H. Pylori: My Remedy

In my super exciting blog post yesterday (it was super exciting, right??) I shared the story of how I determined that some of my digestive issues were likely the result of an h. pylori infection. Then I left you hanging, wondering how on earth I remedied the situation.

Today I will share my secrets.

Now, I want to start off by saying that I am not a doctor, nor have I seen a doctor for this, so please do not use what I’m sharing as medical advice. If you want medical advice, please go see a medical professional.

And now that that’s out of the way, let me also add where I got my information that I’m about to share. I read the book Helicobacter Pylori Vanquished by Oliver McPherson. As I mentioned in my last post, it wasn’t a perfectly groomed book. There were typos and misspellings. It was a little choppy at times. But it was full of exactly the information that I needed. The author basically scoured the internet and gathered all the tips and tricks he could find for beating h. pylori and for healing a damaged stomach lining, and then he put them in a small, inexpensive eBook so he could share what he found with others. It was pretty kind of him, if I do say so myself.

I’m not going to share everything that was in his book, because a) that would be as long as a book (ha!) and b) that wouldn’t be fair to him. However, I will share with you the pieces of his research that I chose to implement in my own healing journey.  I'm not going to share the "why" behind each of these, because once again, that would lead to a very long blog post.  However, if any reader is interested in understanding the "why" behind these foods and supplements, you could always look up "h. pylori and supplement or food" on the internet, and I'm sure you'd find your answers.  Or you could read McPherson's book.

Alright, here’s what I ate and the supplements I took:

Kara's Natural Remedy for H. Pylori

Foods:

• Raspberries
• Kombucha
• Broccoli sprouts
• Manuka honey, UMF 10+ or higher, 1 tsp or more per day (see more details below)
• I also ate a lot of coconut oil and cinnamon as a part of my elimination diet, and those two foods are recommended in the book as well.

Supplements, all taken twice daily:

• Probiotic - 1 pill (McPherson lays out many specific suggestions for probiotics in his book.  I didn't actually take any of the brands he recommended while trying to remedy my h. pylori, but if you'd like specific recommendations, they are available.)
• Deglycyrrhizinated Licorice (DGL) - 2 tablets (760 mg) (I took the "no fructose" version) (You can find the brand I took here.)
• Mastic gum - 1 pill (500 mg) (You can find the brand I took here.)
• Neem leaf - 1 pill (480 mg) (You can find the brand I took here.)
• Pepzin GI (zinc canosine) - 1 pill (You can find the brand I took here.)

As mentioned in my last post, prior to starting the above remedies, I could not take a betaine HCl pill or an enzyme pill without intense burning and nausea, sometimes to the point of vomiting.  After a month and a half on these foods and supplements, I decided to try a betaine HCl pill again and see what would happen.  I wanted to know if I was indeed healing my stomach lining.  And yes, I was nervous.  I took the pill in the middle of a high-protein meal, and then sat back and waited.  To my thrill, I didn't experience any burning or nausea!  Praise the Lord, I was healing!!

Now, I must say that I did feel a smidgen of discomfort.  It wasn't burning or nausea, and it wasn't intense, but I could tell that I had taken it. So I knew I still had some healing to do.

And that's where Manuka honey comes in.

For the first month and a half on this remedy, I ate 10+ Manuka honey that I found at Trader Joe's. As I said, I did manage to heal, but I could still feel the presence of the betaine HCl pills.  At that point, I ran out of my Manuka honey, and I couldn't find it at Trader Joe's any longer.  So I decided to order some online, and this time I ordered UMF 30+ from here.

Holy camoly, get yourselves some 30+ Manuka honey, people.

The 30+ WORKED.  I ate it daily for a week and a half, 1/2 tsp stirred into my tea in the morning and in the evening, and after only a week and a half I could no longer feel the presence of betaine HCl pills at all.  So then I got even riskier.  I took a betaine HCl pill and an enzyme pill together.  This would have been stomach suicide two months earlier.  And guess what.  Nothing.  I felt nothing. Couldn't tell at all that I had taken the two digestive pills.  I was stoked!!!

So, I have to say that my favorite of the above remedies is the Manuka honey.  McPherson goes into the details of the honey in his book, and of course I was skeptical until I tried it myself.  But the stuff works, and I would recommend it to absolutely everyone who has issues with burning in their stomach.  It definitely helps with healing.  But make sure you buy 30+.

So that's what I did and what I'm still doing.  Although I feel healed, I'm continuing the regimen for probably another month or so.  As my supplements run out, I'll let them run out and see how I feel. Other than the probiotic, which I plan to take long-term, for reasons other than h. pylori.

I really hope this information can help someone.  If anybody has any questions, please feel free to leave a comment. :)