Helicobacter Pylori: What to Know and How to Get Treated
You may have been like me, never heard about the pylori bacteria, but spare two minutes on this read as I promised the information maybe useful. For prolong time over a few months, I have had sharp stomach pains on the right side, which was not appendicitis. I went to see a doctor, then an alternative medicine professional and nothing helped. One day, I have stumbled on the article about heliobacter pylori, a sort of bacteria if left untreated may cause stomach ulcers and cancer. In this post, you will learn more about pylori, treatments and my personal recommendation, which I would follow myself going forward.
What is Heliobacter Pylori (H. pylori)
You can find the official explanation and recommendations by the NHS on this type of bacteria. As I understand Heliobacter pylori is a type of bacteria, that 40% of people in the UK may have and do not even know about.
Bacteria may give no symptoms for some, but for others (myself included) there is a whole range of symptoms from indigestion, bloating, sharp stomach pains, and nausea. The actual reason why I wanted to check out for H. pylori is because of the white coating on my tongue, which to me is some sign of stomach issues.
H. pylori gets transmitted from person to person via saliva, vomit or stool. It can also be easily spread through contaminated water or food. Some of us get this bacteria in our childhood with water or some other source that has this bacteria and it can survive our lifetime. Heliobacter pylori causes inflammation in the lower part of the stomach and darker colour of stool.
By watching some research videos online, those little microscopic H. pylori bacteria are very active and drill little paths through the digestive lining. If interested here is an interesting video on that topic from Stanford Gastric Cancer Summit. Dr. Amieva in this video actually explains it in an engaging, not scary way as he starts to say “Someone has to speak for the bugs”.
Tests to identify H. pylori
Stool at home test
You can make an appointment with your doctor for stool test or use the at-home kit , available from Amazon – One step test. I think this is a much better one as it has sticky paper in the kit. A stool test can be done within 10-15 minutes at home and is reliable.
Urea breath test
A breath test, which I did initially is simple, but must be done at the center and on an empty stomach. First, they collect a breath sample. Then I had to drink some sour drink and wait for 30 minutes before redoing the breath test again. After a few hours, I got the results. The private urea test can be costly, anything from 200 pounds.
Blood test
Blood tests are also possible, however, I have read that if someone once had a pylori, then the antigen in the blood will always show this marker, despite the bacteria being treated already. So if a blood test shows data about past / present infection, the best tests for helicobacter pylori are stool and breath tests.
How to get treated for pylori
Treatment is usually a course of the antibiotics, followed by a re-testing in about 6-8 weeks.
I want to say that to me personally this was an eye-opening experience with all bad side effects during the antibiotic treatment of 10 days. From now on, I will be using at-home test yearly to ensure I am clear of that bacteria.
I wanted to share a video by amazing and brave Helen Shipstand from Derbyshire, who had stomach cancer caused by pylori.
My treatment was not too bad – 10 days of antibiotics (which were penicillin-free) and some medication to protect my stomach. I had to take 12 capsules (!) a day.. During the treatment, I had stomach pains and nausea during treatment even more than usual, I felt weak generally. I had to use bathroom more often than usual, which was not ideal as I was travelling around the UK. After around 6 weeks, I felt way much better and re-tested myself at home with a negative results. Today, six months after treatment, the pains have gone and generally I feel much lighted and less bloated after meals.
If you do the self-test and have a positive result, consult with your doctor and ask for potential treatment. Maybe the doctor will ask to do another test through the NHS. I did mine privately because I just needed a quick result there and wanted to know how bad it was.
Urea or breath tests will show results in quantity, not just positive or negative. There is a very small limit when having it considered to be safe. In my case, I had times more than the norm. If the test is positive, do not panic as this bacteria can be treated easily with antibiotics.
By no means this blog is a medical advice, and I would suggest consulting a doctor. My recommendation from this article is to get home tested every year, especially if you were already treated for Pylori in the past like myself.
