Helicobacter Forums

my relative is infected with this Helicobacter pylori bacteria and got four pills to take, which can eliminate the bacteria and put him back on the right track, but, the pills prescribe he cannot take in full doses because he took them previously in 2001, for some other thing, and had really bad side effects, so hes afraid of taking them as prescribes before they further complicate the problem he having now. so instead of the full doses he is breaking up the pills into smaller portions and taking 3 of them instead of 4 daily, so now i ask, will that work to kill off the bacteria an get him back to normal(usually it takes 10-14 days if your doing it right but how long will this way take?)? i know i havent given u much info and am just wanted answers based on conjectures but im worried about him not taking the pills as prescribe. and google isnt helping me find an answer to this question. i know there is another drug he can take that has to do with some photon thing, but forget that for now. thanks.

it is very important to take ALL the pills with the dose prescribed. Taking half the dose will just make the bacteria stronger and it will become resistant to the antibiotics. However, don't worry too much. If your relative cannot have the full dose, the best thing to do is to stop the treatment and take other antibiotics. Your relative is probably allergic to one of them (penicillin?) or if he has taken it before it is very likely the bacteria is already resistant anyway. So talk to your doctor about the problem and try to find the right antibiotics. If you tell me more about the treatment prescribed , I can try to help you find other options.