Positive test results, triple therapy for 7 days...worried it won't work and going 2 months to South America
Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 6:16 am
Hello there,
Me: male, 35 years old living in Canada.
I don't know where I could have gotten infected, maybe when I swallowed water in the ocean by accident in Mexico last summer, or because my now ex-wife is Colombian and Colombia has one of the highest rates in the world, but after eating out for a week because of work, with a lot of IBS symptoms and constipation (not really any H-pilory symptoms except maybe gastric reflux after eating). I went to see my doctor. I never really had any constipation or stomach problems before this episode when on the road. I ate lots of bread, beer, drank lots of coffee and almost no water. My gut flora must have been all messed up.
She said at first she thinks it's IBS because all cultures of parasites in stools etc were all clean. My symptoms were also getting better with the days going by, managing my stress and trying to eat healthy. I still insisted to get tested for h pilory. My doctor asked me to do a blood test. It came back positive. She wanted me to start treatment right away but I asked for a breath test before. It also came back positive.
Now, she prescribed me the traditional 7 days triple therapy (HP PAC by mylan): lansoprazole delayed-release capsule 30g + clarithromycin 500mg + 2x amoxicillin 500mg. I need to take that cocktail in the morning before breakfast with water all at once and the same thing at dinner. I started taking the antibiotics today, this morning. I also am taking probiotics capsule once per day at lunch time. It's probaclac 6.5 guaranteed billion active cells from 7 different strains. Now, i read on the internet that the 7 day triple therapy is an old school treatment that isn't really good anymore. So, I'm kind of bumped and annoyed she prescribed me this, and only for 7 days.
The problem is that I have a trip of 2 months coming up. I am leaving on July 15th. I won't be able to do another breath test to be sure it's eradicated before coming back from South America (Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil). It's kind of stressing me out because I want to be able to have fun there, and not be thinking about stomach issues or being afraid to catch the bacteria again. I'm an anxious person, and it can occupy my mind all day.
I have a few questions:
1. Should I try to reach out to my doctor and ask her to add 7 days, so it would be a 14 day process. Do I have higher chance of having success with this? I can't really add another antibiotics right now?
2. Is there anything else I could add that is buyable without a prescription to help me?
3. The probiotics I take doesn't contain the strain Saccharomyces boulardii, should I get some. I read somewhere that it helps treating H. Pylori. Is it true?
Thank you very much. I am kinda lost here.
UPDATE 1:
I talked to my pharmacist and he told me he will call the doctor to make her accept this formula:
bismuth 2 caplets
métronidazole 500mg
tétracycline 500mg
IPP
is this a good formula?
Me: male, 35 years old living in Canada.
I don't know where I could have gotten infected, maybe when I swallowed water in the ocean by accident in Mexico last summer, or because my now ex-wife is Colombian and Colombia has one of the highest rates in the world, but after eating out for a week because of work, with a lot of IBS symptoms and constipation (not really any H-pilory symptoms except maybe gastric reflux after eating). I went to see my doctor. I never really had any constipation or stomach problems before this episode when on the road. I ate lots of bread, beer, drank lots of coffee and almost no water. My gut flora must have been all messed up.
She said at first she thinks it's IBS because all cultures of parasites in stools etc were all clean. My symptoms were also getting better with the days going by, managing my stress and trying to eat healthy. I still insisted to get tested for h pilory. My doctor asked me to do a blood test. It came back positive. She wanted me to start treatment right away but I asked for a breath test before. It also came back positive.
Now, she prescribed me the traditional 7 days triple therapy (HP PAC by mylan): lansoprazole delayed-release capsule 30g + clarithromycin 500mg + 2x amoxicillin 500mg. I need to take that cocktail in the morning before breakfast with water all at once and the same thing at dinner. I started taking the antibiotics today, this morning. I also am taking probiotics capsule once per day at lunch time. It's probaclac 6.5 guaranteed billion active cells from 7 different strains. Now, i read on the internet that the 7 day triple therapy is an old school treatment that isn't really good anymore. So, I'm kind of bumped and annoyed she prescribed me this, and only for 7 days.
The problem is that I have a trip of 2 months coming up. I am leaving on July 15th. I won't be able to do another breath test to be sure it's eradicated before coming back from South America (Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil). It's kind of stressing me out because I want to be able to have fun there, and not be thinking about stomach issues or being afraid to catch the bacteria again. I'm an anxious person, and it can occupy my mind all day.
I have a few questions:
1. Should I try to reach out to my doctor and ask her to add 7 days, so it would be a 14 day process. Do I have higher chance of having success with this? I can't really add another antibiotics right now?
2. Is there anything else I could add that is buyable without a prescription to help me?
3. The probiotics I take doesn't contain the strain Saccharomyces boulardii, should I get some. I read somewhere that it helps treating H. Pylori. Is it true?
Thank you very much. I am kinda lost here.
UPDATE 1:
I talked to my pharmacist and he told me he will call the doctor to make her accept this formula:
bismuth 2 caplets
métronidazole 500mg
tétracycline 500mg
IPP
is this a good formula?