Hi everyone,
For the past 2 months i've had a sensation of something stuck in my throat. Finally I went to see the docotor and found out my test for H-Pylori was positive and now i have to take all these antibiotics. I'm wondering if anyone else has been diagnosied with it and if it goes away finally after so much medication.
My doctor left me a message saying it was positive and to go to my pharmacy to pick up my medication, grrr thats it!! no info on what i should expect, if it will go away, side effects, if its contagious, nothing!

I will be giviny my doctor a call but thought some first had experience by someone would also give me a good picture.

Thank you all!
:)

I had h.pylori bout a yr ago they put me on antibiotics for 2 wks.I had no side effects except a mettalic taste in my mouth for a few days.The antibiotics got rid of the h.pylori.Take care

I dont really know a lot about h-pylori but i have tested positive 3 times now, the first time i took those horrible big dose of antibiotics and i was on holiday so only side effects were a touch of diarrhea and metalic taste in my mouth, second dose the same but the third dose made me feel very ill, i felt depressed and cried and felt so unwell, i rang my doc who said the antibiotics are so strong they can cause all of these symtoms so she said i could stop them if it was that bad so i did. I hope you get on ok with yours.
I don't know if i still have it or not as i recently had a camera put down my throat for something else and they said they would check for h-pylori while they were down there but they have forgotten to tell me the results.
Good luck

Thank you for the replys!
I guess I'm more paranoid what i feel in my throat isn't just the h pylori, i've been taking antibiotics for 1 week now and i don't feel any better...Did any of you feel like there was something stuck in your throat. It always feels better when i eat which is strange. Sometimes i feel like the back of my touge is burning, its a really weird sensation to explain, has any one had any of these symptoms?

lilsea--

The feeling of something being stuck in your throat could be LPR (laryngopharyngeal reflux). I was diagnosed last October with LPR. I also have the same symptoms as you do--something in my throat that goes away when I eat, also it goes away when I sleep. For a while I thought I could just eat and sleep for the rest of my life!

LPR is often called "silent reflux", because most people have no heartburn or other symptoms of traditional reflux disease or GERD. In actuality what is happening is that stomach acid is "refluxing" to the upper part of your throat and voice box. This area is much more sensitive to damage from the acid than the esophogus. It causes your larynx (voice box) and throat (pharynx) to become irritated and enflamed. The "lump" feeling is a sensation you get from damaged vocal cords, not actually something "stuck in your throat". There is lots of information on LPR on the web. Do a search of "laryngopharyngeal reflux" and many sites will come up for you to visit that will give good information. Also there are many threads on this site that deal with LPR with info from others who suffer from this uncomfortable problem.

The best advise is to see a good ENT (ear, nose, and throat) doc, for a diagnosis. The therapy for LPR is usually PPI's (proton pump inhibitors) 2X a day, and takes a LONG time for symptom relief--usually 6 months or more. So the sooner you get started on PPI therapy the better. I finally started to feel some relief after about 5 months. When I started to feel better the doc dropped my meds. to 1X a day, and I have been there since early March. I am not completely symptom free yet, but a WHOLE lot better. Just a tip-and I have said this on several threads-it really helped me (while waiting the months and months for the PPI's to work) to chew gum. I know that sounds crazy as the chewing gum isn't going to "cure" anything, but it was very soothing to my throat for the constant moisture from saliva to be going down. I haven't heard anyone else say that helped them but it did make me feel temporarily better.

Good luck. Let us know how you progress.

