Helicobacter Forums

Greetings to everyone!

I'm glad to have found this forum.

I've been diagnosed with H. Pylori (stool antigen test), and I'm also deficient in iron. So I wonder if it's better to stop supplementing with iron until the H. Pylori infection has been eradicated. Since the bacteria feed on iron, am I not actively feeding them and encouraging their growth by taking iron?

Thank you for any insight.

I think there is some interaction between iron and tetracycline, maybe ciprofloxacin. But for my understanding, the iron supplement would not decrease the antibiotic efficacy. The antibiotics on the other hand will reduce the iron being absorbed.

In theory, it is better to keep the bacteria growing while having antibiotics. Many antibiotics kill only active growing bacteria, whereas, inactive bacteria will be harder to kill. Nevertheless, this is just an hypothesis, not proven in your case.

you can take iron tablet 2 hrs before or after antibiotics.

Helico-expert, thank you for your reply.

I was not asking about taking iron during treatment with antibiotics. Sorry for not having made my point clearer in my 1st post.

I am asking whether iron supplementation encourages the growth of the bacteria. I am going to start a treatment in about a month, meanwhile I am treating my iron deficiency. However, I wonder if it is better to postpone the iron treatment until after the H. Pylori has been eradicated. I do not want to multiply and strengthen the bacteria and make the process of eradication harder or longer.

I understand your question completely.

just want to explain to you about how antibiotic kill bacteria in general.
penicillin (or amoxicillin) inhibit cell wall synthesis. so if the bacteria is actively growing and there is no cell wall, they die. hence, if the bacteria is not growing, any antibiotic that inhibit cell wall synthesis will not be able to kill the bacteria.

So, if you think iron will make H. pylori grow faster, then the triple therapy you are taking should kill it quicker!

Then again, there may be some interaction between iron tablet and antibiotics. So you have to take it 2 hrs before or after the antibiotics.

Helico_expert, thanks a lot for your detailed explanation! I got it this time