H Pylori-not only treat yourself but have to treat your spouse

I was watching Dr Oz today and it was very interesting.  It was all about ulcers and the causes.  He said, as I already knew, there are 2 main causes - H Pylori and over use of NSaids/Aspirin.  The treatment for Hylori is with Antibiotics known as the Prevpac which not only needs to be given to the patient but also to their spouse because H Pylori is contagious via kissing.  If you don't treat the spouse, you will give it to your spouse and they will most likely give it right back to you.  So, when you think the treatment didn't work - it is just that you got it again.  That is also why it is so important to go get tested after you finish the treatment to make sure it goes away.  You can go to a lab with a script for a breath test and it can tell you if it is gone.

He also said the reason for Pepto Bismo in the Prevpac is because it has been proven to kill HPylori - unfortunately RNY people can't take Pepto since it has aspirin.  I am not sure what they would do in this case.

I didn't know that about the spouse, but I took the Prev-Pac prior to surgery since I tested positive for H.Pylori and it was awful.  It made me so incredibly sick that I felt miserable.  It gave me thrush on my tongue, made me insanely sick to my stomach, I felt like I was dying.  Blech.  Not sure I could get through having to take that stuff ever again whether it worked or not, lol.

That is one theory. It hasn't been completely proved to be true. I've worked in Gastroenterology for 15 years now and we see several cases of H. Pylori. It has been proved to show up in certain ethnic groups at a higher rate. Most of the Russian population in the states will have it, as will quite a few of the Hispanic population. One thought is possibly something to do with the diet. The Million Dollar question is, "What causes it?" Nobody really knows for sure.

The PrevPac doesn't have the Pepto Bismol in it. It consists of twoantibiotics and Prevacid, which is a proton pump inhibitor (acid reducer).  There are a few other treatments that do use Bismuth...Pepto Bismol and it does seem to help wipe out the bacteria.

I have never seen any of the physicians I work with or have worked with treat a spouse. Typically, they treat the patient and have them do a repeat test about 6-8 weeks later to insure that the bacteria has been killed. While yes, you can show up positive with it again, it rarely happens. The antibiotics are usually strong enough to kill that little bugger the first go round. And, yes, it can be wicked for some people. It can really tear your stomach up and cause some vicious diarrhea. I've had patients tell me they can't fini****

It would be interesting to see the program you were referring to. I'll have to see if I can find it.

And yes, Pepto does contain Aspirin. But, as I said, the PrevPac doesn't contain it. We treat gastric bypass patients in our practice all the time. Although, I can honestly say I don't think I've ever seen one post-op that has had H. Pylori.

I took the Prevpac - the one with Biaxin and Flagyl since I am allergic to penecillin.  It had 4 ingredients - Biaxin, flagyl, Prevacid and chewable Pepto.  You had to take them 4 times per day.  I don't know about the combo with Amoxicillin but the one I took definitely has Pepton in. I remember because they made me terribly nauseous and were really chalky to chew.

As far as treating spouses, I was just repeating what Dr Oz said on his show the other day -  he had an entire segment on ulcers and treating HPylori.  He said it has been recently been found out that HPylori is contagious through kissing, so you can give it to a spouse.  I guess not all doctors know about it, they are just used to treating the way they always have

I find this interesting because I was tested for H Pylori about 5 years ago and was told by my dermatologist (I no longer see her) that my Rosacea was caused by H Pylori.  She was a doctor that had a clinic at my University health center, that is where I got tested.   She did tell me that I did NOT have an active case.

It was a blood test and I did not have to take any antibiotics; but I will probably show that I have had it in the past.  She knew when she saw the results that I had had it sometime in my life.  

I use MetroGel for my rosacea but I thought the correlation was interesting.

I am sure I will be tested again for it; can the surgeon still perform the surgery if I show that I have had H Pylori in the past?

Thanks!

Megan

i was recently diagnosed with H Pylori. i started to look it up and research what could have caused it and what i needed to do moving forward. i found it interesting that you stated that you had Rosacea. A few months ago i was dealing with very bad Rosacea doctors could not explain it or why i was having the issue. but i did notice that i was having stomach issues as well so they had me go to GI. when i went in for my first appointment my doctor told me that i could have these sudden skin issues among other things due to H Pylori. so i was scheduled for an endoscopy and found that yes i did have it. it makes me feel better that i know that possibly after taking my treatment this awful skin problem will go away. in addition to that over the years i developed allergic reactions to all NSAIDS and Tylenol. i hope that taking care of this will help with all the issues i am having. thanks for sharing!

Yes, you can have surgery if you had HPylori in the past.  Once you have it once, the antibodies show up in your blood for life.  I have never heard of HPylori causing Rosecea though and can;t see any connection between the two.  I don't know how she can say it was caused by the HPylori since you don't know when you had it.