Quadruple therapy may have an effect on the liver, mainly depending on the antibiotic class of drugs used, and needs to be treated accordingly under a doctor’s supervision.
Quadruple therapy is a commonly used method of eradicating H. pylori infection, which mainly consists of proton pump inhibitors, bismuth and two types of antibiotics. Whether there is any effect on liver function depends on the type of antibiotics chosen, such as macrolides, tetracyclines of antibiotics can have liver function damage, but also related to the patient’s age, combined use of drugs, etc. It is necessary to analyze the situation according to the specific circumstances and test the changes in liver function.
If it is found that the stool becomes black, mainly due to bismuth, do not worry too much, with the recovery of the disease will gradually ease. If abdominal pain or bloating occurs when performing quadruple therapy, it may be due to the adverse reaction of the drugs and is not related to the liver.
When side effects of drugs occur, it is not recommended to stop the drugs immediately, you can reduce the dosage of drugs or reduce 1~2 of them, and then you can continue the treatment with triple therapy under the guidance of the doctor. If only mild gastrointestinal side effects occur, you may not need to stop the drug first, but if there is obvious liver function impairment, you should stop the drug. Antibiotic-induced need to stop the drug first and wait until the function improves, and then change the antibiotic treatment.
Bismuth-induced black stools need to be stopped to improve. When the drug causes liver function impairment, there will also be loss of appetite, bloating and vomiting. This needs to be clarified by liver function tests. Adverse drug reactions need to be decided by the doctor whether the drug needs to be stopped, especially in severe liver function impairment.