Treatment FAQ

how do you follow up on h pylori after treatment

by Felicity Trantow Published 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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Follow-up — After completing H. pylori treatment, repeat testing is usually performed to ensure that the infection has resolved. This is typically done with a breath or stool test (see 'Breath tests' above).

Follow-up — After completing H. pylori treatment, repeat testing is usually performed to ensure that the infection has resolved. This is typically done with a breath or stool test (see 'Breath tests' above).Jul 6, 2020

Full Answer

Why H pylori symptoms return after treatment?

  • Removing bad foods and bad bugs, and anything else that irritates your gut (you may need to run some tests to identify these factors)
  • Restoring digestive function (taking steps to make sure you digest your food properly)
  • Reinoculating with “good” bacteria using fermented foods, prebiotic or probiotic supplements

More items...

How to treat H pylori naturally at home without antibiotics?

pylori Treatments

  • H. pylori Prevention. ...
  • Precautions. If you suspect that you may have a Helicobacter pylori infection, then it is definitely worth getting a H. ...
  • Final Thoughts. Helicobacter pylori is a really important health topic since it’s so common all across the globe. ...

How to get rid of H. pylori naturally?

  • Add one to two teaspoons of licorice root to a cup of water.
  • Bring it to a boil in a saucepan.
  • Simmer and strain. Allow it to cool.
  • Drink it up.

Can H. pylori recur after treatment?

Treatment of H. pylori improves your symptoms and decreases the risk of ulcers, gastric cancers, and others. Persistence or recurrence of your symptoms may indicate h. pylori treatment failure. However, symptoms are not an accurate assessment of treatment failure.

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When should you retest for H. pylori after treatment?

Wait at least 8 weeks after eradication therapy before retesting for Helicobacter. Ensure that patient has not been taking antibiotics or PPI as outlined above to avoid false negative results.

How will I know if the H pylori infection is healed?

pylori infection is healed? Your healthcare provider will repeat a breath and/or stool test after waiting at least two weeks after proton pump inhibitor treatment has finished and four weeks after completing antibiotic treatment. Last reviewed by a Cleveland Clinic medical professional on 03/19/2021.

How long after treatment does H. pylori last?

If you have ulcers caused by H. pylori, you'll need treatment to kill the germs, heal your stomach lining, and keep the sores from coming back. It usually takes 1 to 2 weeks of treatment to get better.

Can you still have H. pylori after treatment?

H pylori antibodies can remain present long after successful H pylori eradication. Biopsy-based testing including the rapid urease test or histology also can be used to document H pylori eradication.

Can H. pylori come back after antibiotics?

Recurrence of H pylori after a successful eradication is rare in developed countries and more frequent in developing countries[1]. Recrudescence (recolonization of the same strain) rather than reinfection (colonization with a new strain) is considered more likely to be responsible for most of the cases[5].

How do you prevent H. pylori from recurrence?

H. Pylori PreventionPractice good hygiene and hand washing, especially with food preparation.All patients with chronic gastrointestinal symptoms that may be associated with H. ... Patients should complete the full course of therapy (antibiotics and acid blockers) to maximize the potential for a cure.More items...

How do I know if my ulcer is healed?

You may have a repeat gastroscopy after 4 to 6 weeks to check that the ulcer has healed. There aren't any special lifestyle measures you need to take during treatment, but avoiding stress, alcohol, spicy foods and smoking may reduce your symptoms while your ulcer heals.

What happens after H. pylori eradication?

Up to 3 in 10 people develop some side-effects when they take eradication therapy. These include indigestion (dyspepsia), feeling sick (nausea), diarrhoea and headaches.

What happens if H. pylori doesn't go away with antibiotics?

EVIDENCE-BASED ANSWER: Treating patients with Helicobacter pylori infection who have failed clarithromycin-based triple therapy with either levofloxacin-based triple therapy (with amoxicillin and a proton pump inhibitor [PPI]) or a bismuth-based quadruple therapy produces cure rates of 75% to 81%.

How long do you need to take antibiotics for ulcers?

Antibiotics help kill the bacteria. You may need to take this medicine for 10 to 14 days. Your healthcare provider will prescribe 2 antibiotics at the same time. Antiulcer medicines help decrease the amount of acid that is normally made by the stomach. These help heal or prevent ulcers.

How to get rid of a swollen bowel?

Infection can happen through contact with infected bowel movement, vomit, or saliva. Use soap and warm water. Use an alcohol-based gel if soap and water are not available. Clean your hands before you eat and after you use the bathroom. Clean your hands after you change a baby's diaper.

