Helicobacter Forums

Hello, New member hoping you can help.

Just before Christmas was diagnosed with helico p after suffering a spell of nausea, vomiting & diarrhoea.

I had been suffering from acid reflux for a year or so - keeping me awake at night, suffering when bending and having a persistent cough (which I never would have put down to acid!) I figured acid was due to age (45), put up with it using gaviscon & hadn't been to see a doctor until I thought I'd caught a stomach bug before Christmas. I only mentioned the acid in passing
& only went to the doctor as a few colleagues had suffered similar symptoms & felt quite rotten, I've been lucky & have never really suffered from stomach bugs much.

I was prescribed 20mg omeprazole after I'd given a stool test, which totally cured the acid, and additionally prescribed amoxicillin & clarithromycin & 40mg omeprazole when helico p was identified. The anti biotic regime was awful & symptoms worsened for the week I was on them. I dropped down to 20mg of omeprazole (taken in the morning) after the antibiotics finished & started to feel better, (still no acid which is great) but I have had constant diarrhoea & stomach pain (under the ribs) since (from early morning into the afternoon). After a particularly bad weekend I went back to the doctor on Monday as I was supposed to be taking omeprazole for a further 3 weeks, but decided I couldnt bear the effects I was suffering. blood tests were taken ( I'm guessing to retest for helico p) which came back yesterday as negative.

I also had to do 3 more stool samples but I'm not sure what they will be testing for, has anyone else had to do this & have an idea to what they will be testing for?

I've also been taken off the omeprazole & been prescribed 150mg zantac twice a day which I started taking yesterday. I'm guessing the zantac will take day or so to start working properly, although my stools today are more solid the frequency and urgency hasn't changed and spent most of the morning rushing to the bathroom. Does anyone have more positive experience of zantac over omeprazole?

My blood pressure was also a bit high on Monday it was taken 5 times over 2 hours & was 191/95 at its highest. It was also high when I first visited the doctor in December. I'm being fitted with a BP monitor for 24 hours tomorrow & although I'm not overly worried as I think it's due to feeling poorly I can't see anything about raised BP in any of the medication leaflets.

I'm not a big fan of yoghurt but I'm thinking of trying probiotic yoghurt - do they actually work or compliment medical treatments?

the three stool test is probably to triple confirm the eradication of H. pylori. Zantac, omeprazole and other acid blocker may affect the test result.

cannot use blood test to check for H. pylori after treatment as the false positive is too high. If it is negative, it means that you are never infected with H. pylori and your problem is caused by something else. normally blood test will stay positive for weeks, months or even years.

if you were suspected to have ulcers, normally you'll be asked to continue taking omeprazole for a month for the ulcer to heal. Zantac will work too.

yoghurt and other probiotics are ok. some people were taking it to replenish the good bacteria in the guts and they had been wiped out by the antibiotics. Also, because the gut flora grows back naturally by chance. there is a chance that bad bacteria dominate the guts before the good ones. so people developed IBS problem after antibiotic treatment. Anyway, probiotics are not doing any harm. So I would recommend it.

Thanks.

I'm slightly improved after almost a week on zantac instead of omeprazole boosted by probiotics, but I've noticed the acid reflux is returning. I'm less urgent & less frequent but I'm still suffering stomach pain.
I'm not overly concerned about my BP but I had to wear a monitor for 24 hours to take readings every 30 mins which uncomfortable & disruptive. Not good when already exhausted!

I'm back at the doctors tomorrow for BP results & stool sample results hopefully everything is on its way to being fully eradicated.