Helicobacter Forums

Hello,

I had a positive breath test come up for H Pylori and had a colonoscopy and endoscopy that showed severe and chronic gastritis and a high level HP infection found in the tissue biopsies. I have been sick for quite a while but just lately the severe stomach distention, weight gain and fatigue have been extremely bad.

My doctor wants to give me Pylera with Omeprazole for 10 days. I am not opposed to the antibiotics but am VERY scared of the Omeprazole. Besides not being able to comprehend why one would want to lower the stomach acid, I am really worried about some side effects of the PPIs that some people I know had. I have had a history of severe anxiety and worry about having bad panic attacks on this med.

I have got to try and get rid of this infection once and for all but, to be honest, I am scared. My doctor said that the Omeprazole will raise the likelyhood of eradication for I just don't see how this is possible. I am thinking of taking the Pylera without it but would like some advice. I would also like to know if others had serious side effects from their PPI as well.

Thanks so much
Laurite

PPI has been on market for a while now. It should be considered safe.

Some antibiotics dont work properly in acidic condition. So PPI will help reduce the acidity to increase the antibiotic efficacy.

Lastly, if you have a wound (or ulcer) in your stomach, you'll feel the pain when acid attack the wound. So PPI will ease your pain.

Thanks Helico expert....

I guess I am also scared about people getting these worse conditions after the treatment...this seems common so it's worrisome. Is this as prevalent as it seems or is it just a small percentage?

Hi,
Omeprazole is ALWAYS used with the antibiotics for H. pylori eradication. It reduces the acid in the stomach so the antibiotics can work. If you don't take it, the antibiotics won't have any effects. Many people in the world take omeprazole for several months without the antibiotics to help with their symptoms. The side effects are very rare. Usually people are a bit concerned about the side effects from the antibiotics, not omeprazole. And, the side effects only last the time of the treatment, if there is any. I think the anxiety is not helping. Stop reading what people say on internet. When you think about it, people who does not experience side effects are not going on internet to talk about it, so what you read is only from a small amount of people compare to the millions of people whom are completely fine taking this treatment. I understand you are tired but try to relax and think positively. This treatment is here to help you get better and millions of people are glad this treatment exist as it can eradicates this naughty bacteria. So don't worry and give it a try.

I was ready to give it a try when I now have found out that the cost of Pylera is about $800 so that is out. And tetracycline is not available to buy alone.

Can you please recommend the next best treatment option so I can present this to my doctor? He asked me to do some research myself to find out what is helping people the most because there are so many options out there.

I am allergic to sulfer drugs and quinolines and have taken Amoxicilin only once 3 years ago for a 3 day course and Azythromycin and Tinidazole many times in the recent past for other ailments. Not sure if having taken Zpack will cause resistance in Clarithromycin or not. They are in the same family but are not the exact same molecularly.

Thanks

Laurite

Have you tried google? i think it is about $35/100 pill for 250mg tetracycline.

look for pepto bismol for the bismuth.

Thanks for the info.....I got the meds and an hour after taking them my eyes swelled shut.

I cannot say for sure which of the two antibiotics I am allergic to but I suspect it is the Tetracyline. Now back to the drawing board

I am curious about something....I took Azithromycin in the past. Does this mean that my HP will be resistant to Clarithromycin because they are in the same family or no?

i am sorry to hear about your allergic reaction. You better try some anti-histamine or something. eg telfast.

Azithromycin has the same mode of action as chlarithromycin. They target the same protein in H. pylori. So it is likely that if the protein is mutated to resist chlarithromycin, it will be resistant to Azithromycin.

Thanks for your reply. Yeah it's been rough. I took a lot of benadryl and the swelling went down and I am almost ready to start again. The problem is is that I am not sure which antibiotic I am allergic to exactly.

My doctor's new idea is to do a quadruple concomitant therapy regiment using: Amoxicillin, Clarithromycin, Omeprazole and Metronidazole to boost efficacy. Whewww this should be fun.

The problem is is that I have taken Amox in the past and I have taken a drug in the other two classes (Tinidazole and Azithromycin). How can anyone avoid this as most of us have taken these before, if not ones that are similar.

I wish that the doctor had done a test to see exactly which antibiotics my strain is resistant to. Oh well.

Thanks for your support.

yea, you will have a higher chance of eradication if you could do a antibiotic sensitivity test. is that option still available?