Diagnosed with h pylori
Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 8:36 pm
Hey, I am 38 years old female with no history of stomach pain before. my sudden vogue, dull abdominal pain has started since last November. I can't describe how my pain looks like, before eating I feel extreme hunger pain and after eating I have a dull pain like when someone eat more than his/her capacity plus too much pressure, stomach tightness, feeling full and hiccup. I visited my go and she thought that my symptoms match to gall bladder issues, I was asked to do an upper abdomen ultrasound which was all normal. After 4 months of consistent upper abdomen pain, I did a colonoscopy and endoscopy as my gp was suspicious about h pylori infection. To make story short, My biopsy result was numerous h pylori organisms, sever superficial chronic gastritis in both antral and gastric body+ mild atrophy+ Focal intestinal metaplasia.
My dad diagnosed with stomach issue and he had resection surgery 20 years ago and he is still alive, so considering the poor prognosis of stomach cancer, I am not sure if my dad really had cancer or maybe just dysplasia. I also have Hashimoto thyroiditis which I think there could be a correlation between gastritis and Hashimoto thyroiditis.
I still do not know how I get this infection and I am kind of person who is strictly careful about hygiene. I don't remember even one night in my life that I have gone to bed without brushing my teeth or not washing my hand before and after cooking.
I just finished my antibiotic course ( nexium package+ metronidazole for a week ) with full compliance and taking all medications on time even though I had the worst side effects one could expect but I tried to finish all my medications as prescribed. After completing my antibiotic medications which is standard treatment for h pylori eradication in Australia, I started taking somac (40 mg) twice a day and sucralfate (1gr) three times per day and I was told that I need to continue taking these two for 3 months and then I will repeat breath test to check if h pylori eradication was successful or not.
I Would be highly appreciated if you could answer my questions:
1) after finishing my antibiotic, the severity, the symptoms and the frequency of my pain got much worse than before, does it mean that the infection has not been cleared?
2) my gp asked my husband to do h pylori test to minimise the risk of re-infection, but he has not done yet, but I was extremely careful about sharing food and utensils and oral transition after my diagnosis, is there any chance that my treatment has failed during this time?
3) I read many articles, addressing intestinal metaplasia and atrophy are irreversible, something make me worry is that I read that even after successful eradication of bacteria, intestinal metaplasia continue to progress but with slower pace, considering my age and the fact that IM wouldn't stop progressing, is there a high risk of further damage until I get over 50? Do I need to do frequent endoscopy?
4) how long does it take to get intestinal metaplasia? Is it possible that gastritis develops to IM in just couple of months?
5) as I said my abdominal pain got much worse after finishing my antibiotics. I did not have much nausea before taking antibiotics but now even smell of food make me sick and nauseous, occasionally I get a sharp burning sensation too, what that really means? Do I need to see my gp earlier that the time he wants to see me?
6) at the day of my endoscopy procedure, my gastrologist told me that my stomach is quite normal, is it possible that someone has a quite normal looking stomach on endoscopy and then biopsy reveals different histology?
7) based on my biopsy result, how terrible my stomach condition is?
8) what focal IM means? Is is just a single spot that has that changes?
Thanks
My dad diagnosed with stomach issue and he had resection surgery 20 years ago and he is still alive, so considering the poor prognosis of stomach cancer, I am not sure if my dad really had cancer or maybe just dysplasia. I also have Hashimoto thyroiditis which I think there could be a correlation between gastritis and Hashimoto thyroiditis.
I still do not know how I get this infection and I am kind of person who is strictly careful about hygiene. I don't remember even one night in my life that I have gone to bed without brushing my teeth or not washing my hand before and after cooking.
I just finished my antibiotic course ( nexium package+ metronidazole for a week ) with full compliance and taking all medications on time even though I had the worst side effects one could expect but I tried to finish all my medications as prescribed. After completing my antibiotic medications which is standard treatment for h pylori eradication in Australia, I started taking somac (40 mg) twice a day and sucralfate (1gr) three times per day and I was told that I need to continue taking these two for 3 months and then I will repeat breath test to check if h pylori eradication was successful or not.
I Would be highly appreciated if you could answer my questions:
1) after finishing my antibiotic, the severity, the symptoms and the frequency of my pain got much worse than before, does it mean that the infection has not been cleared?
2) my gp asked my husband to do h pylori test to minimise the risk of re-infection, but he has not done yet, but I was extremely careful about sharing food and utensils and oral transition after my diagnosis, is there any chance that my treatment has failed during this time?
3) I read many articles, addressing intestinal metaplasia and atrophy are irreversible, something make me worry is that I read that even after successful eradication of bacteria, intestinal metaplasia continue to progress but with slower pace, considering my age and the fact that IM wouldn't stop progressing, is there a high risk of further damage until I get over 50? Do I need to do frequent endoscopy?
4) how long does it take to get intestinal metaplasia? Is it possible that gastritis develops to IM in just couple of months?
5) as I said my abdominal pain got much worse after finishing my antibiotics. I did not have much nausea before taking antibiotics but now even smell of food make me sick and nauseous, occasionally I get a sharp burning sensation too, what that really means? Do I need to see my gp earlier that the time he wants to see me?
6) at the day of my endoscopy procedure, my gastrologist told me that my stomach is quite normal, is it possible that someone has a quite normal looking stomach on endoscopy and then biopsy reveals different histology?
7) based on my biopsy result, how terrible my stomach condition is?
8) what focal IM means? Is is just a single spot that has that changes?
Thanks