The conventional way of handling H. Pylori that your PCP is discussing with you typically involves the use of 2 antibiotics (usually Clarithromycin, Metronidazole, or Amoxicillin) and a proton-pump inhibitor (typically something like Omeprazole). H. Pylori bacteria secrete enzymes called urease that convert uric acid into ammonia inside the stomach. The high concentrations of ammonia are what protect H. Pylori from our stomach acid (which would kill them). The normal pH levels within the stomach are low (i.e., acidic), which makes antibiotics less effective, and thus, another drug is utilized to block acid secretion (the PPI) so that the antibiotics can be more effective for, in this case, eradicating H. Pylori.
A few things to consider with this style of treatment:
1) We need sufficient stomach acid to digest and absorb our nutrients properly (specifically amino acids), kill off other harmful bacteria and keep the gut in balance. Increasing the pH of the stomach will impair digestion and absorption of nutrients and throw off homeostasis within the gut microbiome. For you as an athlete, it's imperative that you have healthy digestion and absorption of amino acids, as these are the foundational building blocks for every cell in the body.
2) Antibiotics are non-specific so yes, they may kill off harmful bacteria such as H. Pylori, but this means that they will also destroy good bacteria in the gut and drastically reduce the quantity of normal flora in the gut (yours looks good right now and will not after antibiotics).
3) H. Pylori is very common, and so you may get it again and need to go through treatment more than once OR the 1st round of treatment may not work and you'll have to do another ~2wks of the protocol. It is possible that you could develop antibiotic resistance (very common within the US nowadays) in which the antibiotics that we have to treat H. Pylori may not work for you anymore. Clarithromycin resistance is most common, which has led to a reduced cure rate of H. Pylori via antibiotics.
4) It would be important to take probiotics alongside antibiotics if you choose to do so, in order to mitigate destruction of normal flora, recolonize healthy gut bacteria, and also minimize side effects of the antibiotics.
The functional medicine way of handling H. Pylori aims to address the root cause of the H. Pylori infection as it relates to all systems of the body (because as you know, we're synergistic organisms). The functional protocol utilizes a herbal treatment first, while also addressing the diet, food allergies, inflammation, adrenals, stress, etc., with the option of using antibiotics as a last resort. The Institute of Functional Medicine utilizes a "5 R" protocol (which you may recognize from your case study as this is the method I utilize to treat clients) to address gut dysbiosis/imbalances - Remove, Replace, Reinoculate, Repair, Restore. This is a comprehensive way of attacking something like H. Pylori and addresses the other vital facets of your health, including inflammation and adrenal health, which contribute (or may have caused) the growth of H. Pylori. If you're interested in the science behind anything I recommended in your protocol, please let me know, and I can send some articles over.
Some other great resources to look at:
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