

You’ll get your results within a maximum of one week. You’ll need to follow a special diet for the day before the test. You’ll receive the test kit within two to three days of your request. Īt Healthpath we use the three-hour lactulose SIBO test, which measures both hydrogen and methane gases. Constipation appears to be the most common symptom of methane SIBO. It’s important to test for methane and hydrogen gases, as methane has been shown to produce symptoms in multiple studies.

Some also use a glucose solution instead of lactulose which has been shown to produce more false negative results. Most experts agree that a three-hour test that uses a lactulose solution to test for both hydrogen and methane is the most reliable and effective, but some NHS trusts and gastroenterologists still use a two-hour test. There are a few different types of SIBO breath tests. However, depending on your GP, getting an appointment could be difficult, or take a long time. That means that you may be able to get a referral from your GP to a gastroenterologist, who can run a SIBO test at your nearest hospital.

Īs a result, more and more NHS trusts are now carrying out SIBO tests, which is great news. “They were not getting better because there was actually an underlying cause.”Ī huge amount of research over the last two decades has linked IBS symptoms to SIBO: up to 85% of IBS sufferers have been found to have SIBO. Hazel Veloso, gastroenterologist at Johns Hopkins University in the US, remembers when SIBO was rare: “We were just labelling patients with IBS before,” she says on the hospital’s website. The US is a few years ahead of the UK on SIBO, but Dr. Until recently, mainstream medicine didn’t accept that SIBO was a common condition, so you were extremely unlikely to get a SIBO test through the NHS.
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For the full lowdown on the SIBO testing experience, read our blog SIBO test: all your questions answered (2021). You can take a SIBO test at home, or in a hospital or clinic. This is expensive and often inaccurate though, so it’s rarely used. That means that most experts agree it’s the best way to test for SIBO.Ī doctor can also test for SIBO using something called an aspirate, where they take a sample of fluid from your small intestine. The SIBO breath test is the industry gold standard. īreath tests are used to diagnose many conditions. Food intolerances (especially to certain carbohydrates)įor all you need to know about SIBO symptoms, check out our blog SIBO symptoms: what they mean and what to do next.It’s important to work with an experienced practitioner who will use the test results as a tool to build a picture of your general gut health.SIBO breath tests are accurate but not perfect.Methane levels reflect the numbers of archaea in your small intestine.Hydrogen levels reflect the numbers of bacteria in your small intestine.The test should show the levels of hydrogen and methane in your small intestine, but some tests only show hydrogen.You can ask your GP to refer you for a SIBO test, but it’s not always easy and may take a while.A SIBO breath test is the most effective and common way to test for SIBO.When too many set up shop there, you have small intestinal bacterial overgrowth: SIBO.Ĭould taking a SIBO test help you? If you want to know why you should take a SIBO test, and what the results could mean for you, read on. Unlike your large intestine, which is supposed to be teeming with trillions of microbes, your small intestine should be home to a small, select population of bacteria and other microscopic organisms. A SIBO hydrogen breath test shows whether or not you have too many bacteria living in your small intestine.
