Medical background for GI problems. November 1994 Upper GI Bleed from me chewing Aspergum, tested me for HIV and I was positive. Year 2000 Upper GI Bleed, 8 blood transfusions duodenum ulcer. Feb 2010 Upper GI Bleed. I've had GERD a long time, taken Proton Pump Inhibitors for years and I have it under control. I started eating many smaller meals per day, becoming aware that chewing my food better I use less water and that means less stomach acid, and Proton Pump Inhibitors and I went our separate ways.
I went to lunch with my mom and my sister. My great nephew who has GI problems had just tested positive for some bacteria, I told my sister H. Pylori, I told her I knew of it's existence and that it's a bacteria but since I tested negative for H. Pylori on all my GI bleeds I never investigated H. Pylori.
Just before Easter I was hit very hard by some GI problem. Suffering from severe fatigue and incontinence which after 4 or 5 days got better, it felt like Shigellosis without a fever. The fatigue took a bit longer to get over, I'm sure I also had the abdominal pain during the incontinence, I was just distracted by the incontinence, keeping hydrated, and sleeping. I quit all my HIV medication, I thought I would die if I didn't take action quickly because my abdominal pain was terrible but as long as I kept eating I could keep the pain at bay. Nighttime was very difficult and so I tended to sleep in the day. Stress and physical exertion will immediately exacerbate the abdominal gnawing pain
I began investigating H. Pylori and was immediately taken aback. The symptoms of infection with H. Pylori are exactly what I'm suffering with. I finally involved my doctor who seemed to dismiss H. Pylori because I have tested negative in the past which is ridicules. I went home with a script for Pepcid and I have an abdominal ultrasound on May 12. Prescribing Pepcid is only treating the symptom not the actual problem if in fact I am H. Pylori positive. In the beginning I thought I had leaky gut, completely changing my diet to increase good bacteria and destroy the bad bacteria always makes good sense, Gall Stones is another problem I was entertaining and is a side effect of one of my HIV medications. Is it just me who believes that with my past GI problems and my current symptoms that point to an infection with H. Pylori that a test for H. Pylori should be the first test done?