Severe side effects

[Armylawyer]

Hello everyone. This forum was incredibly helpful as I navigated my 14-day triple treatment, so I wanted to post my experience in the event others are suffering like I did. I was diagnosed with h. Pylori via stool test. I had been unwell for ~3 months prior to the diagnosis. Symptoms started after I recovered from COVID. Initial symptoms included brain fog, malaise, and GI distress (burping, stomach ache, loose stool), and heart palpitations. I have an implanted pacemaker for vasovagal syncope, so my providers focused initially on my heart. After h pylori diagnosis, my provider proscribed 2 x daily 1000mg amoxicillin 500mg Clarithromycin, and 20 mg PPI. The first five days of treatment were great. Yes, I had the metallic taste but it was manageable. It felt like metal every single breath. My GI symptoms started resolving in the first couple days. On day 6, I felt incredibly ill at work—hot flashes, strong palpitations, chills/uncontrollable leg shaking, and palor (my coworkers said I looked like a ghost). I went to my work clinic, received an IV and started feeling decent. I took the next two days off of work to rest—those days were hard, I’d generally feel great upon waking, but once I stood and took my morning meds, I was overcome by weakness and usually would have palpitations and aches in my legs and arms. On day 9 of treatment I returned to work. A terrible idea—I felt unwell almost instantly. I ended up being transported to an ER in an ambulance for evaluation. All blood work was fine and my pacemaker was working and showed no signs of pacing. I was released and went home. Days 10-14 of the treatment I stayed at home resting and seating as much as possible. Same feeling those days—great upon waking but tiredness, malaise, plantations, arm/leg aches, and occasional headaches. Generally, each day was better—and by day 14 I was out of bed until mid afternoon. I woke on day 15, first day without treatment, thinking that I’d magically be back to my pre-infection self. Not the case. Day 15–which is the day I’m posting this—was by far the best day since the side effects started on day 6; but I still don’t feel well—stomach rumbling and still a disquieting sensation of malaise. I have upcoming appointments with cardiology and neurology to check to see if there are other causes of these symptoms, and I’ll do my post treatment test in 2 weeks.
I’ll come back and add more updates to let you know how the recovery goes. If you’re suffering from the medications, I really recommend you try to finish the course. It was hard—this is the worst I’ve felt my entire life; but I’m holding out hope that things will continue to improve. You’ve got this!!
Oh—and I found that taking the amoxicillin and Clarithromycin with an Ensure or Boost drink really cut down the metallic taste.

[Armylawyer]

And, I forgot to mention but I took NAC, magnesium, and 40 Billion CFU probiotic every day. I found they were helpful in minimizing my side effect symptoms.

[fundinggecko]

In fact, the symptoms of the disease appear slowly, so it is difficult for us to avoid them when we notice them. Hearing the information you shared is really quite unfortunatebasketbros. You should definitely have regular check-ups. You need to be mentally strong to have the most comfortable mentality to recover better health.
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[joyousnotion]

You should follow your doctor's instructionsbasket random

[andreeone23]

It’s common for people to feel progressively worse during the course of triple therapy due to the strong antibiotics and PPI regimen. The side effects you describe, such as the metallic taste Dinosaur Game GI discomfort, palpitations, and general malaise, are reported by many who undergo this treatment. It’s encouraging that your symptoms started improving by the end of the course, but it’s also understandable that you're not feeling 100% immediately after finishing the medication. Recovery can take time, and post-treatment symptoms can linger for a while as your body heals from both the infection and the antibiotics.