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Stomach and bowel problems

Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2020 5:32 am
by Dutchwoman
Hi everyone,

In 2014 I had helicobacter polory for about five moths. It was pretty intens with all the familiar symptoms and during that time I took PPI’s.

I wanne know if there are people here that still have problems with there stomach and bowel after removing HP. After all this time my stomach and bowel didn’t heal fully. I like to have soms answers. Why is that ? and how can I help my body to heal, besides eating healthy, sporting etc.

Thanks in advance.

Re: Stomach and bowel problems

Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2020 9:41 am
by Helico_expert
did you take any antibiotics to eradicate H. pylori? PPI alone will only ease your symptoms, but not remove the problem. Only when H. pylori is fully eradicated, then your stomach has a chance to heal.

Re: Stomach and bowel problems

Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2020 3:51 pm
by Dutchwoman
Yes I did and I also did a test after the antibiotics to be sure. I don’t have the symptoms anymore that I had. Just not an optimal digestive system.

I have read more stories from people that don’t fully recover. Is there any knowledge about it?

Re: Stomach and bowel problems

Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2020 10:00 pm
by Helico_expert
Usually people catch H. pylori during childhood. So, the older you are, means the longer you have accumulated damage from H. pylori and the harder to go back to 100%.

So you did a breath test after treatment? did you wait at least 2 weeks without medication before the breath test? and you are negative now?

Re: Stomach and bowel problems

Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2020 5:23 pm
by HP victim
Hi

I am in a similar predicament. Diagnosed with HP twice (last July and November) and eradicated twice but the symptoms haven't gone away (burping, flatulence and upset stomach).

Is this normal?

Re: Stomach and bowel problems

Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2020 10:12 pm
by Helico_expert
You will only recover when H. pylori is proven eradicated.

Have you done a follow up breath test to check if you still carry H. pylori?

Re: Stomach and bowel problems

Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2020 12:36 am
by Maria.b
This is similar situation as mine it been 2 years with 2 endoscopes and stool tests from different labs every 3 months all results negative but i still have issues stomach pains bad gas but i am 85% better than i was now im thinking i wont make a full recovery which is upsetting as i never suffered with stomach issue before all of this

Re: Stomach and bowel problems

Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2020 7:09 am
by HP victim
No I haven't done a follow up breath test as the specialist told me to wait 6 months to see if my symptoms go away then have a breath test and if positive he will do a second gastroscopy to see if all is clear. Mild gastritis was found at the time of my first gastroscopy and I fear that I may still have it. Does the HP therapy eradicate gastritis as well?

Regards
HP Victim

Re: Stomach and bowel problems

Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2020 11:22 am
by downwithhp
Helico_expert wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 10:00 pm
Usually people catch H. pylori during childhood. So, the older you are, means the longer you have accumulated damage from H. pylori and the harder to go back to 100%.

So you did a breath test after treatment? did you wait at least 2 weeks without medication before the breath test? and you are negative now?
How long or how many years of an ongoing non treated H pylori infection would result in a less than 100% recovery? I've had it probably for 2-5 years not treated, but many more years treated to suppress it, since I am resistant to almost every H pylori treatment.

Re: Stomach and bowel problems

Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2020 11:57 am
by Helico_expert
How long or how many years of an ongoing non treated H pylori infection would result in a less than 100% recovery? I've had it probably for 2-5 years not treated, but many more years treated to suppress it, since I am resistant to almost every H pylori treatment.
There is no definite answer to how many years of infection would resulted to how many years needed for recovery.

It's the severity of the damage that is associated with the recovery.
Some people can have the infection for decades but minimum damage. Therefore, symptom is mild and they may never find out they have the infection.

Then, in developed countries, like Australia, only 20% of the gastric disease is because of H. pylori. So not necessary that eradicating H. pylori will make you better.

Most importantly, countries like China, Japan, Korea, where there is a lot of H. pylori, gastric cancer is high.
H. pylori is known to associate with gastric cancer. More than 50% of the gastric cancer cases can be traced back to H. pylori infection.
Countries like Australia where H. pylori prevalence is low, gastric cancer is very low.

We dont know who is more susceptible to gastric cancer.
But we know that by eradicating H. pylori, your gastric cancer risk is reduced.

Although not all gastric symptoms are because of H. pylori, but for those patients where gastric symptoms are because of H. pylori, eradicating it can improve the quality of life significantly.