A year ago, I posted the following to get your comments about my second therapy.
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=206041
At that time, I got the following drugs for my second therapy.
However, I didn't undergo the second therapy. Instead, I took a chance with mastic gum, acidophilus, probiotics, etc. to see if they can improve the condition. I know this sounds silly, but then I read that there are exceptionally rare cases where these worked.Rabeprazole Sodium 20 mg - 2 times per day for 10 days
Tripotassium Bismuth Dicitrate 300 mg - 4 times per day for 10 days
Tetracycline HCl 500 mg - 4 times per day for 10 days
Metronidazole 500 mg - 3 times per day for 10 days
I recently had an endoscopy with a new doctor, and it turns out that nothing changed. As a matter of fact, I don't recall seeing red spots on my stomach last year, but I could see red spots on my stomach this time so it might have got worse.
Anyway, the prescription that I got this time is almost the same as the previous second therapy except for the following.
I have two questions.Replaced "Rabeprazole Sodium 20 mg - 2 times per day for 10 days" with "Pantoprazole Sodium 40 mg - 2 times per day for 10 days"
Added "Irsogladine Maleate 2 mg - 2 times per day for 10 days"
First, I googled the efficacy of Pantoprazole vs Rabeprazole and I found some literature concluding that rabeprazole is more effective than pantoprazole. I read in the FAQ page of helico.com that higher PPI gives a better result and I'm concerned that my second treatment might be jeopardized by the less effective Pantoprazole. I still have the previous drugs with Rabeprazole from the last year, but as it's more than a year old, I assume they lost some potency. Therefore, I don't think it's a good idea to take that Rabeprazole on their own by replacing with Pantoprazole I got recently. However, I'm wondering if it's a good idea to take an extra Rabeprazole 20 mg once a day from the past prescription in addition to the Pantoprazole 40 mg twice a day from the current prescription. Otherwise, I'm also wondering if taking any over-the-counter PPIs in addition to the Pantoprazole 40 mg twice a day might be a good idea. If neither is recommended, I'll just take Pantoprazole 40 mg twice a day only as prescribed.
Second, the doctor told me that he added Irsogladine Maleate to relieve my stomach comfort. It seems like this is not a part of a standard h. pylori treatment. Can Irsogladine Maleate negatively affect my second therapy? If so, I'll just throw it away. I googled, but couldn't find an answer.
Thank you for your help again.