Are you experiencing upset stomach, burning pain, belching, and a lot nausea? Maybe you are wondering, how do you if you have Helicobacter pylori also known as H. pylori infection.  In this video, we look at this specific question.  We look at the signs and symptoms that make us think you might have H. Pylori and what tests you can do etc. 

If you want to understand and know if you have Helicobacter Pylori, keep reading. 

Most people that get diagnosed with H. pylori first have specific symptoms or clinical signs that make their doctor suspicious enough to test them for it.  It is not something that everyone should rush out and get tested and treated for though.  At this point our knowledge around the harm of H. pylori is somewhat limited.  We don't always know if H. pylori is going to be a problem for you or not.  There are clear cases when it is a problem too.  For instance, H. pylori can cause stomach ulceration and even ulceration further down in the small intestine.  If you don't have symptoms, it may not make sense to get tested.  There are some instance where it makes sense to be tested in the absence of symptoms too.  We will look at those as well. 

How Do If You Have Helicobacter pylori Based on Symptoms

Studies looking for the most common Helicobacter pylori symptoms found nausea to be one of the most prevalent symptoms followed by gastric pain. Gastric pain is pain just below your ribs in the middle of your abdominal cavity.  Heart pain which is chest pain near the heart was another common symptoms found in the study.  This type of pain is referred from the stomach to the chest.  Those with H. pylori or Helicobacter pylori are at increased risk for ulcerations in their stomach and the upper part of their small intestine known as the duodenum.   The most common ulceration type of symptom is abdominal pain.  It can be a dull aching pain in the middle below the rib of area.  This pain does not really go away completely.  It may show up for a few weeks and then go away for a few weeks but it will be there in the background coming and going.   The pain may have a sequence too, based on where the ulceration is at.  It may go away two or three hours after you eat or it may come on right after eating.  This just depends on which part of the stomach and digestive tract is involved with the ulceration.  This sequential pain has to do with the acid content in the digestive tract at the time.  When there's more acid present there's going to be more symptoms in the stomach.  If it comes on right after eating chances are, it is related to ulceration or inflammation in the stomach.  Still this is a big "if."  You can't always go on symptoms for your diagnosis. 

Other symptoms that can come on with Helicobacter pylori include feeling of fullness.  Also there is often lots of bloating and belching or burping, as well as having an upset stomach also known as dyspepsia.   Sometimes there could be acid reflux going on as well.  If that nausea and discomfort in your digestive tract leads to a loss of appetite, then there could be weight loss.  All these symptoms may give you a vague understanding that maybe you have H. pylori or Helicobacter pylori.  However, symptoms alone can't be enough to diagnose this.  There are a lot of things that can mimic these symptoms. For instance,  simply just not producing enough digestive enzymes or acid in your digestive tract can create some of these symptoms.  Something like bacterial overgrowth and even fungal overgrowth can also create that unsettled feeling and different pains in the abdomen as well as bloating, nausea and belching.  Another thing that may raise your suspicion level of having Helicobacter pylori is your geographical area where you were born or where you currently live. 

How Do If You Have Helicobacter pylori Based on Geography

Helicobacter pylori infections or the presence of it is inversely associated with socioeconomic status.  So if you grew up and currently live in a westernized country then the chances are less.   This does not mean you can't have it.  It is just a little bit less.  Whereas if you are from second world or third world country, it may be more likely that you have it.  Also if it is in your family like mothers brothers sisters father, it is more likely that you have it.  Now none of this necessarily mean you have it.  When you do have it, this doesn't necessarily mean it needs to be treated just either.  However, if you are having the symptoms, it would make more sense to be tested. 

Sometimes what happens is one person gets tested and the other people are still carrying it even though they don't have symptoms.  Then they can give it back to that person and vice versa.  It's easily passed along from one person to another through sharing drinks and kissing and things like that.  This is where testing comes in. 

How Do If You Have Helicobacter pylori Based on Testing

It's really helpful understanding what is and isn't going on in your digestive tract.  You wouldn't want to go just based on symptoms alone.  The most common test that's done is the urea breath test.  Some people can also get diagnosed through endoscopy.  The breath test does is perform by consuming a tablet of urea and measuring the output of carbon dioxide.  An enzyme known as urease is present in the Helicobacter pylori bacteria.  They use this enzyme to neutralize the acidic environment.  Using water and urea the enzyme makes carbon dioxide, ammonia, and sodium bicarb.  These can neutralize some of that acidic environment.  This allows for a nice environment for that Helicobacter pylori to live in.  For the test when you ingest the urea tablet, you will have an increased output of carbon dioxide.  This can be measured in your breath.  An increased amount indicates H. pylori is present in the stomach.  The endoscopy route of testing involves getting a sample from the stomach lining and evaluating the presence of H. pylori in the sample.   These are the most common ways to know if you have Helicobacter pylori.  There are also testing that can be done for Helicobacter pylori antibodies through your blood and also through stool testing.  These tests that I outlined here, the breath test and the endoscopy, are more accurate. 

That should help you understanding how do if you have Helicobacter pylori.  If you have questions about the content in this article, please ask it in the comment section below.

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