h. pylori?

[bluemtnrunner]

Our 11 year old complained to his mom that he had stomach aches. Doctor ordered test for H.pylori and it came back positive. Put him on a round of antibiotics and Omeprazole (prevacid). There was no refill on the Omeprazole so we gave it to him for a month and when it was gone thought no more of it.
Mom says he needs to be on it for 3 months and see a gastrointerologist. Because of the conflicting info we called his doc and were told to get the pharmacy to fax a refill for two more months. The chart said nothing about a gastro exam.
I searched the internet and there is nothing about going three months on it unless there are combined antibiotics given.
Took him to our doc who said he wouldn't have treated it the same way as the other doc but gave us 5 refills. He also gave us an info sheet on it which also says no need to be on it unless multiple antibiotics are given. He also said a gastrointerologist was unnecessary.

The child has not complained of any stomach pain in a month. He has never complained of stomach pain to us at all.

Does anyone have any concrete information on this bacteria, treatment or dangers of giving a kid Omeprazole for three months?

 

[scooterbug44]

What does the med do/cure?

A tummy ache means 3 months of meds?

 

[30A Skunkape]

First of all-omeprazole is perfectly safe. No worries. I am guessing that the prolonged use is to heal any suspected peptic ulcers or gastritis as it greatly reduces the acid content of the stomach.

Helicobacter pylori is a tough little bacteria species that colonizes the stomach and part of the small intestine. In and of itself, it is harmless. However, there is a clear association between this bug and peptic ulcer disease, so upper GI complaints frequently prompt a screen. It can be eradicated by one of several combinations of antibiotics plus a proton pump inhibitor like omeprazole. Of note, H. pylori is spread person to person, so some advocate looking for it in close family members, but that isn't a firm recommendation. Nor is there any need to test all the kids at school, etc. Many people are colonized by this critter and are totally asymptomatic.

 

[Minnie]

The usual treatment is 14 days of antibiotic and 30 days of Omeprazole, unless there was a reoccurance of the stomach pains or they tested him again after treatment and it came back positive, I know of no reason they would continue treatment.

 

[bluemtnrunner]

The usual treatment is 14 days of antibiotic and 30 days or Omeprazole, unless there was a reoccurance of the stupid pains or they tested him again after treatment and it came back positive, I know of no reason they would continue treatment.

Ok, so I'm confused again. One for meds one against. I think if he were mine I wouldn't give them to him unless he seemed to be having trouble. He has never complained of stomach pain, heartburn, burping, burning...nothing. But his mom is having a hissy fit over this. If it won't hurt him then I guess we'll go ahead and give it to him.

I still don't understand why the first doctor only wrote the rx for 30 days but when we called they said 90 days and to have the pharmacy fax them for refills.
Confused confused

 

[Minnie]

As Skunky said taking the Prevacid will not hurt him. The usual treatment is 2 weeks of antibiotics and a month of Prevacid.

But every doctor is different and if they want him to continue the Prevacid, there is no reason not to.

And I need to stop typing when on the phone, as I seem to type what I am hearing over the phone instead of what I am meaning to type.

Like my Mom saying it was stupid for my brother to try and move this heavy piece of furniture by himself.

 

[amyhappens]

H Pylori and antibiotics - not so clear

I'm sure antibiotics work well and "are safe" for some people, but not for all.

My saga with H Pylori is a miserable one with a happy outcome after more than a year, and as research continues to show, the antibiotics are losing their effectiveness against the bacteria.

I used "alternative" meds, based on the crazy notion that food can heal.

