved for the first time, up to 31 from 9 in just one month, just before the last infusion. This was as a consequence of doing Internet research and finding what had worked for others. However, we went ahead with the iron infusion, and will be very closely watching how things progress in the next few months. One thought from a haematologist and a more holistic GP was that she was in such deficit last year that it would take two to three infusions to get her back in balance. Her hair now looks great, thanks probably to the infusions. This time last year it was terrible, like a thin curtain. If her ferritin drops beyond 75 or so in the future, we will try Spatone and Flintstones again to see if it stabilises. Dropping ferritin is one issue, but the main problem for her is the off and on feeling of nausea throughout each day. Our daughter finds the usual GP iron sup. recommendations (Ferrograd C etc) make her feel more nauseous (and therefore anxious) than she already feels, which is the issue. It is particularly difficult for her as she is just 16. We also saw a gastroenterologist to discuss a capscule endoscopy (our daughter has had an endoscopy and colonoscopy) to try to determine whether there is a site of bleeding somewhere along her gastrointestinal tract to explain the dropping Ferritin. Tomorrow we see a more holistic GP to discuss the whole picture. Will keep you posted if we learn anything worthwhile. I must add that until early last year our daughter had rarely seen a GP - our family doctor said to me that she thought we were taking the children elsewhere, she never saw them.
Best Wishes.