Still feel unwell after Helicobacter Pylori Treatment
Posted , 107 users are following.
Hi,
I had symptoms for about 2 months, nausea and upper abdominal gwaning feeling, plus appetite affected and had waves in the day feeling generally unwell , I think it was brought on due to a stressful situation. I went to the doctors and tested positive for helicobacter pylori. I have completed the 7 day treatment (Triple Therapy.) I was on 400mg Metronidazole 3 times a day, Amoxicillin 500mg 3 times a day and Omeprazole 2 times a day. I've been off the medication for about 11 days. I have waves of extreme tiredness, abit sickly feeling, sick upper abdominal feeling, tounge doesn't look right, been given thrush treatment for this. And also I have waves of soreness and swelling feeling in the upper stomach. I have lost a bit of weight, a few pounds. I have been off work for a month in total and am wondering if I will ever get my health back?
I take probiotic tablets, Manuka honey, peppermint tea, abit of yoga, walking, plain foods. But admittedly at times I do feel a little bit destressed when I have waves of not feeling so good. Everyday is a battle at the moment. Plus when I go to the loo, last week my stools were acidic, this week a slight improvement, but not normal. The doctor just said they can retest in another 3 weeks. But sometimes I feel so ill.
Any advice in a positive way forward?
6 likes, 418 replies
claire95091 louise63558
Posted
Hi,
I was having pain beneath the chest bone, and had tests done to rule out hearts problems, it was beginning to look like I had a sliding hernia, but before I could have an endoscope procedure carried out I had to go on Omeprazole despite having no problems with acid reflux or any other gastric problem. I was also asked for a stool sample and it returned a diagnosis of H.plyori. I was put on 500mg Amoxicillin and 400mg metronidazole three times a day for 7 days, whilst still taking the Omeprazole.
4 days into the treatment and I started to experience diarrhoea this became gradually worse. After I had finished the course I had an itchy anus very frequent diarrhoea stomach cramps stomach spasms, the diarrhoea caused a haemorrhoids which gave me crippling pain each time I passed faecal matter which was not much as I have lost the interest in food, I slept a lot, my eyesight is blurred sometimes, I walk around as if I have just been woken up from a deep sleep, not quite knowing where I am.
As I had no problems with the H.pylori bacteria before I found out I had it I am sorry that I started this treatment, 7 days after the medications finished I still feel the same way. I have taken anti diarrhea medication, Anadin and a probotic from Health Origins (30 billion CFU's), and the symptoms have improved a little. I am going to start drinking homemade ginger tea.
My question is, has anyone with the same symptoms found any relief by taking something else , preferably not prescription based as I am worried I have already caused too much damage to my gut
tamas92825 claire95091
Posted
Hi, it is been a long time I was here. I had the same issue 2 years ago, I had treatment as well. I believed that after the treatment it will be gone immediately. It needs a longer recovery. Some people needs weeks, some months. I had issue 1 year, after treatment more than half year. But now I am fine I have no issue any longer. I had small diarrhoea and every morning pain and feeling to vomit. It needs to take time and drink a lot of green tea without sugar. in the first months stomach will be sensitive for everything. No stress is important. At the end it pass but takes a lot of time. take care
joanna81040 louise63558
Posted
Hello. I posted while back about my H.Pylori. After the treatment I still had stomach pains, my doctor was sending me through a lot of different tests, but everything looked healthy. Through the time I realized that there are certain foods that cause a horrible pain in my stomach. These are: Kale, Quinoa, Red Wine, Sesame seed oil. Now I avoid these foods, and I don't have the episodes anymore.
claire95091 louise63558
Posted
Thank you for your reply, it now been 10 days since the antibiotics treatment finished and I must admit I was in a very bad way. 1.5 toilet rolls in 2 days is nothing to brag about but the cramping and spasms were the worst, I wasn't even able to walk without pain as the whole (small and Large) intestines are inflamed. I didn't eat much as my appetite disappeared completely, but I made myself eat live yogurt and drank homemade hot ginger tea and I did buy some anti diarrhoea relief and some Buscopan I have no idea if the Buscopan worked at all? I returned to the GP and supplied another stool sample and am still waiting on the results. He told me to stop taking the Buscopan which I did and I had already stopped the anti diarrhoea medication. A hot water bottle, ibuprofen and hot ginger tea together with hot water bottles has helped and today I am able to get out of bed and have had a proper meal. I intend to keep taking the ginger tea, live yogurt and the probiotic's for the foreseeable future and will look into Kimchi and Sauerkraut (but I will make them) if I do. I am avoiding all sugars and I am going to keep all carbs down to a low level as the body can turn them into sugar, as I don't want to feed any unwanted bacteria and intend to stick to broccoli and cabbage for their ant inflammatory properties. Will post again when I have news from the GP regarding the sample.