The main three main "drugs" that finally eradicated the H Pylori were Monolaurin (derived from coconut milk), Manuka Honey (activated and only from New Zealand), and Mastic Gum (derived from the Greek Mastic tree). I did add in several other healing agents consistently like L Glutamine (a powder I put on my oatmeal, which helps heal gut tissue, thanks to the bacterial damage this potent bug can do), Aloe Juice (from the aloe plant), among other items I don't feel like typing in here. If you're interested in my saga with H Pylori that almost caused me to have a defibrilator in my chest (extreme, yes, but they decided the now-gone heart issues were not related to the infection) or if you want to read about this "crazy" alternatives that have restored my life and caused me to test negative for H Pylori, check out my blog entry here:

I’m So Happy – I Have H Pylori! ? amy king’s alias

I'm sorry to sound a bit snarky here, but the idea of giving a child -- or anyone -- drugs for three months sounds experimental at best and damaging due to side effects at least.

It took me a long time to research and restore my health. I hope this information helps.

One more thing: diet is key in helping your child to improve as his body fights the bacteria. You should absolutely eliminate white flour products like carbohydrates (white pastas, white rice, bread, etc). These are sugars! Sugars only feed bacteria and provide no nutritional value. Also, cut out sugars! You should even limit fruits for the time being. Your goal is two fold: don't feed the bacteria and give the gut easy-to-digest alkalyzing foods. Avoid foods like tomatoes and dairy products too. You can catch up on calcium later. Milk is acidic in the gut.

My diet over the past two months was pretty much chicken soup (simple molecules), cooked veggies, brown rice, avocados (for good fat content), and olives and capers. It was very difficult as I love my coffee and my glasses of wine, chocolate, pasta, pizza, etc. But it worked. And I've actually come out eating better now, even though I've returned some of my cookies and other desserts.

Good luck and best wishs that your son returns to health asap!

Best,

Amy

 

[texas1]

watch out taking those OTCacid reducers

I'm sure antibiotics work well and "are safe" for some people, but not for all.

My saga with H Pylori is a miserable one with a happy outcome after more than a year, and as research continues to show, the antibiotics are losing their effectiveness against the bacteria.

I used "alternative" meds, based on the crazy notion that food can heal.

The main three main "drugs" that finally eradicated the H Pylori were Monolaurin (derived from coconut milk), Manuka Honey (activated and only from New Zealand), and Mastic Gum (derived from the Greek Mastic tree). I did add in several other healing agents consistently like L Glutamine (a powder I put on my oatmeal, which helps heal gut tissue, thanks to the bacterial damage this potent bug can do), Aloe Juice (from the aloe plant), among other items I don't feel like typing in here. If you're interested in my saga with H Pylori that almost caused me to have a defibrilator in my chest (extreme, yes, but they decided the now-gone heart issues were not related to the infection) or if you want to read about this "crazy" alternatives that have restored my life and caused me to test negative for H Pylori, check out my blog entry here:

I?m So Happy ? I Have H Pylori! ? amy king?s alias

I'm sorry to sound a bit snarky here, but the idea of giving a child -- or anyone -- drugs for three months sounds experimental at best and damaging due to side effects at least.

It took me a long time to research and restore my health. I hope this information helps.

One more thing: diet is key in helping your child to improve as his body fights the bacteria. You should absolutely eliminate white flour products like carbohydrates (white pastas, white rice, bread, etc). These are sugars! Sugars only feed bacteria and provide no nutritional value. Also, cut out sugars! You should even limit fruits for the time being. Your goal is two fold: don't feed the bacteria and give the gut easy-to-digest alkalyzing foods. Avoid foods like tomatoes and dairy products too. You can catch up on calcium later. Milk is acidic in the gut.

My diet over the past two months was pretty much chicken soup (simple molecules), cooked veggies, brown rice, avocados (for good fat content), and olives and capers. It was very difficult as I love my coffee and my glasses of wine, chocolate, pasta, pizza, etc. But it worked. And I've actually come out eating better now, even though I've returned some of my cookies and other desserts.

Good luck and best wishs that your son returns to health asap!