What is the name of the bacteria that infects the lining of the stomach and upper intestine?

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) bacteria infect the lining of the stomach and upper intestine. It is important to treat the infection. H. pylori may lead to changes in the cells of your esophagus or stomach. The cells are changed into intestine cells.

How to take medicine if you are allergic to it?

Contact your healthcare provider if you think your medicine is not helping or if you have side effects. Tell him or her if you are allergic to any medicine. Keep a list of the medicines, vitamins, and herbs you take. Include the amounts, and when and why you take them.

How to get rid of bacteria on food?

Rinse food well before you cook or eat it. Cook food all the way through. Proper handling will help kill any bacteria that may be on your food. Drink clean water from a safe source.

Can Helicobacter pyri be used for commercial purposes?

Helicobacter Pylori (Aftercare Instructions) - What You Need to Know. This material must not be used for commercial purposes, or in any hospital or medical facility. Failure to comply may result in legal action.

How long after treatment for H pylori can you get tested?

Your doctor may recommend that you undergo testing for H. pylori at least four weeks after your treatment. If the tests show the treatment was unsuccessful, you may undergo another round of treatment with a different combination of antibiotic medications.

How many antibiotics are given for H pylori?

H. pylori infections are usually treated with at least two different antibiotics at once, to help prevent the bacteria from developing a resistance to one particular antibiotic. Your doctor also will prescribe or recommend an acid-suppressing drug, to help your stomach lining heal.

What is the most common test for H pylori?

Stool tests. The most common stool test to detect H. pylori is called a stool antigen test that looks for foreign proteins (antigens) associated with H. pylori infection in your stool. Antibiotics, acid-suppressing drugs known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto-Bismol) can interfere with the accuracy of these tests.

How long do you have to stop taking PPI before a blood test?

If you are taking a PPI, your doctor will ask you to stop taking the PPI medications for one or two weeks before the test. This test isn't always recommended solely to diagnose an H. pylori infection because it's more invasive than a breath or stool test.

Why do we do a H pylori test?

pylori infection. This test is done to investigate symptoms that may be caused by other conditions such as gastric ulcer or gastritis that may be due to H. pylori. The test may be repeated after treatment depending on what is found at the first endoscopy or if symptoms persist after H. pylori treatment.

How long after antibiotics can you test stool?

If you were previously diagnosed with and treated for H. pylori, your doctor will generally wait at least four weeks after you complete your antibiotic treatment to test your stool. If you are taking a PPI, your doctor will ask you to stop taking PPI medications for one or two weeks before the test.

What are some examples of PPIs?

Some examples of PPIs are omeprazole (Prilosec), esomeprazole (Nexium), lansoprazole (Prevacid) and pantoprazole (Protonix).

How many times can you get H pylori?

But these aren’t the only reasons why H pylori symptoms return. Another important reason is that you can get H pylori twice, three times or as many times as you want, really. Reinfection is more common than people think.

What are the symptoms of H pylori?

H pylori symptoms return (or never go away) because of: 1 Collateral damage caused by H pylori and other things 2 Ongoing food sensitivities 3 Eating and lifestyle habits 4 Other bad bugs like Candida, SIBO and intestinal parasites 5 Low stomach acid and other digestive problems 6 Reinfection from family members or sexual partners

What fungi can accompany H pylori?

Then you have Candida albicans and other fungi, which often accompany H pylori.

Can H pylori cause stomach pain?

With humble honesty, I can tell you that even if you find H pylori in your stomach, it might not be the main reason you feel crap. What do I mean? Well, the main H pylori symptoms – heartburn, tummy pain, reflux, bloating, burping, nausea and so on – can all be caused by other things.

Can you get rid of H pylori?

So you can get rid of H pylori but if you have any of these other critters hanging around in the gut, your symptoms might not budge. This is where a comprehensive home stool test comes in handy. When I did my home tests, I first found H pylori.

Does H pylori heal overnight?

Just because H pylori has been cleared out of your stomach, it doesn’t mean your stomach is healthy all of a sudden. Think about it, if you have an infected wound in your finger, sterilizing the wound doesn’t mean it heals overnight. It’s still red, swollen and sore… and for a good few days or weeks afterwards.

Can you change your diet before treating H pylori?

Food sensitivities is a big one, and as you’ve probably already read, I’m a huge advocate of changing your diet before treating H pylori because avoiding key foods can make your symptoms go away, fast.

What is the best treatment for H pylori?

