Cure for Stomach Ulcers

As a sufferer with stomach ulcers for the best part of twenty years, I was most interested in newspaper articles, a few years ago, informing of a "miraculous cures" for the complaint.

At that time I was taking Tagamet, a ulcer drug, and had been for many years. The problem with Tagamet is that it gives temporary relief. In my case, after a few months of leaving off the treatment the symptoms always returned.
The way Tagamet works is to reduce the acid levels in the stomach allowing the ulcer to heal. The problem is that the acid levels rise when finishing a course of treatment, and the stomach lining once again becomes agitated and the ulcer returns.

According to the reports the new "cure" involved a different approach to the problem. An Australian scientist, called Dr.Barry Marshall, had discovered that a particular type of bacteria, called Helicobacter pylori, and carried by most of the population, was the culprit. This bug is able to do what most medical experts say is impossible. It can live in the acidic environment of the stomach by burying itself in the stomach wall. The stomach then creates more acid to try to eliminate it and so creates more acid, and so the cycle go on. It seems that most people can shrug off the bug which upsets the stomach acid balance, but others are more susceptible and developed duodenal or gastric ulcers. Unfortunately, I was one of the unlucky people.

After years of suffering I was determined to try out the treatment.

When I presented the article to my doctor he informed me that the "bug treatment" had been known for some time. When I asked why I had not been offered it before, instead of endless supplies of Tagamet, he told me that the treatment did not always work. When I stated that the same could be said for Tagamet he just shrugged his shoulders.

He then laid out what would be involved in the treatment. I would have to take two types of tablets three times a day and another in the evening, seven tablets a day in total. The two in the day contained an antibiotic called amoxycyllin which killed the bug in the stomach wall. I was to take these for two weeks only. The other pill, which I took in the evening, was to reduce the acid in the stomach and allow the ulcer to heal. This was to be taken for a further two weeks after finishing the antibiotic treatment. I was also advised not to drink any alcohol over the period.

When I got home I checked out the drugs in a medical book noting the side effects. I will state these later, although the only one I suffered was slight diarrhoea. I then began the treatment.

Within a few days I was amazed by the change. By the end of the first week I found that I was able to eat foods that I had avoided in the past even when taking Tagamet, although I was careful not to over-do it.

After completing the treatment, at the end of four weeks, I was able to eat, or drink, almost anything. I had suffered so long with stomach ulcers that I found it strange that I was able to eat as I wanted. I have stated many times since that "I never realized that you could put food in the stomach and forget about it". In the past I always had acid activity or aching in the stomach after eating, but especially when the stomach was empty.

It is now nearly six years since I finished the treatment and I have had no further stomach ulcer symptoms of any kind. I have passed on information about the treatment to a number of colleagues and friends who suffered stomach ulcers and, like myself, they have been cured. One of my colleagues, who had part of his stomach removed as a young man because of ulcers, still suffered recurring symptoms in later life. He tried the treatment and tells me that he has a new lease of life, being able, like myself, to eat more-or-less what he likes.

I would state that I am not a medical person and frankly, not interested in the arguments of that profession as to whether a bug does, or does not, exist in the stomach. All I know is that every person I know that have taken the treatment for stomach ulcers has been successfully cured.

Why is it that even today, six years after my 'cure' the treatment is not always prescribed. You often have to inform doctors that you want to take it. Dare I say, however, that Tagamet along with other stomach acid reducing drugs is a world best seller, making billions for those particular drug companies.
Could there be a connection? I wonder.