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H. pylori
H. pylori is a common stomach bacterium linked with gastritis, ulcers, low stomach acid, and nutrient loss. We test accurately, treat, confirm clearance, and rebuild the gut in sequence.
What you may be noticing
Burning or gnawing upper abdominal pain, often worse on an empty stomach. Early fullness, nausea, belching, or bloating. Low iron or B12 that does not explain itself. Some people have no stomach symptoms at all and discover H. pylori while looking into something else.
Vomiting blood, black or tarry stools, severe abdominal pain, unintended weight loss, or difficulty swallowing need emergency care.
Why it is rarely one thing
Helicobacter pylori is a spiral bacterium that lives in the stomach lining, often acquired in childhood and frequently shared within families. It survives stomach acid by producing urease, which neutralizes the acid around it.
H. pylori is an established cause of chronic gastritis and most peptic ulcers, and it raises the risk of stomach cancer and MALT lymphoma. Depending on where it settles, it can lower stomach acid in some people and raise it in others. It is associated with iron and B12 deficiency.
In my approach, digestion begins upstream with stomach acid. Adequate acid starts protein breakdown, releases B12 and minerals, and helps keep the small intestine from being overgrown. When H. pylori disturbs that first gate, effects can ripple downstream into bloating, nutrient loss, and microbiome shifts. Not only an infection to clear, but a stomach lining and microbiome to rebuild.
This is where sequence matters. Antibiotic resistance has made H. pylori harder to clear, so confirming eradication after treatment is essential rather than assumed. I follow a five-step gut sequence: remove the infection, replace digestive support, reinoculate the microbiome, repair the lining, and rebalance the stress physiology that the gut feels so directly.
Patterns we look for
- Accurate testing: breath test or stool antigen, rather than blood antibodies alone.
- Iron, ferritin, and B12.
- Stomach acid output and digestive symptoms.
- Gastritis and ulcer history.
- Medications that irritate the stomach, such as anti-inflammatory pain relievers.
- Family members who may also carry it.
- SIBO and microbiome changes after treatment.
- Autoimmune gastritis and thyroid autoimmunity.
- Stress physiology and vagal tone.
How I evaluate it
The comprehensive functional neurological exam includes autonomic testing, since vagal tone shapes acid output, motility, and gut immunity.
Functional labs may include a urea breath test or stool antigen test, a complete blood count, ferritin, B12, a comprehensive stool analysis, and a thyroid panel. Some acid-suppressing medications and antibiotics affect test accuracy, so timing is planned with your physician. Alarm symptoms or age-related risk lead to endoscopy referral.
How we address it
- Remove: treat confirmed H. pylori with your physician, usually with a combination antibiotic regimen.
- Support tolerance with categories research suggests may help, such as specific probiotic strains, taken separately in time from the antibiotics and from any binders.
- Confirm clearance with repeat testing after treatment.
- Replace: restore digestive function as the lining recovers.
- Reinoculate and repair: rebuild the microbiome and support the stomach lining, and replete iron and B12.
- Rebalance: calm stress physiology and train vagal tone, which influence how the stomach heals.
- Test family members who share the household to reduce the chance of reinfection.
A healed stomach lining is the foundation for everything downstream.
Book your Comprehensive Functional Medicine Eval/Neurological Exam today to discover what the contributing root causes are that are underlying your health concerns.