H. Pylori / Gastroparesis / Gastritis

Lavender Room
1

Anyone have experience with these issues? I was diagnosed with a severe case of H. Pylori in early Feb. Did two weeks of high dose of two antibiotics+PPI which didn’t work. Waited a few weeks and did a round of Pylera which made me more sick than the infection but it eradicated the infection around mid-March.

Had an Endoscopy with a biopsy to confirm I am negative for H. Pylori but showed quite a bit of damage: inflammation, bezoars, gastritis and gastroparesis.

I now eat very bland foods with only a handful that I can tolerate. I’m taking various supplements to attempt to maintain basic nutrition.

Fast forward to today and I’m still suffering with nausea, stomach pain, etc. Energy levels are not great. Anytime I try a new food (like an apple) my stomach gets very irritated and I suffer for a day or two. I even tried acupuncture. Not much the gastroenterologist can do at this point and said it may be chronic or it may get better.

Any advice from those who’ve experienced such issues would be appreciated.

2

Sorry to hear. Sounds very rough.

Following your high dosage antibiotics, could a fecal transplant potentially help? Have you discussed this with your doctor?

3

Unfortunately, fecal transplants (or the somewhat less gross taking of isolated fecal bacteria) aren’t going to correct the damage done to your stomach. They have showed success in treating some bowel and intestinal issues, but not gastric. The stomach does have a high cell turnover, so spontaneous repair may be possible with time.
Other than that, not much to add.

4

Have you tried Prilosec or another PPI?

ETA: I assume you have already eliminated the common irritants like NSAIDs, alcohol, and caffeine.

5

I’ve tried everything from Nexium/Pantropozole/omeprazole (prescription) to PepcidAC to Zantac.

Ironically, while PPIs lower stomach acid production they also further slow stomach emptying thus exacerbating gastroparesis. I’ve decided not to continue the PPIs for this reason. As with all meds, it’s a trade off.

No NSAIDs, alcohol or caffeine since XMas.

6

Have you look at adopting a Mediterranean diet? Although MD has not been assessed for gastritis and GP, it’s been widely tested across other similar GI related conditions, and showed protective and treating effects.
Since you seem to have significant symptoms at this time, you may want to go from where you are right now and progressively incorporate regular items from MD into your diet to see how you respond, just to avoid flare ups?

7

Have you look at adopting a Mediterranean diet? Although MD has not been assessed for gastritis and GP, it’s been widely tested across other similar GI related conditions, and showed protective and treating effects.
Since you seem to have significant symptoms at this time, you may want to go from where you are right now and progressively incorporate regular items from MD into your diet to see how you respond, just to avoid flare ups?

Thanks. At this point I’ll try anything. I’ll take a look at the diet and see what foods I can stomach. Tomatoes, high fiber veggies are off the list but I can stomach meat.

8

I’ve tried everything from Nexium/Pantropozole/omeprazole (prescription) to PepcidAC to Zantac.

Ironically, while PPIs lower stomach acid production they also further slow stomach emptying thus exacerbating gastroparesis. I’ve decided not to continue the PPIs for this reason. As with all meds, it’s a trade off.

No NSAIDs, alcohol or caffeine since XMas.

Sorry to hear all that. Have you discussed balloon dilation? The procedure is not too bad and there are some supporting results in the literature.

9

I’ve tried everything from Nexium/Pantropozole/omeprazole (prescription) to PepcidAC to Zantac.

Ironically, while PPIs lower stomach acid production they also further slow stomach emptying thus exacerbating gastroparesis. I’ve decided not to continue the PPIs for this reason. As with all meds, it’s a trade off.

No NSAIDs, alcohol or caffeine since XMas.

Sorry to hear all that. Have you discussed balloon dilation? The procedure is not too bad and there are some supporting results in the literature.

Never heard of this but will do some research. Thank you.

10

I’ve tried everything from Nexium/Pantropozole/omeprazole (prescription) to PepcidAC to Zantac.

Ironically, while PPIs lower stomach acid production they also further slow stomach emptying thus exacerbating gastroparesis. I’ve decided not to continue the PPIs for this reason. As with all meds, it’s a trade off.

No NSAIDs, alcohol or caffeine since XMas.

Sorry to hear all that. Have you discussed balloon dilation? The procedure is not too bad and there are some supporting results in the literature.

Never heard of this but will do some research. Thank you.