Thank you SO much for the advise,
I have the exact same symptoms you're describing, if i sleep or eat if feels better and chewing gum i have noticed helps a lot!!!
YOu're the first person to totally get what my symptoms are, i will make an appointment to see and ENT....6 months is so long :(
hope your symptoms go away completly soon
:wave:

I too have the sensation of a lump in my throat for the past 1-1/2 years. Took this long to be diagnosed. The ent I saw did the scope through my nose. She said my larynx was red and swollen. Put me on nexium 1x a day. I took it this way for a month with little improvement. I also have the feeling of a swollen neck with swollen lymph nodes. The front of my neck down my chest is always fire red. My gp two weeks ago increased my nexium to 2x a day with zantac 150 at bedtime. I went to the dentist today after cracking a couple teeth within the last few weeks. The dentist said my teeth are cracking due to the acid reflux. But unbelievably I have no heartburn at all. I can relate that 6 months is way too long to wait for healing, but what are we to do but wait...............

Patti

sigh1504

Hi :) It's unlikely that h pylori is causing the lump in throat feeling. The vast majority of h pylori causes no symptoms unless an ulcer is present .... and still it isn't likely to cause that particular symptom. I'm inclined to agree with the other poster , in that LPR is the most likely possibility . Good luck with the ENT .

Chewing gum helps because it increases saliva production and saliva has a natural antacid in it that neutalizes acid. The only downside of chewing gum is it encourages air swallowing and creates more gas.

caza jacks :) I hope when you say you had h pylori 3 times you weren't repeatedly tested by blood test. A blood test will still show positive for h pylori for years, even though the bacteria is long gone. You need a breath test or endoscopy to check if it's eradicated.... never a blood test .

I also tested positive for H. pylori and took all the meds. Made me cry and have a metallice taste but I was so sick I took them anyway. One of the symptoms that I had was that it felt like I had something stuck in my throat. Come to find out, I am hypothyroid and have a small nodule. When my thyroid is trying to put out hormones, it aches like crazy and feels like I have something stuck in my throat.
Have you had your thyroid tested? And just because they tell you your levels are "normal", ask them what they are.
Just a thought.....

I recently took anti biotics for the H. pylori virus. The anti biotics put me into severe chest pain and changed my symptoms. I had to take medical leave from work. I was in extreme pain! I had to go to the local ER. Doctors say that sometimes acid reflux sufferers experience more pain when put on those anti biotics because it kills the H. pylori virus. They say the pylori virus actually can help GERD sufferers because the H. Pylori virus actually helps reduce the amount of acid in the stomach.

So if you have acid reflux, watch out when taking anti-biotics for the H. Pylori virus, It just may make things a hole lot worse. You may want to have your doctor give you a prescription of carafate ahead of time just in case it puts you into severe pain like it did me.

Hello all. I am as new to these message boards as I am to my recently acquired acid reflux. Think long and hard before you attempt to get rid of your H. pyloria. I had been on 300 mg of Zantac (Ramitidine) for several years to treat what seemed to be peptic ulcers. Finally when the symptoms became so severe I couldn't stand it anymore, I decide to take the cure for H. pyloria. As part of the regimen of antibiotics I was given was a request that I get off of Zantac and use the Prilosec contained in the packages instead. This I did. And according to my doctor who performed a DNA test to make sure, the H. pyloria was killed.

And since the bacteria was what was supposed to have caused my peptic ulcers in the first place (according to the most recent findings) I tried to get off the Prilosec that my doctor had left me on, telling me that Prilosec was a much better proton pump than Zantac had been. Well when I tried to get off of it due to some symptoms I was having that I didn't like I found that I couldn't. Each time I did I got these acid fumes up my nose and in my mouth that felt like hydrochloric acid. I was told this was acid reflux which I had never experienced before having taken the cure for H. pyloria. Since I had never had any symptoms like these before I thought it best that I get off of the drug completely which I was ultimately able to do even though it meant enduring a lot ofhereto for nonexistent acid reflux.

Successful at last after that terrible event I tried to stay on nothing for as long as I could after that but sure enough when I tried to get off of Zantac I found I couldn't without enduring the same miserable acid reflux coming up into my mouth and nose which again I had never had while being on just my old Zantac regimen. Now it seems I am stuck with this reflux disease that I think was triggered by my having been put on Prilosec during the cure for H. pyloria.