claire95091 louise63558
Posted
Just to up date you all. I went for an endoscope and was given the all clear. The pain associated with the treatment went after 2 weeks and now I'm better than before. So it was worth it. Thank you all for your support and comments.
jean39404 claire95091
Posted
HI there, please advise what you did to get better and how long it took? what to eat ? am in pain and desperately want to get better
willardscott louise63558
Posted
Hello all,
Let me start off by saying thank you to all the posts on this forum! This has put some of my worries at ease. I'm 36 years old. Last month 9/11 I experienced a full anxiety attack while driving to work (first anxiety attack of my life) which had me tingling in arms and feet, shortness of breath and tunnel vision. Took me awhile to calm down and then proceeded to the ER to get checked out as I thought it was a heart attack. Doctors run tests and said EKG is normal and did basic blood work that also came out good. I was released and went on about my day. The next day I see my PD and he told me that it was just an anxiety attack, he prescribe me some Atarax to take when needed and it left me puzzled as to why this came on so sudden.
Two weeks pass and I smaller anxiety attacks unlike the first one where I felt like I was going to die. I noticed during this time that it was linked to when I would eat food (decent serving sizes). Then all of a sudden I didn't feel hungry anymore, I had lost my appetite and lost 10 lbs in 4 or 5 days time. I informed my doctor and he told me to take a Urea breath test which came back positive for H. Pylori. I immediately started the triple therapy treatment (amoxicillan, clarithromycing & protonix) for 14 days and felt great days 1-12. However, on day 13 I experienced loose stool and minor stomach discomfort/cramping and my body felt sore and tired. Sometimes I would feel as if blood wasn't circulating to my hands and legs (which is scary and triggered some anxiety). I'd get up and move around and that would help.
I finished the AB & protonix treatment on 10/16 and still feeling some cramps occasionally, soreness especially in my shoulders and back, an uncontrollable amount of gas (burping all the time) and sometimes the same issues with my hands. I'm wondering if this is all supposed to happen because of being on the antibiotics for so long and now I'm off of them? Has anyone every experienced these symptoms?
tamas92825 willardscott
Posted
I replied you in personal message. Take care
irene8643 willardscott
Posted
Hi there.
I have only just read you post and I can assure you that I had the same symptoms you are describing now. But unlike you I suffered for 15 years and was hell. But the thing is "diet" makes a huge difference with this infection. Without treatment I bit the beast for 15 years.
During a flare up I could not tolerate dairy products, eggs, nuts, fish and sea food or even caffeine.
Reflecting back, I find this particularly interesting mainly because I noticed my stomach usually flared up after going on low carb diet. So I presume a low carb diet involves eating more foods that you stomach cannot tolerate or it is hard to break down and digest - especially when your stomach does not contain enough acid.
I do not know why but I feel that most GPs assume you have lots of acid in you stomach and prescribe you unnecessary - proton pump inhibitors - when your stomach may be quite the opposite and probably producing less acid.
I have read lots of research articles about h-pylori and it is thought that this bacteria usually lives inside the stomach lining as does not like the acid in the stomach. My theory is that if you stomach does not produce enough acid then you are more prone to catch this infection. Usually you get infected with h-pylori when young (early childhood). Some people live their entire lives with this infection and have no symptoms. There are studies suggesting that this bacteria can be quite useful for the stomach because it helps with its functions by regulating the acid. However, for some people like us can create lots of problems.
For example, I am currently taking 15mls vinegar every day and it works for me as I don't think I have enough acid in my stomach anyway. I am not enforcing this information on you nor I am saying you should do the same but find out what works for you.
If interested please read this article it is a good read.
image
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4991651/pdf/49-53.pdf
jean39404 louise63558
Posted
Hi There, Ive been on a second course of Pylori treatment . am on prazole 40 now . feel awful and tired. stomach hurts so bad. I feel really down and wonder if I will ever get well. Thank uou for sharing your stories - helps knowing Im not the only one. pls let me know know should anyone be completely heeled. that would give hope.
tamas92825 jean39404
Posted
Hi, take care. I am completely healthy again. You need a long way to heal but there is hope, do no give up. I had a year to recover and I went through the same. It was horrible. Read back my advices to eating and what to avoid. If you need any help write me. There is hope believe me, sometimes I felt so down I never believed I will ever be healthy. Nowadays I eat everything. 😃
jean39404 tamas92825
Posted
thank you for the message and I feel encouraged. please advise what protein inhibitor you was on and for how long to stop the stomach from producing acid ?
kind regards
tamas92825 jean39404
Posted
I did not get protein inhibitor, if you mean medicine, I got PPI for 14 days as protocol. After the treatment it took 1 month yet to slower the acid producing but my stomach was extremely sensitiv for everything for the next 2-3-4 months.
irene8643 jean39404
Posted
Hi Jean.
