My H Pylori saga
Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2019 5:54 am
Hi Helico,
This is my first post after browsing various sites and forums to read about H. Pylori and see what everyone else might be experiencing with this dreadful bug.
For almost 2 years prior to visiting my GP about them, I was having on and off symptoms of indigestion, nausea, burping and bloating which I had put down to perimemopuse / hormones, since they seemed to go and come every few weeks or so and came on mainly during the night with hot flushes. As time went on, the nausea and burping became more frequent. I would wake up gulping with nausea and sweats, and frequented the toilet to pee. I was not having stomach pains, just felt like severe hunger pangs which felt better after I'd eaten.
Finally, last December I decided to see my GP. Had a battery of blood tests which were all normal (thank God), so I requested a test for H.P and lo and behold it came back positive. Was put on triple therapy - metronidazole, clarithromycin and lansoprazol for one week, stopped taking coffee/caffeine beverages, chocolate, citrus and acidic fruits like tomatoes etc, Then my nightmares began! The meds made me feel sick everyday during the time I was taking them. While the nausea and bloating had pretty much subsided, I developed different symptoms. I was and still burping and started having terrible acid reflux. I could have actually felt the stomach acid spewing up my aesophagus to my throat, which literally burnt my throat sore and caused hoarseness. Went back to my GP after a month, who said that the antibiotics are quite potent and was given another month of PPI, but GP said he was not going to request a retest. Took the month's worth of PPI to no avail, so another visit and GP who then switched to ranitidine and referred me to GI for an endoscopy. Took ranitidine for 3 weeks as prescribed, but not much better. Before knowing when my appointment would come up, I was just willing to try anything just to get some ease, so read up on the internet about mastic gum and decided to give that a try. Bought the capsules and took 500mg a day for a few weeks, but not much relief.
What is really worrying me is that I have lost quite a bit of weight after treatment, although I am eating normally and even more than I used to.
Also feel like I have either developed haemorrhoids or the acid has caused fissures, which causes pain and soreness when I go to the toilet, and blood tinged tissue when I wipe, or rather (it is what I think). All this has caused me to have anxiety and restless nights, where I would wake up with hot flashes and sweats, and sometimes palpitations. While I never had diarrhoea, my stools were not firm and they were like dark green. So I decided to take some probiotic supplements, which caused my stools to firm up, but harsh on my bottom and increased bowel movements, so decided to stop EVERYTHING until my endoscopy which is in a couple of weeks time.
I am so worried sick and miserable that all I do now is pray to God and hope that there is nothing sisister going on in my system, that this misery will soon be over, and that I will feel healthy and normal again.
I would appreciate any advice or to know if anyone else has had similar experiences, especially if they had weight loss and reflux after treatment. It would be somewhat reassuring, as you can imagine how worried I am about the effects of HP and what it can lead to.
This is my first post after browsing various sites and forums to read about H. Pylori and see what everyone else might be experiencing with this dreadful bug.
For almost 2 years prior to visiting my GP about them, I was having on and off symptoms of indigestion, nausea, burping and bloating which I had put down to perimemopuse / hormones, since they seemed to go and come every few weeks or so and came on mainly during the night with hot flushes. As time went on, the nausea and burping became more frequent. I would wake up gulping with nausea and sweats, and frequented the toilet to pee. I was not having stomach pains, just felt like severe hunger pangs which felt better after I'd eaten.
Finally, last December I decided to see my GP. Had a battery of blood tests which were all normal (thank God), so I requested a test for H.P and lo and behold it came back positive. Was put on triple therapy - metronidazole, clarithromycin and lansoprazol for one week, stopped taking coffee/caffeine beverages, chocolate, citrus and acidic fruits like tomatoes etc, Then my nightmares began! The meds made me feel sick everyday during the time I was taking them. While the nausea and bloating had pretty much subsided, I developed different symptoms. I was and still burping and started having terrible acid reflux. I could have actually felt the stomach acid spewing up my aesophagus to my throat, which literally burnt my throat sore and caused hoarseness. Went back to my GP after a month, who said that the antibiotics are quite potent and was given another month of PPI, but GP said he was not going to request a retest. Took the month's worth of PPI to no avail, so another visit and GP who then switched to ranitidine and referred me to GI for an endoscopy. Took ranitidine for 3 weeks as prescribed, but not much better. Before knowing when my appointment would come up, I was just willing to try anything just to get some ease, so read up on the internet about mastic gum and decided to give that a try. Bought the capsules and took 500mg a day for a few weeks, but not much relief.
What is really worrying me is that I have lost quite a bit of weight after treatment, although I am eating normally and even more than I used to.
Also feel like I have either developed haemorrhoids or the acid has caused fissures, which causes pain and soreness when I go to the toilet, and blood tinged tissue when I wipe, or rather (it is what I think). All this has caused me to have anxiety and restless nights, where I would wake up with hot flashes and sweats, and sometimes palpitations. While I never had diarrhoea, my stools were not firm and they were like dark green. So I decided to take some probiotic supplements, which caused my stools to firm up, but harsh on my bottom and increased bowel movements, so decided to stop EVERYTHING until my endoscopy which is in a couple of weeks time.
I am so worried sick and miserable that all I do now is pray to God and hope that there is nothing sisister going on in my system, that this misery will soon be over, and that I will feel healthy and normal again.
I would appreciate any advice or to know if anyone else has had similar experiences, especially if they had weight loss and reflux after treatment. It would be somewhat reassuring, as you can imagine how worried I am about the effects of HP and what it can lead to.