This has now become an almost unbearable situation with my throat constantly burning and it getting increasingly difficult to swallow.

I have been reading your other posts and it seems that we all share a lot of the same things a lot of the same things; I too have this lump in my throat that I can't get rid of even by constantly swallowing and the acid fumes reach up my nose and into my eyes constantly now. And in addition to this focused pain in my throat I am beginning to get the constant pain in my jaw and intermittent pains in my right ear. This all can be just coincidental stuff. I was better fighting my peptic ulcers and fighting this terrible gaseous reflux and throat pain. And for a real hoot I have started to see bacterial or lose attached to my stools again which was what the most blatant symptom of H. pyloria had been for me. If there is any silver lining in all of this there have been some recent findings that perhaps H. pyloria (having been around for me in two years) may play an important part in controlling the excess acid in your stomach. And the very man in Australia that led the campaign to eradicate the bacteria that he was so sure was causing peptic ulcers now is singing a different tune suggesting that the recent ridiculous amount of proton pump medications now being sold may reflect the fact that the Western population has a large part successfully killed off the helpful bacteria living in our esophagus and stomach, namely H. pyloria.

Something I read on the Internet directed me to try a cure that involves trying to repair the damage done to one's lower esophagus sphincter muscle (dear knows what we have done to damage it in the first place) but I thought I would give it a try anyway and so paid for the downloading of some information which included some suggestions that I am now trying.
Wish me luck

haikuman

Hi haikuman,

Very interested in your post. It sounds like you have developed LPR but just how that is caused by the h.pylori eradication I am not sure. I took cimetidine (H2 blocker) off an on for many years for an assummed peptic ulcer. It really was most effective but found the side effects of increased breast tissue and lethargy too much. Anyway, about a year ago now I noticed the symptoms of something stuck in my throat, excess mucous, burning throat and mouth, bitter taste and breath, blocked and stinging nostrils, dental erosion, TMJ. I think the reflux was going on for some time before these symptoms appeared. They seem to be the first indication that the disease has taken hold although periods of coughing bouts are thought to be the earliest indicator that it is taking place. All these symptoms point to LPR. Over the past 12 months I have been on PPI for 3 months which did not work, dietary changes ( no beer for 3 months) which did not work. My tonsils became cryptic and infected as a result of the acid and I got them removed.

In April I had an endoscopy which showed H.Pylori infection which I thought explained my peptic ulcer. Took the H-Clear but still no improvement in condition. Endoscopy also found sliding hiatus hernia which from research is often seen with reflux and a poorly functioning lower esophaegal sphincter. Yesterday I completed a 24 hr PH monitoring test double probe to see how much and more importantly for me how frequently acid is refluxing into my throat and nasal passage.

I suppose in some people it is possible to acquire LPR when the pylori is gone as it kept the acid levels in check. However, I had these symptoms long before being treated for the pylori and have them afterwards. I feel that the sphincter is the problem hindered by the hiatus hernia. I wonder if this what you are now experiencing. You did not mention heartburn which suggests you have low level but fairly frequent reflux to Laryngo pharyngeal area as well as the nasal passage. This is what I feel happens to me and I only hope that the PH findings support this. Would be interested to hear about the sphincter repair you came across if you care to share it.

Also, have you noticed any candida type symptoms with the reflux ? My acidic saliva (6.0 - 6.25) allows the yeast to thrive. My beloved beer just makes it worse. Reflux is sighted as one of the symptoms of candiasis especially when all the good stomach bacteria have been killed by the over use of anti-biotics. Getting this balance right again is very difficult and impossible with LPR. Test yourself to see using the spit test. Upon waking spit some saliva into a glass of water and over the next 10 to 20 mins see if it sinks to the bottom, becomes cloudy or stringly. The worse these findings are the more candida you have. Healthy saliva should dissapate in the water. Let me know.

