u/Cute_Channel3148

I’m a 23-year-old male, and I want to share my H. pylori journey because these past few months have been the hardest time of my life.

Before all this started, I used to have frequent stomach burning and sometimes vomiting after food, but I ignored it. Then in November 2025 everything changed.

One night I ate very spicy food for dinner, and around 2 AM I suddenly woke up with what felt like a massive panic attack. My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest, I had severe anxiety, and genuinely thought I was dying. My family rushed me to the ER, but all the tests came back normal.

The next day I went to a regular doctor (not a gastroenterologist). He told me to get an ultrasound, and it showed fatty liver. The doctor said all my symptoms were because of fatty liver. I took medicines for a week and started feeling okay again.

Then at the end of January, the same panic attack happened again. We rushed to the ER again, and once again everything was “normal.”

After that, the real symptoms started.

Suddenly I developed a fear of heights and traveling. Whenever I sat on a bike or in a car, I felt terrified for no reason. I started having constant pressure on the left side of my head. I had severe burping after eating anything — even drinking water made me burp constantly. I couldn’t digest food properly, felt extremely weak, and completely lost my sleep.

The anxiety became unbearable. I had dizziness, vertigo, fear of dying, fear of cancer, and doctors couldn’t understand what was happening to me. Nobody could diagnose me.

I’ve always considered myself an atheist and I was never religious. My father told me to go to the mosque. At first I refused, but eventually I went. I remember crying there because I truly didn’t understand what was happening to me.

Then things got even worse.

I started having black stools (melena) for 3–4 days continuously. My condition became so bad that I couldn’t even get out of bed, and eventually I fainted. I had to be admitted to the hospital for 2 days and was put on IV fluids.

After that, the doctor finally told me to get an endoscopy.

The results showed:

• H. pylori positive
• Gastritis
• Lax LES
• 5 mm duodenal ulcer

Honestly, when I got the report, I actually felt relieved because I had convinced myself I had cancer and that I was dying.

The doctor started me on triple therapy, but those 14 days were a nightmare. Severe anxiety, dizziness, weakness, head pressure, pain on the left side of my head, and I became completely antisocial. I could barely walk sometimes.

When I told my doctor about all these neurological and psychological symptoms, he said I was just overthinking and that H. pylori doesn’t cause symptoms like that.

After the 14 days, I changed doctors. The new doctor told me that yes, these symptoms can happen in some people. He said first we need to heal the damage caused by H. pylori (like the ulcer and gastritis), and then focus fully on eradication if it’s still present.

I’ve been on his treatment for about a month now, and I’d say I’m around 60% better.

But I still have:

• Burping
• Morning anxiety
• Heart palpitations in the morning
• Brain fog after meals
• Dreamy/high feeling after eating
• Trouble focusing
• Blurry vision

I also noticed small lumps on my stomach area, which turned out to be lipomas.

Recently I noticed 2–3 drops of fresh red blood on top of my stool (not mixed inside). This has happened a few times. My doctor thinks it could be piles/hemorrhoids and gave me medicine for that. He said if it doesn’t improve, I may need a colonoscopy.

My current diet: Breakfast:

• 2 bananas
• 2 apples

Lunch:

• Rice
• Green vegetables
• Dal

Dinner:

• Fruits
• Rice
• Vegetables

I’ll continue updating my journey. I just wanted to post this because before my diagnosis I felt completely alone and thought I was losing my mind. If anyone else has experienced anxiety, panic attacks, dizziness, brain fog, or weird neurological symptoms with H. pylori/gastritis, please let me know.