Someone very close to me has had this done a few times for a pyloric constriction. They put a balloon into the bottom of your stomach, and inflate it, thus widening the channel (purposefully avoiding technical terms, which I will probably get wrong). Although your problem is not due to a narrow channel, nonetheless widening the channel might get things to flow faster. The procedure is basically like any upper endoscopy — no real prep (just avoid eating that day) and you’re out due to the propofol. Very quick recovery. I can’t comment on whether there is much risk of tearing something in your situation.

11

Science has barely scratched the surface of microbial life in the GI tract and its effect on the body especially the central nervous system.

I took oral clindamycin antibiotic once 15 years ago and have suffered ever since.

There is this but is not approved treatment: https://openbiome.org/

12

I would ask for some imaging at least an abdominal ultrasound or CT. It sounds like something unusual is going on as opposed to an ordinary healing h pylori infection. Gastroparesis is fairly unusual outside of elderly people and longstanding diabetics. Since you already have been scoped masses not in the stomach interfering with gastric emptying should be ruled out. Some sort of endocrine tumor could also produce similar symptoms I think. Very rare but your situation seems unusual.

13

I would ask for some imaging at least an abdominal ultrasound or CT. It sounds like something unusual is going on as opposed to an ordinary healing h pylori infection. Gastroparesis is fairly unusual outside of elderly people and longstanding diabetics. Since you already have been scoped masses not in the stomach interfering with gastric emptying should be ruled out. Some sort of endocrine tumor could also produce similar symptoms I think. Very rare but your situation seems unusual.

I had an ultrasound, nothing unusual in the result.

14

How much weight have you lost in the last month for instance?

15

How much weight have you lost in the last month for instance?

I dropped a lot of weight Feb-May but I’ve basically leveled off now. I was vomiting and had diarrhea often but now I’ve settled into a diet that I can tolerate and I can get calories down (and timing of meals matter). For a few months I was struggling to get more than 1,000 calories in a day. I haven’t vomited in the last 6 weeks. I thought I would continue to drop weight but I suspect because foods are moving through my system so slowly and I can get calories down that my system found a balance.

Generally, I’ll have a few days that aren’t too bad then I’ll have a couple of days of misery, regardless of diet.

I have kept up with my morning workouts though some days it’s a struggle to get through it.

I often fast for 24 hours to give my system a break.

16

I experienced those exact symptoms. Eating almost anything produced intense stomach pain, nausea and cramping that would grow for several hours then slowly subside, basically wrecking me for a day. Despite barely eating in constantly felt full. Energy levels were awful. My symptoms came on acutely. One night I was just woken up by incredibly sharp abdominal pain. After a few hours of it not subsiding, I went to the ER at 2am. The last time I was woken up by pain like that, I had my appendix removed so I figured the trip was warranted.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a diagnosis or any real medical care here despite spending over 30 hours in the ER. That’s Canadian healthcare for you. I had blood work taken, which didn’t raise any red flags, and we ruled out gallstones, I was given a prescription for raberprazole and that’s it.

I ended up, like you, switching to a bland diet. I ate primarily plain oats, unseasoned chicken and white rice for a few weeks. I cut out coffee and alcohol, which I barely consumed anyway. That helped calm things down and the issue just seemed to resolve itself. I was able to have a steak and glass of wine at father’s day without issue.

I hope your situation improves. That was a pretty miserable few weeks for me, I couldn’t imagine having that issue persist for months.

17

Anyone have experience with these issues? I was diagnosed with a severe case of H. Pylori in early Feb. Did two weeks of high dose of two antibiotics+PPI which didn’t work. Waited a few weeks and did a round of Pylera which made me more sick than the infection but it eradicated the infection around mid-March.

Had an Endoscopy with a biopsy to confirm I am negative for H. Pylori but showed quite a bit of damage: inflammation, bezoars, gastritis and gastroparesis.

I now eat very bland foods with only a handful that I can tolerate. I’m taking various supplements to attempt to maintain basic nutrition.

Fast forward to today and I’m still suffering with nausea, stomach pain, etc. Energy levels are not great. Anytime I try a new food (like an apple) my stomach gets very irritated and I suffer for a day or two. I even tried acupuncture. Not much the gastroenterologist can do at this point and said it may be chronic or it may get better.

Any advice from those who’ve experienced such issues would be appreciated.

