Helicobacter Forums

I have been suffering from heartburn symptoms since the beginning of sept. An ER doctor put me on a ppi for gastritis , I didn’t respond well to ppi and it caused lots of pain in intestines. I saw my family doctor who ordered a stool test for h pylori . I submitted but I was only off of my ppi for 9-10 days (I was on one roughly for 12 days prior to stopping). Stool result came back negative .

Symptoms persisted. Went on another ppi, same intestinal distress. I lasted on this ppi for 20 days until I had to stop. I ended up in ER because of all the intestinal problems from the ppi and also just my heartburn. They CT scanned me and saw inflammation in appendix (was a shock because I had no pain in that location , there was also buildup around it). Specialist physically checked me out.. I was fine no pain and he concluded no appendicitis but to be sure he did an ultrasound of my stomach and the appendix was fine. However the specialist put me on two antibiotics alongside a ppi again. Metro and Cipro. I have no idea why I was on those but I was prescribed them for 7 days. I took them, finished treatment . They gave me thrush.. fun.

Still dealing with heartburn after antibiotics so I thought to retest for h pylori (my husbands mother is positive h pylori but I am not close to her). Her being positive has me questioning everything. So i asked my doctor for another stool test and took matters into my own hands researching time frames of stopping meds. I have been waiting 4 weeks to be off the antibiotics and also 2 weeks for the ppi… I’ve cleared both these but I have been taking 1 pill of 480mg a day of mastic chiaos and now im wondering if this would effect my stool test ?!?

My husband has been chewing the gum for two weeks and also taking a capsule a day (he has never taken a ppi or antibiotics ). He took the gum fearing he had it since his mother did and he does not want antibiotics. Anyways he submitted the test even though he was been taking the mastica chioas. He just got his results from stool today, negative .

What are the chances both of us got a false negative ? (Me the first time when I was 10 days off of ppi.. and him taking a test while taking mastica Chioas)? I have submitted my second test again because now I think I should wait another dreaded two weeks without taking the 1 480 mg capsule a day.

Please help? Opinions much needed

Mastic gum may affect the stool test.
However, maybe you should get a blood test done.
A negative result would mean you are free of H. pylori.
A positive result would mean you had H. pylori before.

Thank you kindly ,

My doctor is reluctant in believing I have h pylori so additional testing is hard (I have a scope booked for January).

If I were to stop the mastica for 2 weeks for a new stool collection , could I use an H2 blocker ? Would an h2 blocker effect a stool result ?

Thank you for your wisdom !

H2 blocker will not impact on stool test.
you can have H2 blocker until the night before stool test.

I am coming up on 14 days no mastic gum. Is this sufficient to do a stool test now? I have been on an h2 and gaviscon

I have endoscopy in January, if I go on a ppi after stool sample (my h2 is not stopping my all day burn) will the ppi effect the biopsy they will most likely take?

Thank you kindly . My only symptom is burning, I have been burning since sept and I don’t want to feel the pain anymore

PPI will affect seeing H. pylori on biopsy.
but PPI will not affect the histology examination on the biopsy.

H2 blocker will not affect the stool test.
after stopping mastic gum for 2 weeks, you can proceed to stool test.
you can continue H2 blocker until the night before the stool test.

Hopefully we can get a clearer result if you still carry H. pylori.
If the result came back negative, then we can focus on the symptomatic treatment.

Thank you so much.

I can’t seem to produce a positive h pylori test but I thought all chronic gastric issues were from h pylori (I have never used NSAIDs).

This is why I’m having a hard time, I don’t understand why I have had all day heartburn for months .

If the stool test is negative , would you recommend going on the PPI? I don’t want to be on a PPI for the rest of my life so I am concerned of this. Im 32 years old, active mother of 4 kids in Canada .

I’ve had an all day burn at my sternum breastbone since Sept of this year, prior to sept I have never had heartburn. It is all so puzzling to me.

Sorry last question ,

Is a histology something that always happens with a biopsy? Or do I have to ask her this. I was told they will biopsy but nothing more.

My scope has been bumped up for next week. I am not in a ppi so hopefully they will take a sample and see h pylori if that is the cause of my heartburn. I do not burp and eat a very good diet of plant based. It all doesn’t make sense

If you are dont have H. pylori, then it's rare for your condition to get worse.

However, sometimes you can have gastric symptoms even without H. pylori. We are not sure why. Perhaps your acid producing cells are too active or mucous producing cells are not doing a good job. Taking PPI can certainly help. Through time, hopefully the acid producing cells or the mucous producing cells can gradually adjust back to normal.

Histology is recommended when an endoscopy is performed. But biopsy is not always taken as there is a small risk of bleeding. If a biopsy is taken, it's usually be sent for histology.