Helicobacter Forums

I'm a 27 year-old woman who's been in over-all good health, until recently I've been having heart burn and general stomach upset for about three months now. Heartburn is very rare for me, but I've had many instances of food poisoning in my life. I couldn't take it anymore so I finally went to the doctor. The first doctor I went to just gave me Nexium and told me to take it for one month. Around week two, I started to feel even worse, so I stopped taking it and tried a few natural ways to ease my heartburn... Apple cider vinegar, ginger etc. It helped somewhat, but I then started to develop some loose bowels and bloating/cramping. I went to a different doctor and she immediately gave me tinidzole to treat giardia. Then they ran blood tests and stool tests. They found campylobacter in my stool test and prescribed me zithromax for three days, but it didn't clear up. I went back and had an H.Pylori test done, and it came back negative. So my doc put me on five days of zythromax to clear up the campylobacter infection. I feel a little bit better (on day three), but I feel as if my heartburn is coming back?! Is it possible that the H.pylori breath test was a false negative because I had taken tinidazole in the past week and also zythromax? Is there another more accurate way to test for H.Pylori since I have been taking anti-biotics? Could it be something else? I have also been having recurring UTIs. I read that it could be also a sign of H.Pylori. If it is H.Pylori, I don't know if I should go back on anti-biotics as I have read they aren't always successful, and I don't want to be taking anti-biotics for too long. Are the natural ways more or less effective than the conventional western methods? I would really love to get back to my normal positive, healthy self. Any help/advice is greatly appreciated.

There is no natural ways of curing H. pylori.

It is possible that your H. pylori is false negative since you are taking nexium and antibiotics.

You can do a blood test now to check if you had been infected by H. pylori. However, blood test does not tell your current H. pylori status. Your other treatment with tinidazole and zithromax may have killed H. pylori. If possible, finish all your current treatment, wait for weeks without PPI and antibiotics, then redo the breath test.

Alternatively, you can see a specialist and book an endoscopy. Ask your specialist to get some biopsies and do a histology and bacterial culture- antibiotic sensitivity test.