Best,

Amy

I agrre with Amy about watching out for taking those acid reducers for so long in a child. They can affect B12 absorption and production which is vital for energy in the body. The elderly often have problems with this because they give them a lot of stomach acid reducers. I would ask my pediatrician for a specific reason why to continue since the child is no longer complaining. The low acid diet is a great way to go for a couple months. A place to find out about what foods to keep low acid is greattasetnopain.com. I am not related to this in any way. Other natural remedy web sites also mention the use of monoluarin and mastic gum. See Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum's work or other web sites would check this out also. I know that currently they do use these acid reducers a lot (give to babies for GERD, etc which of course they didn't do when my kids were babies so I may be overly cautious because it was not common back then. ) I also took these for a month and it took my stomach a while to recover from the use. The low acid diet really does help and it is not harmful. texas1

 

[30A Skunkape]

I agrre with Amy about watching out for taking those acid reducers for so long in a child. They can affect B12 absorption and production which is vital for energy in the body. The elderly often have problems with this because they give them a lot of stomach acid reducers. I would ask my pediatrician for a specific reason why to continue since the child is no longer complaining. The low acid diet is a great way to go for a couple months. A place to find out about what foods to keep low acid is greattasetnopain.com. I am not related to this in any way. Other natural remedy web sites also mention the use of monoluarin and mastic gum. See Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum's work or other web sites would check this out also. I know that currently they do use these acid reducers a lot (give to babies for GERD, etc which of course they didn't do when my kids were babies so I may be overly cautious because it was not common back then. ) I also took these for a month and it took my stomach a while to recover from the use. The low acid diet really does help and it is not harmful. texas1

Three months of a PPI wouldn't do diddly to B12 absorption. While chronic use of a PPI may rarely be associated with decreased B12 absorption in the elderly (chronic defined as years, not months), the elderly also at their baseline produce less intrinsic factor and are at higher risk to begin with.

 

[30A Skunkape]

I'm sure antibiotics work well and "are safe" for some people, but not for all.

My saga with H Pylori is a miserable one with a happy outcome after more than a year, and as research continues to show, the antibiotics are losing their effectiveness against the bacteria.

I used "alternative" meds, based on the crazy notion that food can heal.

The main three main "drugs" that finally eradicated the H Pylori were Monolaurin (derived from coconut milk), Manuka Honey (activated and only from New Zealand), and Mastic Gum (derived from the Greek Mastic tree). I did add in several other healing agents consistently like L Glutamine (a powder I put on my oatmeal, which helps heal gut tissue, thanks to the bacterial damage this potent bug can do), Aloe Juice (from the aloe plant), among other items I don't feel like typing in here. If you're interested in my saga with H Pylori that almost caused me to have a defibrilator in my chest (extreme, yes, but they decided the now-gone heart issues were not related to the infection) or if you want to read about this "crazy" alternatives that have restored my life and caused me to test negative for H Pylori, check out my blog entry here:

I?m So Happy ? I Have H Pylori! ? amy king?s alias

I'm sorry to sound a bit snarky here, but the idea of giving a child -- or anyone -- drugs for three months sounds experimental at best and damaging due to side effects at least.

It took me a long time to research and restore my health. I hope this information helps.

One more thing: diet is key in helping your child to improve as his body fights the bacteria. You should absolutely eliminate white flour products like carbohydrates (white pastas, white rice, bread, etc). These are sugars! Sugars only feed bacteria and provide no nutritional value. Also, cut out sugars! You should even limit fruits for the time being. Your goal is two fold: don't feed the bacteria and give the gut easy-to-digest alkalyzing foods. Avoid foods like tomatoes and dairy products too. You can catch up on calcium later. Milk is acidic in the gut.

My diet over the past two months was pretty much chicken soup (simple molecules), cooked veggies, brown rice, avocados (for good fat content), and olives and capers. It was very difficult as I love my coffee and my glasses of wine, chocolate, pasta, pizza, etc. But it worked. And I've actually come out eating better now, even though I've returned some of my cookies and other desserts.

Good luck and best wishs that your son returns to health asap!

Best,

Amy

If sugars are so bad, how do you explain the paradoxical benefit of honey?