Helicobacter Forums

Hi guys,

So I’ve been having constant stomach issues such as hunger pains and heavy ness and bloating. This has been happening for 2 months now and initially I did a blood test which returned a negative result for H Pylori. I just recently underwent and endoscopy and the results showed everything was normal but they have taken biopsies and I will find out results in a couple weeks time. I was just wondering, how accurate is a blood test in checking for H Pylori? If my blood test was negative, is it likely these biopsies come back negative too? I really don’t want to have this infection based on the horror stories I’ve read here… also is it common for endoscopy to take biopsy even though everything says “normal” in the report?

Thanks

It's quite common to have non-H. pylori dyspepsia. In Australia, Among those with symptoms, 80% of them have a negative breath test result.

If your blood test came back negative, that would mean you have not been infected with H. pylori.

Since endoscopy examination shows normal, it is likely that the histology would be normal too.

Just remember that this website is concentrated by people with difficulties in treating H. pylori. Most of the time, when people had successfully treatment, they wont be bothered to post here. So dont be frightened by what you read here. The chance is very low of most the nasty symptoms described by members here that is going to happen to you.

Unfortunately we dont have answer for the non-H. pylori dyspepsia. It is normally treated symptomatically. Try PPI or Domperidone, or both to see if it helps.

Thanks for the reply

Is it common for biopsies to be taken from your endoscopy even though everything is reported as being 'normal'? It's just really frustrating not knowing what the problem is given I've been having these symptoms for 2 months straight. My GP originally has put me on Omeprazole 20mg which for the last 3-4 weeks i have been taking twice daily. However, I have seen honestly no improvement and I feel some of its side effects of Omeprazole might be affecting me such as back pain. Should I discontinue Omerprazole and ask for something else? Any thoughts would be awesome.

Thanks

endoscopy is an examination via naked eye. So if there is no polyps or ulcers or tumors, it's normal. Sometimes you can see some redness and that's inflammation.

To find out more, it is common to take some biopsies to see if there is abnormal cells under microscope. So it's worth it.

Omeprazole is to stop the acid and hopefully stop the pain. If it doesnt work, your symptom is probably not due to acid or omeprazole is not effective on you. So you can try switching to other PPI, such as rabeprazole, or perhaps get a second opinion.

Thanks for the reply.

Should I continue on with Omerprazole? For at least next 2 weeks until I see my GP with my endoscopy biopsy results or should I stop?

Thansk

let's continue Omeprazole. there is very little (almost no) harm continuing.

you can talk to your doctor about switching to other brand and try.