Successful treatment of H. pylori can help the ulcer to heal, prevent ulcers from coming back, and reduce the risk of ulcer complications (like bleeding). Guidelines in the United States and other countries recommend that patients who require long-term anti-inflammatory medications such as aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, and similar drugs treatment for arthritis and other medical conditions should be tested for H. pylori and if infected undergo treatment to eradicate the H. pylori infection [ 1,2 ].

How long does it take to cure H pylori?

A second treatment regimen is usually recommended in this case. Retreatment usually requires that the patient take 14 days of a proton pump inhibitor and two antibiotics.

How does H pylori help heal ulcers?

H. pylori treatment helps to heal the ulcer, lowers the risk that the ulcer will return, and lowers the risk of bleeding from the ulcer. ● H. pylori treatment usually includes several medicines. At least two of the medicines are antibiotics that help to kill the bacteria.

What are some examples of proton pump inhibitors?

Examples of proton pump inhibitors include lansoprazole (Prevacid), omeprazole (Prilosec), pantoprazole (Protonix), rabeprazole (AcipHex), dexlansoprazole (Dexilant), and esomeprazole (Nexium).

How many people have side effects from H pylori?

Side effects — Up to 50 percent of patients have side effects while taking H. pylori treatment. Side effects are usually mild, and fewer than 10 percent of patients stop treatment because of side effects. For those who do experience side effects, it may be possible to make adjustments in the dose or timing of medication.

When do children get H pylori?

However, in developing countries, most children are infected with H. pylori before age 10.

Where is Helicobacter pylori found?

HELICOBACTER PYLORI OVERVIEW. Helicobacter pylori, also known as H. pylori, is a bacterium that is commonly found in the stomach. It is present in approximately one-half of the world's population. The vast majority of people infected with H. pylori has no symptoms and will never develop problems.

How did Helicobacter pylori revolutionize gastroenterology?

The introduction of acid suppressants and the recognition of Helicobacter pylori as a pathogen revolutionized gastroenterology practice. It meant that chronic, debilitating conditions, such as peptic ulcer disease, could be treated with a course of antibiotics. Patients were relieved from the stigma of suffering from a psychosomatic disease and from long treatments and hospital admissions, often ending in surgery. A younger generation of physicians may easily underestimate this impact. The author and colleagues previously estimated it for the Netherlands alone, a small country with 17 million inhabitants. The improvement in peptic ulcer treatment led to a yearly gain of 46,000 quality-adjusted life-years and annual savings of at least €1.8 billion. These major changes have not removed the necessity for endoscopic follow-up for a proportion of patients with H pylori –associated conditions. They need follow-up to monitor the underlying disease and/or to confirm successful bacterial eradication when persistent colonization puts patients at significant risk for disease recurrence or progression. This article focuses on the need for endoscopic follow-up after H pylori eradication therapy ( Table 1 ).

What is the second group of patients with peptic ulcers for whom endoscopic follow-up is recommended after H?

A second group of patients with peptic ulcers for whom endoscopic follow-up is recommended after H pylori eradication consists of those with complicated peptic ulcer. The most common complication is ulcer hemorrhage, followed by perforation and gastric outlet stenosis.

Is H pylori a colonizer?

H pylori colonization and dy spepsia are both common phenomena, which explains the considerable overlap between the two (ie, a considerable proportion of patients with dyspeptic symptoms are H pylori positive). The causal relation between the two is, however, limited. The effect of H pylori eradication on nonulcer dyspepsia is, thus, also small. More than 15 prospective randomized controlled trials compared the effect of H pylori eradication with placebo in patients with nonulcer dyspepsia. On average, the number needed to treat to cure one patient with dyspepsia was 14. It often took 6 to 12 months for symptoms to improve.

Can H pylori be eradicated without endoscopy?

A related category consists of patients who have received H pylori eradication after noninvasive testing only, without endoscopy. This category of uninvestigated dyspepsia includes patients with nonulcer dyspepsia as well as patients with other conditions, such as peptic ulcer. Patients with uninvestigated dyspepsia who report with persistent or recurrent symptoms after H pylori eradication are eligible for endoscopy. This eligibility allows reassessing H pylori status as well as evaluating the presence of specific disease, such as peptic ulcer.

How long does it take to get rid of H pylori?

Alas, some docs believe that H pylori treatment works – you take your triple or quadruple therapy for 7-14 days and that’s it, you’re done.

How long after treatment for H pylori can you retest?

H pylori retesting checklist. Take retesting seriously – it’s important. Wait at least 4 weeks after treatment has finished before getting retested. Do NOT use a blood test as H pylori antibodies can remain elevated for several months even if H pylori has gone.

How long does it take for H pylori to multiply?

