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Guidance needed

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2022 8:29 pm
by jamelkessler
I’m so glad to have found a source of info like this, and if anyone here can help, I’d be extremely grateful. Please feel free to skip to TL;DR.

I’m a male, 30 years of age. WAS extremely fit and an active competitive athlete.

Basics timeline -

8 months ago: Get a flu that hit me really hard, recover, but my throat remains chronically sore and phlegmy.

6 weeks ago: throat still bad, begin to get acid reflux symptoms that get progressively worse over 2 weeks.

1 month ago: see my GP about reflux and sore throat. He sends me to get a range of different tests, blood/breath/etc, test positive for HB. He perscribes the standard triple treatment for 7 days.

3 weeks ago: finish treatment, guts feels awful, no noticeable improvement in gastro discomfort, and throat is worse than ever.

2 weeks ago: can’t sleep at night, whenever I lay down my throat lights up and I go into coughing fits, I assume due to stomach acid irritating things

1 week ago: have a coughing fit so intense I throw up. Girlfriend says if I don’t go back to the doctor, she’ll kill me.

4 days ago: see doctor again he says my throat “looks red”, I thought he may tell me to do a follow up breath test, but instead puts me on a waiting list for a gastro endoscopy, and in the mean time has me taking two of the acid reflux pills a day.

So...

TL;DR

Sore throat for 8 months, reflux symptoms emerge a month a go , test positive for HB, undergo 7 day treatment, experience maybe mild improvements in gastro discomfort (placebo?) and no noticeable improvement in throat soreness. Am now waiting for a gastro endoscopy. Have not been told to get follow up testing, have not been given any post treatment guidance.

Should I seek a more specialised doctor for this issue? Or am I just panicky because I’ve never really had any health issues before? I want to make sure I’m doing everything right, as the last half year has been awful and I want it to end.

Re: Guidance needed

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 9:20 am
by Helico_expert
After the HP treatment, did you get a follow up test to find out if the treatment is successful?

It's good to take PPI now to relief your symptoms. However, you will not be able to do follow up breath test as the PPI will interfere with the breath test and give false negative result.

Nevertheless, you can ask your doctor to give you H2 blockers. It is similar to PPI, but they work differently. So it wont interfere with the follow up breath test.

endoscopy is a good option if you can had it done. Remember to ask your doctor for a Rapid urease test and a biopsy. Some specialists are reluctant to take biopsies.
In addition, PPI will interfere with rapid urease test as well. So, it is best to switch to H2 blockers before endoscopy.

lastly, you can continue H2 blockers until the night before the breath test and endoscopy.