H pylori
Helicobacter Pylori: The tiny bug makes sure you don’t get any iron.
Pylori lives in a lot of us, buried in our stomachs, living its best life, protecting itself from our immune system and most definitely making us iron deficient.
It also causes:
* Belching
* Pain after eating
* Feeling full easily
* Nausea
* Bloating
* Loss of appetite
* Diarrhea
* Constipation
* Bad breath
If you’re iron deficient and go every 3 days, get tested.
If you’re iron deficient and eat a lot of mints, get tested.
Pylori has been around since the beginning of time and has developed evolutionary talents to survive. This ancient bug handily destroys our stomach’s ability to produce its own defensive acid. No acid means no weapons to kill this clever old bug.
Without acid we can’t absorb iron.
The bug also steals our iron for its own use. Taking oral iron is feeding the problem.
How do you get H. pylori?
You’re more likely to have been exposed to H Pylori if you have:
* Cats
* Sheep
* Kids who swim in rivers and lakes
* Been contaminated from a person with an active infection
It’s contagious.
If you’ve never been well since visiting that petting zoo, get tested.
If you’re downing iron pills while stroking lil miss Kitty, get tested.
Testing is as easy as 1, 2, breathe.
How do you know if you have H Pylori?
- Blood testing isn’t specific for an active infection. In other words, you can’t tell if the antibodies being measured are fresh or old. You also can’t use blood testing to confirm if you’ve killed the bug. But if you’ve never been treated for H Pylori and have a positive blood test, you positively have the infection.
- Breath testing is very popular and highly sensitive and also confirms eradication after successful treatment.
- Stool tests are very sensitive and can confirm eradication. These are especially helpful if you’re testing other parasites at the same time.
Retesting H Pylori.
If you’ve ever had H Pylori and you’re still iron deficient it’s so important to retest to confirm it’s dead.
A lot of patients don’t re-test. We get it. It’s cumbersome and annoying. But we have no confidence of certainty without testing and retesting.
Treatment of H Pylori iron deficiency
The only evidenced way to eradicate H Pylori is antibiotics. Usually a quadruple drug therapy is recommended. Natural agents can help, but on their own just aren’t enough.
Let’s say that again: there are many ways to help reduce the number of bacteria in the stomach, but only antibiotics are proven to get rid of them completely. Only then will you truly be able to resolve your iron deficiency.
If you’re iron deficient and don’t know why, get tested. Sometimes doctors aren’t great at testing for this bug so advocate for yourself.
Remember, the next time you have a gut feeling, listen to it ’cause it just might be Pylori burrowing a hole in your stomach stealing all your iron.
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