Rehab Medical

Health information

Stomach and digestion

Indigestion, reflux, bloating and irregular bowels are among the commonest things a family doctor sees, and most of it is not dangerous — but in Egypt one particular cause is worth naming early. Helicobacter pylori is present in a large share of people investigated for dyspepsia here, it is found with a breath or stool test rather than an endoscopy, and it is treatable. Under 55 with no alarm features, we test and treat first; with alarm features, at any age, we refer for endoscopy rather than trying tablets.

When it cannot wait

Signs that mean today

These are not reasons to book an appointment. They are reasons to be seen now, or to call an ambulance on 123.

  • Vomiting blood, or stools that are black and tarry — that is bleeding into the gut. Emergency department now.
  • Difficulty swallowing, or food sticking on the way down — always investigated urgently, at any age.
  • Unintentional weight loss, persistent vomiting, a lump in the abdomen, or unexplained iron-deficiency anaemia — the classic alarm features that change the plan from tablets to endoscopy.
  • Severe abdominal pain with a rigid, tender abdomen, or pain with fever and jaundice — same-day assessment.

When to book

Reasons to be seen

  • Heartburn or upper abdominal pain has lasted more than a few weeks, or comes back as soon as you stop the tablets.
  • Your bowel habit has changed and stayed changed — looser, harder, or more urgent than your normal, for more than three weeks.
  • You have been on acid-suppressing tablets for months without anyone reviewing why — long-term use should be a decision, not a default.
  • Someone in your immediate family has had stomach or bowel cancer.

What a visit looks like

What a visit for this involves

  • 25–30 minutesClinic visitAt the clinic, unhurried
  • 20 minutesVideo consultationFrom anywhere in Egypt
  • 15 minutesFollow-upAfter a recent visit, same complaint

In the room

What the doctor checks

  1. A deliberate search for alarm features first. That single step decides whether this is a test-and-treat consultation or a referral.
  2. A review of what you are already taking — painkillers, aspirin and some supplements cause exactly these symptoms, and stopping one is often the whole treatment.
  3. Testing for H. pylori by breath or stool where it fits — and, importantly, confirming afterwards that the treatment actually cleared it, because resistance is high in Egypt and failure is common.
  4. Blood tests where they add something: a full blood count for anaemia, coeliac serology, liver and thyroid function.

Come prepared

What to bring

  • A week's note of what you ate and when the symptoms came — the link is often obvious on paper and invisible from memory.
  • Every tablet you take for pain, however occasional, and anything bought at a pharmacy for your stomach.
  • Any previous endoscopy or ultrasound report.

Next step

Tell us what's happening and we'll arrange the right kind of visit.

Message the clinic on WhatsApp. We reply with the times that are free and what the visit costs, before you agree to anything.

Book on WhatsApp

At home

Between visits

  • If reflux is the problem, the mechanical measures work: eat earlier in the evening, smaller portions, and raise the head of the bed rather than adding pillows.
  • If you were treated for H. pylori, take every dose of the course. A partially taken course selects for the resistant bacteria and makes the next attempt harder.
  • Come back if the pattern changes, even if the symptoms are milder. A change is more informative than a severity.

Before you write

Questions patients ask

Written and clinically reviewed by Dr. Rehab Ahmed, MBBCh, Ain Shams University · Diploma in Family Medicine. Last reviewed August 2026.

What this page is based on

This page is general information written by the practice. It is not a diagnosis and does not replace seeing a doctor. In an emergency, call 123.

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