H. Pylori

@arrikanna & @arrikanna Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect, a place to give and get support

@arrikanna Thank you for telling us your father's experience. May I ask what brings you to Mayo Connect?

@collage H. Pylori can be a serious infection and it's important to gather all of the information needed. I have had H. Pylori. I did my homework and I found out that the likelihood of having stomach cancer greatly increases with the number of times you have had H. Pylori. This was disturbing news to me. I was lucky in that the antibiotics agreed with me and I was able to get rid of it with only 1 course. This is not the case for a lot of people. Just an aside, I'm sensitive to a lot of medications and these 3 antibiotics were fine, everyone is different though.

You'll notice that I added your question to an existing discussion. I did this so you could connect with members that have experience with this topic. Below I have also linked another previous discussion on the topic. You may wish to scroll through these discussions to find information and connection.

- I was treated for h pylori. Stool test now negative https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/hello-i-was-treated-for-h-pylori-by/

May I ask if you have an alternative medicine professional that you work with currently?

I have been doing quite a bit of research and have been combining yoga with a variety of herbal treatments, dietary supplements; probiotics, fermented foods, and a change in diet. My symptoms are occasional and generally mild, depending on what I eat. I have eliminated caffeine, most dairy products, sugar or sugar substitutes, and have reduced consumption of red meat. I am scheduled for an endoscopy and will rely on the recommendations following that procedure. (H-pylori infection was confirmed by a blood test a few months ago, but I believe I have had this for about a year.)

Oh I see. Im sorry that I didn't answer your question earlier about taking antibiotics and whether or not if it will kill off good bacteria along with harmful. The short answer is it depends on the person, it will kill some of good bacteria, but the benefits far outweigh the risks. As you may know, the gut is home to a variety of species of bacteria. In a healthy person, a majority of the species are good while some are bad. However, its not like all good bacteria are one species and that the antibiotic will kill all of them. Think of it like its own ecosystem with different species. There are species of bacteria that are unique from each other that are both good. So antibiotics can affect some species, but not others. However, each person has a unique composition of species. We all don't have the same amount of bacterial species as the other, so medication can affect each person differently.

The best thing to do is to take the antibiotics given by your doctor while continuing your healthy regiment. Monitor your intake carefully and if you feel a negative change, consult with your doctor immediately and they can prescribe different antibiotics to help. Unfortunately, many aspects of medicine is trial and error. With your regimen and continued use of antibiotics, you should see good results! Hope this clears up some confusion.

Hi ma'am. I heard this from a mutual friend. I have a major interest in infectious diseases and have ample experience handling bacterial species in both a lab setting and dealing with patients clinically. Apart from that, a lot of my family members have passed away from bacterial infections due to them not understanding how it works and not having good hospital care. Its something I am very personally attached to so I try to help other people understand and help them not feel overwhelmed and confused through this process.

I was diagnosed a few years ago with H Pylori, ironically, I was diagnosed with Hepatocellular Carcinoma on May 2022. I was told the tumor originated in my abdomen and attached itself to my healthy liver.
My liver was resected up to 70% and the tumor was removed.
My Primary Care Physician kind of hinted that the bacteria in my stomach might be the culprit to the HCC.
I am currently stage 4 as it has gone into my lungs and on a rib.
Interesting!

Someone in my distant family got H Pylori, basically - the person had the Gastro Doctor do the simultaneous Colonoscopy & Endoscopy and 100 % confirmed existence to H Pylori. ( a sample biopsy was done)
Dr had the person take Pylera medication ( it cost nearly 950$ for a 10 day program) success rate is around 90%, it worked for this person.. its been 3 years so far so good, The person has been asked to preferably avoid acidic intake of food.
Best Wishes