It's my first time posting in here - therefore I will try to share my experience with you about h-pylori.
So here's my story.
It all started when I was about 12 or so - now I'm 35. As a child I recall feeling sick upon waking up in the morning and often this nausea feeling subsided once I had eaten my breakfast. Because it was a one-off thing it did not bother me at all. Not until I reached my 20's.
So I was 20 when I started to have all sorts of unpleasant symptoms. I had thousands of blood tests and all come back normal. The GPs I saw during this time had no answers for my symptoms. Sadly, I was left to get on with it and suffered because of this infection for 15 years. In my context, the h-pylori thing started as an panic attack. Interestingly, I survived with this bacteria in my stomach for 25 years without treatment only by dieting. I was on different diets and guess what - it worked. For example, 5 years ago I decided to go on gluten free diet and my symptoms went in remission until I was 32.
During these years my symptoms were as follows:
-nausea
-stomach aches
-hot flushes
-low blood pressure
-high heart rate (over 100 beats for minute - slightly elevated though)
-dizziness (from laying to standing position)
-repeated urinary infections
-repeated yeast infections
-severe headaches during a bad flare up
-feeling generally unwell
-diarrhorea and lots of wind
-severe bloating
-loss of appetite
-temperature but only mildly elevated
-pins and needles in the extremities, neck, back and face
-bad breath
-fatigue
-panic attacks
-memory problems or inability to concentrate
-food intolerance (such as milk, eggs, fish or sea food).
In 2016 (now 32) I had a massive flare up. Woke up one morning feeling extremely tried and generally unwell. On top of everything else I had also experienced a severe headache. Despite feeling unwell, I got myself dressed and off I went to work. Whilst at work phoned my GP practice and the doctor I spoke to sent me for some blood tests. Of course they all come back normal and no further actions were required at this stage. Because I felt unwell still I phoned my GP again. They checked my urine and said I had a bit of infection. I was given some tables and off I went. Because there was no improvement in my health still - I decided to phone my GP practice again. This time I was seen by an Indian doctor who asked me if I was depressed and needed some time off work and that I should stop booking appointments with them because it is nothing wrong with me. And that was the end cause I never went back.
Because I felt disappointed in GPs I refused to go back to ask for help. At this point I was extremely distress and felt depressed. One morning though I phoned for an ambulance. The ambulance crew arrived within 10 minutes, checked my vital signs - they were all normal. I was then taken to hospital for further tests and discharged home after 3 hours as tests revealed no issues with my health. So off I went again without treatment. After 2 weeks prior visiting the emergency room, I went again. This time I asked my partner to take me. On arrival to A&E I was seen by one doctor who asked me if I was depressed and I said to him "wouldn't you if felt unwell? However, I mentioned to him that I felt as if I had an infection in my body (and despite bloods tests coming back normal again) he believed me and prescribed me some Amoxicillin for 10 days. And off I went again. Guess what I got better after taking this course of antibiotics and by dieting.
This year though, I started to have the same symptoms again (since May). Phoned my GP practice again. I was seen by a nurse advanced practitioner who sent me for blood tests and guess what no abnormalities. I then phoned the GP practice a few more times after seeing this nurse and was sent for numerous blood tests and scans and unfortunately I ended up diagnosing myself. I asked one doctor to test me for h-pylori and came back positive. Since then I had 2 courses of antibiotics and I feel so much better. Not completely healed though but 90% better than before. So hang in there, there is hope - you just need to be kind to yourself. If I got better after all this I am 100% you will too.
Kind regards
jean39404 louise63558
Posted
Thanks so much IRENE for your message . Your message was really helpful. For as long as I can remeber I thought I Suffered from IBS. In the past results from doctors tests always came back as nothings wrong. until recently when I was rushed to the hospital. the pylori bacteria caused several ulcers seen on a endoscopy. I went through my 3 mix of antibiotics and the pylori has been eradicated I PRAY. But I have to be on prazole for 3 months for ulcers to heal. ONLY after will the doctors check in another endoscopy. your symptoms are exactly what I experienced . please will you share your diet. I appreciate your time. ❤
irene8643 jean39404
Posted
Hi Jean.
In May this year when I spoke to a doctor on the phone I was also told I suffer from IBS after describing my symptoms to him. My reply to him was "I do not have IBS". As I can feel my stomach burning.
The thing is this infection inflames you stomach thats why diet is so important and foods that are thought to have inflammatory proprieties will aggravate your symptoms.
In terms of diet I tried:
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