H. Pylori
February 15, 2008
On Tuesday I went to meet my new doctor and describe my symptoms, the ones everybody has: fatigue, stomach pain, the urge to strangle idiotic pop stars. I hadn’t been to a doctor in nearly ten years so I could have had anything. After a brief Q & A with Doctor Ko, he explained that I might have Anemia, a fairly easily fixable diagnosis. But he wanted blood and pee to be sure.
After two days wait I received a call from the lab tech, indicating that I have something called H. Pylori, or Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium mostly commonly affecting the stomach and duodenum (not that anyone has any idea what a duodenum is anyway).
The prognosis: two antibiotics and an antacid, the latter to reduce the H. Pylori-inspired ulcers in my tummy.
Of course, Julia, in her obsessive manner (she puts the O in OCD, which, by the way, she has), looked up H. Pylori on Wikipedia and found that the most likely of circumstances are that it was contracted by way of ingestion of fecal matter, most commonly through tainted food.
Which means, of course, that at some point in my life I literally ate shit.
H. Pylori can go undiagnosed for years, causing nothing more than irritation. There is some speculation that it increases the risk of cancer. Despite the (highly improbable) potential outcome, I am not worried. The prescribed regimen of medicine is proven 90% effective.
I just can’t get over how I must have gotten it.
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Comments
Vegetables who have not been carefully washed are a likely candidate. S--t is a great fertilizer, after all... :)
Posted by ludo
Wow, that's kind of gross. Here's to your speedy recovery!
Posted by Eric Florenzano
Tons of vegetables are harvested in a field with only a outhouse (no running water!) for facilities. E coli and all sorts of other nasties abound. A fairly common source could have been salad. Possibly "pre-washed ready to eat!" salad mixes from your local grocery...
Poo, it's not just for breakfast anymore. Or something.
Posted by Justin
SuperJareDookie
Posted by Nikolaj
i just been diagnosed with this too and your thoughts are exactly what i was thinking....i ate shiat!! OMG
Posted by sandra
I know how you feel. I was just diagnosed with it but I just blamed it on my husband because we all know I would never eat anything like that. You can get it from the big wet smooch too. I am allergic to penicillin so it is a bit harder to cure.
Posted by Melissa
What a candid review of h.pylori!! I, too, have been diagnosed and they are going to give me a double regimen of antibiotics with Nexium (double on this, too) to prevent me from getting sick from the antibiotics. I am very tired. Is this part of the symptoms?
Posted by Patti
I think that if you have that many antibiotics you're bound to feel tired. I did, however it only lasted a few days, compared to the two weeks I was on them.
Posted by SuperJared
I was experiencing severe nausea and saw my doctor. Without a moment's thought and no exam, he ventured an intuitive diagnosis: symtons of an antidepressant withdrawl which could not be treated. I continued to complain for three months, all the time not being able to eat regular meals (I existed on a modified BRAT diet) and losing weight. He never waivered in his diagnosis and each visit I weighed in at a weght loss from the previous visit. All told I lost 15 pounds and suffered extremely from the nausea. Only after I told him its time to "fish or cut bait" did he finally conduct an exam. The initial diagnosis: Helicobater Pylori. I wonder what the effects of this prolonged period before diagnosis will have on the cure.
I suspect that macho pride kept him from admitting that he made a wrong diagnosis. You can bet that I will change physcians to get away from this "he man" stud.
Posted by Terry L Babineaux
My daughter of 13 has been diagnosed with H Pylori and as usual was given the "triple treatment". I have been reading about natural cures using Matula Honey that have been proven to eradicate this bug with no nasty side effects of the antibiotics. Doctors are way to prone to use antibiotics without considering natural cures.
Posted by Brad Branch