Hello everyone. As part of my ongoing journey to identify reasons for my B12 problem I have today received the first couple of results of blood work:
Ferritin 112 mcg/l (20 - 250)
anti - Helicobacter Pylori IgG >8.00 (> 1.1 = positive)
I am waiting for a further H Pylori test result - for H Pylori IgA. Also for coeliac. I think that the two H Pylori tests are for chronic and acute H Pylori. Anyway, it is clear from the above that I have some form of H Pylori infection: does anyone have any advice on how to treat it? I have a endoscopy and colonoscopy tomorrow and clearly cannot begin any antibiotic course until after that. Any advice gratefully received!
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Frank77
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i had h pylori which i believe is what caused my b12 deficiency.
my serum iron prior to eradication was 68 and 69 (2 tests) and iron % saturation was 21 and 24 (also 2 tests).
after eradication my serum iron was 109 (110 optimal for women) and iron percentage saturation was 35 ( 35 optimal for women) .
of course my doctors said my levels prior to eradication were fine. They were not.
after my first course of antibiotics i only felt slightly better for about 2 weeks. i waited 3 months to be rechecked, as i assumed i had surely killed it. Nope.
After 2nd treatment, i felt better immediately after finishing antibiotics and 10 days after i had finished i felt so great i started walking daily. 2 months later i retested and it was negative breathe test.
unfortunately i started feeling terrible again 20 days after treatment so i was very confused.
i now believe i would not have worsened if i had only kept taking probiotics. i had started probiotics during treatment to resolve diarrhea which was caused by the huge antibiotic dosage required. however i stopped taking them once my antibiotic treatment ended since i felt so good.
Big mistake!!! keep taking them for 3 to 6 months minimum. use multiple kinds with high dose cfus and as many different strains as possible because all of your good bacteria will be obliterated.
here is the link for optimal serum iron and iron percentage saturation. they are on a full iron panel. you can ask for it prior to your colonoscopy, that way you will have something to compared your before and after eradication results.
all h pylori eradication research i read, indicated my intrensic factor cells would be working again after 2 months. that was not my case. my b12 continued to quickly drop after injections for 7 months. during that time i continued to need weekly or bi weekly injections because i would feel crap when i would try to get off injections and space them out to 3 weeks. then suddenly, after i had given up on getting off of injections, i no longer felt the need for them.
i havent had an injection since 7-6-18 and my b12 levels are fine without them now. my 2nd h pylori treatment was at begining of 12-2017. it is now 10-17-2018.
Many thanks KimberinUS. Main message I take from your post is that it is not easy to eliminate H Pylori! I have read that the standard treatment involves taking 2 antibiotics and a proton pump inhibitor (PPI). Since many people on this site have warned against taking the latter I will not do so unless I hear strong arguments from the gastroenterologist, whom I will meet next week. As for probiotics: I have been taking daily kefir for weeks. Also apple cider vinegar. On iron: I have only had one iron test done (ferritin), though I know there are some others. The ferritin is 112 (20 - 250) which seems normal for men according to the link you sent.
Could you recommend specific antibiotics to take? I will certainly continue taking the kefir. Many thanks!
he is right frank. i was leary about a ppi but read somewhere the ppi reduces acid which helps the h pylori float further away from their dug in position when the stomach cell they are attached to dies off during normal stomach lining regeneration.
when it is further away from its dug in buried postion that allows the antibiotic attack it out in the open.
if kefir doesnt stop diarrhea during treatment, i would take that to mean you need more probiotics than it has.
OK get it. Will ask the gastro doctor if I should take something more powerful than kefir, as well as the antibiotics etc. Thanks for your help!
Your doctor will prescribe the proper regimen to kill the basta_ds, they are a nasty and strong foe, but they will get it. The Hpylori will also be found during the endoscopy biopsy, they will also check to see if any have created an ulcer, Its curable, it just takes a certain schedule of meds to do it. They are the cause of ulcers and they really attach deep in your stomach tissue so they are hard to get, but the antibiotics and such will.
Hello MTHFR61. Most helpful. Actually the endoscopy, which I had this morning, did not pick up the H Pylori. There were also no ulcers in the stomach. Since the 2 positive blood tests for H Pylori are presumably correct I suppose that I will wait for my next meeting with gastroenterologist (unfortunately in two weeks time) to decide what the treatment should be. But I assume that it will be a combination of antibiotics, PPI and probiotics. Thanks for your advice.
One of the problems many of us on the forum have found is that PPIs may heal the gastritis it causes but will not be getting to the root cause. A private endoscopy after a particularly long, painful and dehydrating bout of acute gastritis discovered H/Pylori but the treatment with PPIs had obviously healed the gastritis. The problem some of us have is that H/Pylori returns, even though treated with strong antibiotics. Here's what I personally find helpful to maybe prevent this:
Probiotics help maintain the balance between good and bad gut bacteria.
Green tea. A 2009 study on mice showed that green tea may help kill and slow the growth of Helicobacter bacteria. ...
Honey. ...
Olive oil. ...
Licorice root. ...
Broccoli sprouts. ...
Phototherapy.
healthline.com/health/diges...
............
I'd also include garlic, oregano and fermented foods in the above list.
"The results of this study showed that consumption of fresh garlic inhibits H. pylori activity inside the stomach mucosa to a great extent which indicates a bacteriostatic effect for garlic; bactericidal effects may take place at higher concentrations of garlic or following longer treatment courses. Various studies support the inhibitory effect of garlic on the growth of H. pylori (Jonkers et al., 1999 ▶)."
Thanks Polaris - most useful advice, which I will certainly take. I think that if this PPI is only for a short duration - to help eliminate the H Pylori - then it is no big deal. I certainly will not agree to take it for years, as some unfortunate people on this site have been told to do. But I will listen to the gastro doctor in a couple of weeks with an open mind. As for the anti-H Pylori foods you mention: that is really useful information - will start on these today!
I forgot to say that liquorice root is contraindicated for high blood pressure. Not sure about broccoli sprouts either - although I'd read they're supposed to be good for high BP......
I found daily doses of organic sauerkraut from the local health food shops cleared up all my long standing and various digestive problems - the best probiotic I'd tried.
I completed triple therapy 17 days ago. My reflux improved very quickly. The GP said I might need to continue the PPI (omeprazole) for another month, but not always necessary. I've been a bit paranoid about bare minimal reflux since (without the PPI), but I still seem to be better, so fingers crossed. In the thyroid / h-pylori etc facebook support group, they say to get an extra week of triple therapy otherwise it doesn't work. GP said he can only prescribe what he's allowed though (triple therapy as first-line treatment). They advised me to take plenty of pepto bismol (contains bismuth which helps eradicate) alongside otherwise treatment will fail. I took some herbal capsules containing bismuth instead. A lady I spoke to didn't but her treatment still worked (no other precautions taken either, but eradicated for 7 years until re-infected).
I was terrified of the PPIs because of B12 deficiency symptoms I've had, but I was fine. I realised the symptoms were down to the h-pylori acid for the most part.
I'm surprised you haven't been prescribed your treatment immediately.
my 2nd antibiotic treatment consisted of penicillin(18 days) clarithromycin(10 days) metronidazole (8 days), ppi 20 days, ( i started this 2 days prior to antibiotics to let it start working so antibiotics could kill h pylori asap) and pepto bismal 18 days.
i started probiotic of my own accord around day 6 or 7 due to diarrhea, which you may get sooner if you arent taking pepto bismal.
Thanks kimberinUS. Quite a lot of medicine... I will keep it in mind when I meet my gastro doctor on 29th October. If you like I'll let you know what she prescribes?
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