My mom was diagnosed this week with H. Pylori. It is a bacteria that lives in the stomach and intestinal tract, I think. The doctor told her that this can lead to stomach cancer and she found that she had two pre-cancerous lesions on her esophagus. She has been suffering from acid reflux for many years and the doctor also told her that the reflux was probably caused by this. She's on a strong dose of three antibiotics and they've left her quite ill, which the doctor told her to expect. I've been doing some research online but I'd love to hear if anyone else has any experience themselves or with family members. Thanks!

By Beth on Saturday, March 25, 2006 - 09:59 pm:

My dh had this but honestly I we can't remember that much about it. It was a several years ago. The biggest thing was that it took a long time almost 2 years to diagnose. My dh was sick for a long time. I mean he still worked but he had pain in his side. This was shortly after he had his appendix out. We thought they must have left a sponge or something in them. I can't remember all the tests that they did. He took antibotics and it seemed to go away. He does have a hernia in the his chest area that really bothers him now. I have no idea if it has anything to do with it. I did tell him what you said about the reflex because I wonder if he has some of that. Anyway not much help but I guess that goes to show it must have been easily cured once they found it.

By Kaye on Saturday, March 25, 2006 - 11:00 pm:

No experience, but just talked about it in my a&p class on thursday. I don't recall details, just that it is mostly linked to stomach ulcers (being the cause), and although foods and such can aggrevate ulcers, this bacteria is mostly the cause.

By Imamommyx4 on Sunday, March 26, 2006 - 12:36 am:

My mom had it several years ago and was treated with antibiotics. Now she takes Prevacid to keep it under control. It doesn't have to lead to cancer. It's like a sore that never heals can turn into something worse.

You said you'd been doing some reading, but here is a good website that is written in easy to understand English:

http://www.helico.com/

What antibiotics is she taking? Do you know which in particular are making her the most sick? Maybe I can suggest something that will help.

By Tink on Sunday, March 26, 2006 - 05:00 pm:

Debbie, she's taking a Helidac Therapy pack, four times a day. It has bismuth subsalicylate, metronidazole, and tetracycline HCI. Since she takes them together, I don't know which is making her sick. One of them is similar to Pepto-Bismol and is supposed to help with the upset stomach. She doesn't have an ulcer but her doctor told her that her stomach lining was damaged and she's having some very intense stomach spasms and cramping, not a burning sensation like one would expect from a ulcer. Thanks for the input, everyone.

By Tink on Sunday, March 26, 2006 - 05:24 pm:

Debbie, my mom says that she has a very strong metallic taste in her mouth all the time. Do you know if there is anything that she can take to counteract that?

By Imamommyx4 on Sunday, March 26, 2006 - 09:00 pm:

The flagyl is causing the metallic taste and there's not much to do to correct that. It sort of permeates your system and comes back out in the fluid pores. Kind of like eating a lot of garlic comes out in your sweat glands and makes you have a bad body odor. Sucking on hard candies can help cover it up some. And tetracycline, ugh, that stuff makes so many people nauseous.

Does your mom have any allergies to penicillin or erythromycin? If not there is a different set of drugs she might take that generally go down easier. It is a Prevpak and is also used for h.pylori. It has amoxicilin, prevacid and Biaxin in it all of which are tolerated better than the tetracycline and flagyl. Biaxin does have some weird taste that comes out in it in some people. And if using the Prevpak it also a good idea to keep taking Pepto-bismol, too but at a different time of day than the prevacid.

Keep me posted.

By Imamommyx4 on Sunday, March 26, 2006 - 09:01 pm:

I'm sorry, flagyl is the metronidazole.

By Tink on Sunday, March 26, 2006 - 10:05 pm:

She is allergic to penicillin, has been since childhood and goes into anaphalactic shock so that's a big no-no. I was wondering what in the world flagyl was. Thanks for explaining. I'll tell her to keep some hard candies on hand. I'm sorry to be picking your brain this way but do you know if the fact she's had gastric bypass surgery is making these antibiotics harder to tolerate for her? Thanks for all your help.

By Imamommyx4 on Sunday, March 26, 2006 - 11:44 pm:

Pick a way. Not good pickins but you're welcome to anything you can get.

Her gastric bypass probably is not causing the difficulty taking those meds. Tetracycline can make anybody nauseous. It's just a tough med to take. With some meds you can take them with milk or food to decrease nausea but you cannot do that with tetracycline b/c milk, food, antacids, dairy products decrease the absorption of tetracycline. Be sure she stays out of the sun or use lots of sunscreen as the spring comes on. It makes you hypersensitive to burning.

The Flagyl (metronidazole) is antibiotic in a class by itself. It is great for the bugs it hits but it does make a bad taste develop. One thought--does she by any chance drink any kind of alcohol every day or exposed to any kind of alcohol every day? You don't have to answer that on-line. but any alcohol while on Flagyl will make you sicker than a DAWG! And be thorough with this thought. Wine, beer, liquor, Nyquil, cough syrup and even potentially things like vanilla extract before it's been cooked out like in a milk shake for flavoring, high alcohol content perfumes. When I was in pharmacy school, one of my professors said he had a patient on Flagyl that was sick from splashing on aftershave. When switched to his wife's alcohol-free lotion, he stopped being sick on it. Any exposure to alcohol for 72 hours from the last tab can have a nauseating effect.

If she just can't tolerate the tetracycline, tell the dr. She does not have to stick with that pack. It is just an easy to take method. He could prescribe different separate med like she could use Pepto, Flagyl and Biaxin separately instead of 1 easy to use and easy to remember to take pack. Don't keep taking something that is making her sick. That is doing her no good. And there are other options.

By Tink on Monday, March 27, 2006 - 12:08 am:

Thank you, Debbie. I've copied and pasted most of this post to an email to her and told her to let me know of any other questions she might have. Thanks for all your information and advice.

By Imamommyx4 on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 11:05 pm:

My pleasure