The test may not be sensitive enough to find this depleted population. After a couple of weeks, the H pylori bacteria can begin multiplying again and end up being at high levels after 3-4 weeks. Thus, if you run your H pylori retesting after 4 weeks, you have more chance of finding it if it’s still there.

Why is it important to retest for H pylori?

H pylori retesting is an important topic because there is no other way of knowing whether H pylori has been eradicated. Even if your symptoms improve, H pylori can still be hanging around in your stomach after you’re completed your treatment. Unfortunately, doctors may not always want to run a retest, so it’s important to understand your options.

What to do if your doctor refuses to retest?

If your doctor refuses to retest, consider using a home stool test (either H pylori-only or a comprehensive test if your symptoms are not budging)

How long to avoid proton pump inhibitors?

It’s important to avoid proton pump inhibitors for 2 weeks prior to using a breath test or stool test for H pylori.

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How to treat H pylori?

H. Pylori Treatment Failure 1 About 20% of H. pylori treatment fails after initial treatment. 2 Make sure that the patient is compliant with medications. 3 Since the patient has failed an initial course of treatment, we will use an alternate regimen (triple or quadruple therapy) using a different combination of antibiotics for 14 days. 4 We won’t use Clarithromycin unless we have cultures that show that this H. pylori strain is susceptible to Clarithromycin. 5 Will avoid antibiotics that have been used before. 6 Will consider culture with antibiotic sensitivity testing to guide subsequent treatments if the patient fails the second antibiotic combination. 7 Rx: omeprazole (20 mg BID), tetracycline (500 mg BID), metronidazole (500 mg BID), and bismuth subcitrate caplets (240 mg BID), each given twice daily with the midday and evening meals for 14 days 8 Rx: Florastor to prevent C-diff.

How often should I take PPI?

Standard dose PPI* twice daily (or esomeprazole 40 mg once daily) plus clarithromycin 500 mg twice daily, and amoxicillin 1000 mg twice daily for 10-14 days ¶.

How long does a PPI last?

Levofloxacin (250 mg), amoxicillin (1 g), and a PPI each given twice daily for 14 days. Omeprazole (20 mg), tetracycline (500 mg), metronidazole (500 mg), and bismuth subcitrate caplets (240 mg), each given twice daily with the midday and evening meals for 14 days has been shown to result in a 95% eradication rate.

How long does it take to take clarithromycin 500 mg twice daily?

Standard dose PPI twice daily, clarithromycin 500 mg twice daily, metronidazole 500 mg twice daily for 10-14 days ¶.

Can you use clarithromycin on H. pylori?

We won’t use Clarithromycin unless we have cultures that show that this H. pylori strain is susceptible to Clarithromycin.

What is the best treatment for H pylori?

Sequential therapy and salvage therapy have emerged recently as alternative regimens for the eradication of H. pylori. Although current guidelines continue to recommend established therapies for first-line management of H. pylori, general practitioners should be aware of these new strategies such that these options could be applied when traditional therapy fails.

Why is H. pylori treatment failure?

Treatment failure is said generally to be due to the rise of antimicrobial drug resistance. Several studies have found that H. pylori eradication is more successful when sensitivity testing is performed prior to treatment. 6 This allows selection of antibiotics according to organism susceptibility.

Why is H. pylori eradication more successful?

Several studies have found that H. pylori eradication is more successful when sensitivity testing is performed prior to treatment . 6 This allows selection of antibiotics according to organism susceptibility.

How long has H pylori been in the human body?

H. pylori is a gram negative bacillus that has naturally colonised the human stomach for at least 50,000 years . 1 Usually acquired in childhood, it colonises the gastric mucosa of about 50% of the world’s population at some time in their life. 1 In westernised countries, H. pylori infection has a prevalence of approximately 30%. 1

Why is it important to have good patient compliance?

Good patient compliance is also a vital predictor of outcome. 10 Therefore, it is important to emphasise its relevance to patients. Poor compliance not only contributes to antibiotic resistance, but patients who do not complete their full course of antibiotics are also more likely to fail treatment. In Australia, incomplete adherence is the most common reason for eradication failure. 9

Why is it important to ask patients about previous medications?

Evidence suggests that previous patient exposure to metronidazole or macrolide antibiotics lowers eradication success. 9 If they have such past exposure, drugs of substitute classes should be selected to avoid treatment failure.

How many ulcers are associated with H. pylori?

Worldwide, more than 80% of duodenal ulcers and more than 60% of gastric ulcers are associated with H. pylori. 1 Most patients colonised with the organism do not develop peptic ulcers, although the majority will develop a gastritis.

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