Helicobacter Forums

I have been reading on a very professional website (GPnotebook - which is a doctors reference site based in the UK), that taking PPI's alone if you are effected by H Pylori can cause the infection to spread, is this true?

I first visited my GP in April last year with reflux problems and upper abdomen pain. I was prescribed with lansoporozole and told to take them for 28 days and return to do a stool sample for H Pylori. After taking the tablets for a week or so I started to feel sick and have an upset stomach. So I ceased taking them.

Anyway I returned to my doctor a couple of months later and this time she told me to do a stool test first then start on the omeprazole. Anyway prior to my stool test I was taking the remains of the original lansoporozole due to bad reflux.

I know that taking PPI's prior to a stool test for H Pylori can cause false negatives, so is it possible that I could have an H pylori infection which as become worse since taking PPI's with any antibiotics to eradicate it?

I had an endoscopy in October last year and no biopsy was taken. My symptoms have become progressively worse on PPI's. If I do have an H pylori infection I would like to get it eradicated before I get an Ulcer or worse (my grandfather died of stomach cancer).

Will and H pylori blood test show infection when taking PPI's, or would I need to cease taking them for a period of time and get a stool or breath test done.

Advice would be greatly appreciated.

H. pylori is the cause of many stomach ulcer. Since H. pylori is also strongly correlated with stomach cancer, with your cancer history, you should get it treated asap.

you can do blood test, but that will only tell you history of infection. if your blood test is positive, it means you are infected at least once within the past 3 years. if your blood test is negative, means you are not infected. So, blood test after antibiotic treatment will only show false positive result.

Taking PPI alone will not kill h. pylori. PPI reduces the acid in your stomach, may kill a few H. pylori that accidentally produce alkaline to neutralise the acid. but, majority will remain happily under the mucous layer which is neutral pH where the alkaline production feature is turned off. So, the pain is usually acid digesting the stomach skin cell where there is no mucous protection. the mucous is normally secreted from the stomach skin cells which has been damaged by the H. pylori to get nutrients. so, PPI reduce the acid and hence reduce the pain sensation. the stomach is still remain attacked by the H. pylori. you just dont feel it until it gets really bad.

I think if you do an endoscopy and get some biopsy out, under histology slide, you should be able to see if you are still infected. A CLOtest that test the alkaline production feature of H. pylori may work too. if your specialist is really good, perhaps he can ask for bacterial culture and antibiotic sensitivity test. that will tell you which antibiotics work and safe your time trying different combination.

Helico Expert thanks for the reply once more. I did have an endoscopy last October, the problem I am having is getting a doctor to go that extra yard. Just because my stool for H Pylori was negative, does not mean I am not infected due to the fact that I was taking PPI's around the time of my test.

I am hoping to get reffered to a stomach specialist as my doctors dont seem to understand much about H Pylori. At the moment I would struggle to be without PPI's due to my Hiatus Hernia and reflux problems thus having a breath test or another stool sample may be a problem.

that would be the best, if you can tolerate. however, you should also seek for non-helicobacter problem. unfortunately it's not a very well-studied area.