Helicobacter Forums

Hi all,

I'm new to the board but wanted to get some insight. I've had some heartburn, indigestion and some regurgitation the past few months. Nothing that I haven't been able to tolerate or handle with OTC medicine. My doctor performed an EGD and took samples to rule out celiac disease and h pylori. Both came back negative but he ordered a breath test, which came back as positive. Is it possible to have the blood test be negative but the breath test positive? I didn't know I was supposed to fast for it and had liquids before the test. I'm asking my PCP to do a new order for the test so I don't have to wait four weeks to retest again. Any info/suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

yes. You can have positive blood test and negative breath test. Usually happens when you are taking some PPI or acid blocker, then the breath test would fail. You need to stop PPI for at least 2-4 weeks before the breath test.

I would repeat the breath test 2 weeks after stopping PPI. You can take ranitidine during the 2 weeks wait. ranitidine is a H2 blocker, that can also reduce acid. but unlike PPI, ranitidine is short lasting. So you can continue ranitidine until the night before breath test.

Thanks for the tip! I was stupid and forgot to mention I wasn't taking an PPI or antibiotics. Would a stool test test for an active infection or just antibodies?

if you did not take any antibioitc or PPI at least two weeks before breath test, it's almost impossible for breath test to fail.

stool test is testing the antigen of the bacteria.