How is the stomach doing? I regret that I didn’t respond to your post earlier, but I didn’t want to get into it because my story is too long. I’ve had objectively documented gastroparesis for over ten years. I was able to relatively control it with diet and medications (one comes from Canada because it can have serious heart side-effects and is banned by the FDA. It’s a real catch-22.) However, the gastroparesis plus the reflux I’ve had severely worsened last year to the point that I had a surgery/procedure in May 2024 for it. I had to go through three appeals to finally get my insurance to cover it. Since then it has by no means been perfect, but I’ve gained back all of the weight that I’d lost and I’m eating a lot more. The feeling of severe nausea plus being barely able to eat is literally indescribable. I would have never understood it before going through it.

I hope your symptoms are now better.

18

Anyone have experience with these issues? I was diagnosed with a severe case of H. Pylori in early Feb. Did two weeks of high dose of two antibiotics+PPI which didn’t work. Waited a few weeks and did a round of Pylera which made me more sick than the infection but it eradicated the infection around mid-March.

Had an Endoscopy with a biopsy to confirm I am negative for H. Pylori but showed quite a bit of damage: inflammation, bezoars, gastritis and gastroparesis.

I now eat very bland foods with only a handful that I can tolerate. I’m taking various supplements to attempt to maintain basic nutrition.

Fast forward to today and I’m still suffering with nausea, stomach pain, etc. Energy levels are not great. Anytime I try a new food (like an apple) my stomach gets very irritated and I suffer for a day or two. I even tried acupuncture. Not much the gastroenterologist can do at this point and said it may be chronic or it may get better.

Any advice from those who’ve experienced such issues would be appreciated.

How is the stomach doing? I regret that I didn’t respond to your post earlier, but I didn’t want to get into it because my story is too long. I’ve had objectively documented gastroparesis for over ten years. I was able to relatively control it with diet and medications (one comes from Canada because it can have serious heart side-effects and is banned by the FDA. It’s a real catch-22.) However, the gastroparesis plus the reflux I’ve had severely worsened last year to the point that I had a surgery/procedure in May 2024 for it. I had to go through three appeals to finally get my insurance to cover it. Since then it has by no means been perfect, but I’ve gained back all of the weight that I’d lost and I’m eating a lot more. The feeling of severe nausea plus being barely able to eat is literally indescribable. I would have never understood it before going through it.

I hope your symptoms are now better.

Awful! My situation has not changed at all. I’m curious about the procedure you mentioned. The only med the gastro prescribed is a PPI (Nexium) which I won’t take as it further slows gastric emptying though will help to heal from gastritis. I was on various PPIs with the H.Pylori regimen. Instead, I’ll take a Pepcid or Zantac when I absolutely need to along with Pepto Bismo (straight out of a shot glass like a real man).

I’m still losing weight but not as dramatically as I was in the first few months. I’m doing well with a very limited variety of foods I know I can manage and try to never deviate. Also, various supplements to assist with basic nutritional needs. Otherwise, I’m not continuing with the gastro because he has no additional treatments to offer, either it will improve with time or it won’t. I’ve seen no improvement whatsoever in the past 6 mos. The H.Pylori also caused afib/tachycardia so that was fun. Thankfully, no more heart issues now that the infection has been eradicated.

Not fun at all but I’m happy to hear you’ve found some relief. I miss food/flavor and I miss feeling well. Some days are worse than others, no days are normal or comfortable.

19

“Any morning without blood in my stool is going to be a good day” - Anthony Bourdain
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20

If you “truly” want to know if you have gastroparesis you would probably need to do a 4-hour nuclear gastric emptying study. That is considered the gold standard for diagnosis.

I’ve been on a strong prescription PPI for years. I went off of it for a while, but had to go back on.

I’ve been taking Domperidone four times a day for years. It’s not approved in the US so people have to get prescriptions filled at online pharmacies. I use Candrug.

There are no easy answers. The research is depressing. I had the g-poem procedure in May. The last two big city GI motility specialists said if this doesn’t work they’ll refer me for a gastric stimulator. The thought of that is f’n depressing, but before they finally authorized the g-poem I was ready to do it.

The meds are all catch-22s. You could read online forums for people with gastroparesis, like I did, but they’re full of miserable people with terrible stories. I read them until I had the g-poem and then swore them off completely. I can’t go back to reading that depressing shit.

Most GI doctors know next to nothing about gastroparesis. My board-certified GI specialist really knows almost nothing about it. It’s just not common enough for most of them to get up-to-speed on it and the treatment options are extremely limited.

Good luck. Feel free to report back as you go along.