Disclaimer: Please take this blog post with a grain of salt. I’m only basing this upon experience, and what I would do differently if I went through this again. This is only here to serve as a personal perspective.

Here it is! I’ve searched everywhere for the past month plus some change on how to deal with H. Pylori infections. Below is my experience from the past month – You can imagine how painful March has been for me (and oh fml the pain was entirely excruciating). I’ve also placed some pointers on the bottom of the post that may help you out!

First off, I try to live a healthy lifestyle. The only time I would consider myself unhealthy is when it comes to the huge amounts coffee I drink daily, and the amount of alcohol consumption I intake on the weekends. Other than that, I workout often, try to eat healthy as possible during the weekdays, try to drink lots of water, and time my meal times.

Now let me tell you, you are for sure going to need lots and lots and lots of rest. If you can’t do that, I recommend just speaking with your teacher, boss, or whoever to at least understand to work with your accommodations. The pain is no joke, and a note from the doctor would help tons. I would also suggest to try not do many stressful activities and definitely try to drink lots of water.

Timeline

First 4 Days: This is when I started to feel the pain (which was just going in and out at first). I’ve felt very weird cramps in my stomach, normal, a little more bloated than usual and thought I could handle this. Thought it would go away with Ginger Ale which it did, but I had coffee again which kind of stirred it back up. (Stay away from Coffee).

5th, 6th, 7th Day: Severe cramps, feeling some sort of bloatedness, tightness, could barely walk, feeling like I am about to explode. I finally went to the doctor since the pain is just abnormal and has happened for several days. I felt as if my stomach was about to pop from the inside dude, seriously! The doctor ran some tests, which takes awhile before finding out what is wrong with my stomach. The doctor advised for me to just take antacids (tums or Peptobismol) and Pepcid since she thought it was just regular bloating issues. She recommended that I do not eat fried foods, fatty foods, BRAT diet, acidic foods.

What I would do differently: If I had known this before, I would have demanded an endoscopy, CBC, or X-Ray from the doctor. Please ask your doctor to not waste your time especially if it’s getting in the way of your work. I do not recommend the BRAT diet (It’s just not good for you, man – doesn’t have the proper amount of nutrition you really need). Definitely stay away from the fried foods, fatty foods, gluten, dairy, spicy foods, and acidic foods – I would definitely start eating yogurt at this time and start healthy food, aka “rabbit” food. Drink lots of water! I did not realize to start not eating gluten and dairy until later in this process, so I would definitely exclude this out at this time.

2nd week – 8th-14th Day: Still going through the same cramps, gets to the point where I can for sure cannot focus and do any work, and the pain was getting worse – So I had to visit the doctor again. I’ve informed her that this is definitely not just a regular bloating issue and she urged to just wait for the “test result”. Due to the amount of severe pain I had, she recommended me to take Mylanta instead of Tums and Peptobismol. On the 11th day (which was a Sunday) I’ve received news that I had H. Pylori infection. Finally, on the 12th day – My doctor prescribed me two different antibiotics and Prilosec which I was told to take for 10 days straight, Prilosec for 14. I started taking them right away. For some reason on the 14th day, I felt the worst pain and couldn’t walk home from work.  DGB had to take me to the ER, where we found that I also had gastritis along with H. Pylori. Due to this, I was given 3 more medications to deal with the pain.

What I would do differently: Get on Prilosec right away! Like possibly the week before. Do not use Peptobismol or Tums. Go straight to Mylanta and Prilosec once you start feeling pains. Definitely, do not start eating regular food again.

3rd Week – 15th Day to the 21st day: Let me tell you, this pain is still excruciating. Please be careful with what you eat. I’ve tried to slowly eat other things, tried out ginger ale, tea, others, etc.. Definitely do not do that yet. I did start eating yogurt, which helped coat the stomach and rid of the pain for a bit. At the time, I’ve already finished my antibiotics, but the pain is still there. Keep eating rabbit food, yogurt, water – no coffee. The doctor informed me to keep taking Prilosec as well.

What I would do differently: Keep taking the Mylanta, And I definitely should have tried out the apple cider vinegar with water. The pain is still very hard to deal with through this time, especially since I didn’t discover to not eat gluten and dairy until later. The Mylanta would definitely help in the meantime for your pain, so will yogurt, and so will the Prilosec.

4th Week – 22nd Day to the 28th Day: Throughout these days, I’m still taking Prilosec. However, because my pain was still crucial, my doctor increased my dose and said to take the Prilosec twice a day to help with the pain. It’s just been so hard to relax during this time since I had to compete for a competition that I was looking forward to (meh, so sad). On the 25th day, I started feeling less of the cramping pain and finally felt something different… which was more of an acid reflux type of pain – I guess you consider that as a sign for progress. Please do keep eating “rabbit” food.

5th Week – 29th day to the 35th day: I would say on the 31st Day, I started to feel so much better and started to feel more like myself again (with some annoying, small pains here and there but still manageable). By this time, I’ve already lost 8.5 pounds since I first went to the doctor. On the 35th day – I definitely was feeling fine and was still eating gluten-free foods, no dairy, no spicy food, etc.

6th Week:  The week that I am currently in, the 42nd day. Feeling like myself! But I am still careful about what I’m eating. I haven’t started eating tomatoes again, spicy foods, or barely any dairy. But I am introducing myself to dairy and meat.

Recovery Process Notes/Suggestion: Since it has been a minute since my stomach has any of the above foods, I definitely recommend to not to binge all at once. To slowly recover, I’m going to add on per week.

Example: One week I’ll start eating acidic foods again (but not every day), and maybe the next week, I’ll slowly start eating dairy again (but not every day). You have to time these things right.

It’s time and a process, but you have to do what’s best for your health. I’ve also adopted the holistic remedy of drinking apple cider vinegar in the morning with hot water, sipping slowly every few minutes. and starting to take multivitamin one-a-days. Considering that I have a weak immune system, you have to be smart about what you eat. Wait until your 100% before you go on a whim and eat your fatty foods again.

So here is a recap for my advice:

• Do not eat the following during the entire process (until starting the 6th week to be safe)
  • Acidic Foods
  • Spicy Foods
  • Fried Foods
  • Fatty Foods
  • Gluten
  • Dairy
  • Stay away from pork and beef
• What can I eat?
  • Yogurt
  • Banana
  • Lean Meat (Chicken, Fish)
  • Rice
  • Potatoes
  • Vegetables
• Remedies
  • Mylanta
  • Pepcid
  • Prilosec
  • Apple Cider Vinegar with hot water (drink slowly), twice a day.
  • Possible Elixir Juices/Drinks
  • Lots of Rest
  • No stressful activities

If you have any personal questions in which you like to ask, or have any questions, feel free to comment below or email me. There is a few more information that I can offer for ya 🙂