Helicobacter Forums

I don’t understand why antibiotics are so quickly and readily prescribed sometimes over and over again for people who could have or do have antibiotic resistant h pylori. I am taking the first course of antibiotics now but I have taken so many antibiotics in my life since I was a kid – and have consequently been diagnosed with IBS, gastritis, and a few minor ulcers back when doctors didn't know h pylori caused them - that the chances of these antibiotics working would probably be a lot lower for me than someone who has had very few antibiotics in his/her life. Since antibiotics kill the good bacteria in our stomach and intestines and who knows what all else, wouldn’t it be a good idea to screen people first to see how many antibiotics they have had in their life AND do the most reliable test (endoscopy right?) to make sure they have h pylori before prescribing more antibiotics? I believe I am putting myself at a huge risk of further deteriorating my gut microbiome, which probably is the main source of my h pylori infection to begin with. Fortunately, though few doctors ever prescribe the probiotics along with the antibiotics like they do in Europe, I am prepared. I will be consuming every diverse fermented thing I can get my hands on and high quality, multi strain probiotics in an effort to inoculate my gut microbiome after I have killed off what little good bacteria I have at the moment. Hopefully the h pylori will be overwhelmed and I will have a fresh start. Is this sound reasoning? If these antibiotics don't work and my strategy doesn't work, is there some other approach that does not involve more antibiotics?

simply prescribing antibiotics are not ethical. antibiotics resistance are so bad now, we are almost running out of antibiotics. it's scary when you learn that the antibiotic resistance ability can be pass around among the bacteria.

Nevertheless, for H. pylori, it is possible to test the bacteria for antibiotic sensitivity before prescribing antibiotics. It's routinely done in our clinic. However, it is not always affordable in many countries especially special skills are required to culture and test these microbes. In many clinics, it is more cost effective to just give the antibiotics first, then deal with patients with resistance. This practice only works for country with low resistance (developed country like US and Australia) and will not work in countries with high resistance (eg. developing countries like China and India).

We do have a list of alternative antibiotics. You may have a look at our publication.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 0F9.f01t02

and supportive documents (list of antibiotics)
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 9/suppinfo