Hey, question for anyone with a past experience of H. Pylori infection. So around October 13 I had bloating issues, very painful, felt it in the left side of my chest, under my ribs, and on the lower left side of my abdomen, just above ovaries. 1st doc says it's nothing, ok. Next 2 weeks anxiety/ panic attacks set in, never had them before, along with burning (not heart burn as in the burning from the chest or stomach and flowing back up your throat) in the area underneath the ribs and in my abdominal area. Returned to same doc when breathing became irregular and I nearly black out, doc said my chest muscles had tightened to the point they were constricting & put me on a machine that acts like an inhaler, worked great no probs. Then after another 2 weeks burning still present, bloating back, nasty taste in mouth (metallic), constipation, nausea, & the burning was especially bad at night along with a kinda tingling feeling on my left back side.
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Went to doc #2, doc 2 asks what meds are you on, I respond I tried Tagamet & it helped a little. Doc says you probably have gastritis due to an H. Pylori infection, take Prilosec & we'll do blood & urine tests 2 weeks from now. I say ok, go and get Prilosec, take it for about a week and am as happy as a clam. Until, the symptoms come back, anxiety, burning, bloating, all that jazz. Call up doc, doc says go take Nexium. I say ok, repeat same process as the Prilosec. Only problem is it takes me an hour from where a live to get the meds, the burning in my abdomen was by far the worst pain I had ever felt, try imagining a red hot poker being stabbed repeatedly into your stomach area, that's pretty close. Anxiety returns, call up doc & get tests moved up by a week. Next week come back for results, doc says you tested positive for H. Pyloria antibodies. Here's what we'll do, take Nexium for another 3 months and a week then we'll see if you need antibiotics. I reluctantly go ahead with what the doc says & continue the Nexium, did not understand why I had to wait to take the antibiotics. Find out a couple weeks later from a volunteer ER (I'm not sure if he was a nurse or a med student) that a possible reason could be that the doc wants the gastritis to heal up before taking the antibiotics. No disrespect to my docs or anyone in that profession, but this seems like the doc's farting around and avoiding just giving me the antibiotics, mind you I understand how sick the antibiotics can make you and what kind of havoc they wreck on your body, I've taken ones for different infections and while not nearly as bad, I do know. Sure when I take the Nexium the bloating and pain under my ribs as well as the abdominal pain is mostly gone, but I have constant diarrhea ( not watery, thank god), constipation, and the pain likes to reappear at random times. Does anyone else feel like this is gross negligence of a patient or is it just me? I mean, I wasn't even told that simple info by my doc, an Er volunteer had to tell me, all my doc said was, "We'll see in Feb if you are any better or if you need the antibiotics." & I straight up asked her, "Is the Nexium going to get rid of the infection?" & she refused to answer me! I am livid with my doc, thinking of switching. Anyways I need an opinion of someone who has had this problem before or who is another doc, should I go to my doc and tell her to either give me the antibiotics or I'm switching practitioners or stick it out because I've had infections before and while this one has as of yet not reached the bleeding stage, I'm worried that it'll be here soon because I already know what happens when you wait for antibiotics with an infection and ladies and gentlemen, it is very painful. In any case, What should I do?
P.S. I do realize I may have dramatized and have been a little to way over the top, but from what I've read, no one else has had to wait three and a half months to get antibiotics for an infection the doc knows they have.