:p My Mom Had H-pylori And Her Dr Told Her I Was From Flies Landing On Her Food And Either Doing Their Buisness Or Regurgitating On It. In Turn The Food Is Eaten And The Bacteria From The Fly Invades The Body. Dont Know If This Is True Or Not. On Another Note My Son And One Of My Friends Had A Neeson Fundoplication For Their Acid Reflux And It Has Changed Their Lives (for The Better Of Course). :bouncing:

Sigh and others, I hope you are still out there.

I am 5 minutes new to the board. I yahooed for "pylori"+"something stuck in my throat" and found you.

I've had the same feeling for YEARS. My physician seemed to think it was all in my head several years ago but sent me to an ENT who did the scope up the nose and down the throat. Neither of them could find anything.

I returned with the same symptoms a month ago and had another round of tests. The ENT this time suspected reflux because of larynx and esophagus inflammation, but ruled it out after a period of time on meds w/no change in symptoms.

General physician's office phoned back this afternoon that I have tested positive for Pylori... I had never heard of this... and I have an appt w/a GI doc tomorrow.

I can't find anything on the net directly linking the feeling in my throat to pylori... beyond that both are mucous linings, etc, and that what affects the stomach can affect the troat. But nothing specific.

I'm wondering if those of you who had my identical symptoms have any additional info to share?
Thanks,
Z

i read an article in Scientific American about h pylori. theory is that the recent surge of heartburn in the population is caused by us getting rid of h pylori. it's NATURAL to have h. pylori. humans have carried it for millions of years just as we do other bacteria. in the next few years you'll probably go to the doctor and they will give you h. pylori on purpose. ya see, our body has no way of regulating acid. the h pylori can only live at certain levels. it dies if your stomach is too acidic or not enough. so, it regulates the acid levels in your stomach in order to stay alive.

in many regions of the world, 99% of the population still has h pylori. in america it's now like 20-30% because we eradicate it even on accident when we take antibiotics.

i've been meaning to post about what i read but hadn't gotten around to it. needless to say, i think doctors use it as a scapegoat and just get rid of it cause it's there, without giving much thought to it's purpose.

-edit-
btw, i tested negative fo h pylori. as did my mom.

my husband tested negative but was given the antibiotic for 30 days....and he has no more problems whatsoever..........sometimes you can test neg and be pos

Hi Zeri,

The pylori is a bacterium which burrows itself into the lining of the stomach to escape the effects of the acid. This is why it was regarded as the cause of peptic ulcers and gastritis exposing the outer lining to acid damage. I too was diagnosed with it after an endoscopy and took the H clear which I think
worked. i still have the same symptoms which I do not believe to be pylori related. I have LPR or Laryngo Pharyngeal Reflux the cause of which is a loose lower esophaegal sphincter and hiatus hernia. For many including myself PPI's and H2 blockers have little effect on our symptoms since it is the result of the muscle damage allowing the acid to reflux and not the acid itself. So when your physician discounts reflux because the meds have not changed your symptoms he is wrong. Physical evidence of inflammed vocal cords, excess mucous/ PND, sinusitus, burning throat and something stuck in throat sensation point to reflux still happening but the meds not working. You may have a hiatus hernia and or loose sphincter which renders the meds useless. Hope helps.

Partner suffered for years taking tons of Zantac and then Acephex...helped but didn't cure. He got checked out and they found 2 ulcers and a positive H.pylorii. He took one of the triple antibiotic cures for 2 weeks or a month (I forget which) and he was cured...endoscopy showed both ulvcers cures and the infection was stamped out and his H.pylorii antibody count went WAY down...it never goes to zero once you've had the infection.
The only problem he had with the antibiotics was the hideous cost.

ANYBODY with H.pylorii should have it cured. Living with it as it does more and more damage is a dreadful idea no matter HOW bad the antibiotics make one feel.

The Helicobacter Foundation has a great site (non-commercial) with complete info:
http://www.helico.com/