diagnosed with h pylori

Hi,

I am wondering if there are any specialist within Gastroenterology that can help me with some thoughts and advice.
I have just been diagnosed with h pylori. My symptoms at the moment are pain in my throat around the larynx and on each side of my throat and my ears, stomach and back pain between the shoulder blades, extreme hunger pains which comes on 1-3h after I’ve eaten, tired and dizziness, nauseas and low appetite, dry mouth when I chew or at night.
My first GP prescribed Omeprazole for my GERD symptoms but it didn’t help, it got much worse instead: I started getting severe hunger pains again after my meals. The first time I had hunger pains was about 6 months ago when I completed my first IUI treatment with Puregon (50 IU) and hCG. That’s when the symptoms became more noticeable; I didn’t have any appetite and felt nauseous on empty stomach. I also got an infection from the Dalacin crème which is used internally for 10 days. I think it must have been a yeast infection, itchiness and irritation with white discharge (yoghurt consistence) and later on bloated stomach, stomach ache and hunger pains at night and after meals. I remember my whole stomach felt a bit strange when I bent forward. It felt like muscle weakness and heavy kind of feeling.
I do have other medical problems such as dermatitis on my left hand, something which I’ve developed as a grown up and it hasn’t healed or got any better for a year now even after a 10 days course of antibiotics and steroid crème. I find that I easily get skin infections and boils (problems with acne in the past).  I have also felt chronically tired for as long as I can remember, I seem to have some good days when I feel more alert but I am generally quite fatigued. I have also had problems with migraines between the age of 15 and 30.
I have done two tests for h pylori – Blood test which came back negative and the Urea breath test which came back positive so my GP prescribed me with two types of antibiotics: Clarithromycin (500 mg 1 tablet twice a day), Amoxicillin (500 mg, 2 pills twice a day) and Esomeprazole (20 mg, 1 tablet twice a day).
I have been instructed by my GP to take the antibiotics for the first week only and the proton pump inhibitor the following week. I am not getting any relief for my acid reflux at the moment. I have been told to avoid certain types of food as it can aggravate it and I have lost nearly 4 kg in the last month. I’m normally around 61 kg and I’m now weighing 57,3 kg which is low for me and not ideal  (169 cm). Normally I could eat less and still not lose any weight but I am wondering if it is the new regime (low fat and low sugar) that’s decreased my weight or if it could be the illness?
Also, is it common to do the triple therapy with the antibiotics first and the proton pump inhibitor later? I have heard by other medical people that they’re normally taken at the same time (or that’s the directions they have). I am wondering why my GP has chosen to give me the antibiotics first and the suppressant later - Are the chances of treating the h pylori still the same? Any chance of the acid causing damage during this time?
I have been trying to find out information about the triple therapy and it says that they’re normally taken at the same time and that this procedure increases the chance remarkably of getting rid of the bacteria, is this correct?
In case you may wonder I am not pregnant. I have a little fresh red blood in my saliva in the mornings when I spit but no vomiting, just nausea. My stool is sort of normal, softer and the colour is a little bit towards yellow, not 100% brown. I have had a dermoid cyst removed from my right ovary 2 years ago and a lymphoma from my forehead a year ago, the surgeon mentioned that I had very thin blood and bled a lot. My glands in my neck are not swollen. I feel fullness in my tummy and pain in my back when I bend over.
I would contact my GP if I could but they’re unavailable at the weekends, hoping that someone else is!
I am wondering if you may know if there is a reason to why he may have chosen to give the different types of medicines at different times, if it is beneficial in some circumstances?
I would greatly appreciate your experience and expertise in this.
Is there anything I can do to relieve my symptoms in the meantime or should I avoid it? I usually take Gaviscon or painkiller when I get these symptoms but my GP strictly told me not to take anything else. I assumed it included painkillers and Gaviscon as well?
Is it risky or bad for me to go for a whole more week with this pain, can it cause much damage during this time?
Is there anything I can eat or do to improve my weight because it is really making me concerned?
Finally, the hunger pains after meals and the stomach and back pain at night, are they a symptom of stomach ulcers or can it just be a sign of gastritis as well?
I would appreciate any expert advice about this.
Many thanks in advance!
MsRabbit



This discussion is related to Advise for Hpylori repeate doase.

[LivingInHope]

This is not expert forum, though that is available for a price, I believe.  However, for yeast infection w/antibiotic usage, I recommend what someone told me to do and it works- acidophilus capsules (not too low of dose), which in the U.S anyway, is available over the counter- not prescription.  The reason you need this is because the antibiotic kills not only the bad bacteria (the h. pylori, which can cause ulcers), but the good bacteria too.  The death of good bacteria can cause yeast infections and diarrhea to happen.  

You really should be getting a GI specialist to do an upper GI look w/scope on you to see if you have just gastritis or ulcer as well to have a more complete picture of what's happening.    

Have they checked your gastrin level re:acid production?  Might it be your dr. is delaying you taking acid reducing pill, as he wants nothing to interfere w/antibiotic absorption (which is to kill the h. pylori)?  Also, gastrin blood level should be done while not on acid pump inhibitors if they want to rule out Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, which he should with your out of control acid situation, in my opinion.  

W/pain in your back, have they done abdominal ultasound to check pancreas (located behind your stomach organ)?  Since it hurts w/bending over, have they checked for musculoskeletal problem?  

With your fatigue, getting ferritin (iron stores) blood iron, and total iron binding capacity as well as iron saturation would be good,  besides a complete blood count to see if you are iron deficient- very likely, given what you've said, especially if you are also a menstruating female.

Easy skin infections- cortisone I believe can actually lower resistance to infection, so hope that wasn't given at the same time you had infection.  W/the dermatitis- have you tried the usual changing to hypo-allerginic soap, intensive care lotion for dry skin, etc.?

W/blood in sputum, any coughing?  Been checked for TB?

W/easy infection, have they checked for auto-immune disorders?  What about viruses like mono, CMV, HIV?

To gain weight, small frequent meals of non-acid aggravating foods is what the doctor would likely recommend.  Tough to stick to that diet- I'm horrible with my GERD.