Why SIBO Breath Tests Are Fundamentally Unreliable: And How to Actually Identify What's Happening in Your Gut — What to Do Now

If you&#8217;ve confirmed dysbiosis through this self-assessment, you don&#8217;t need another breath test. You have evidence-based reason to pursue treatment targeting small intestinal dysbiosis and barrier restoration. The treatment question is different from the diagnostic question and more nuanced than taking an antibiotic. It involves considerations such as whether you have hydrogen-producing dysbiosis versus hydrogen sulfide-producing dysbiosis (different treatment approaches), your barrier function status (damaged barrier changes the strategy), your motility status (slow transit changes the strategy), your MCAS or immune activation status (changes the strategy), and your nutritional status (informs what your system can actually use to heal). If you&#8217;re still uncertain, work with someone who understands the mechanistic failures of breath testing and can integrate your symptom data, transit data, dietary response data, stool data, and functional history into a coherent diagnostic picture. This is exactly what functional medicine practitioners, integrative gastroenterologists, and systems-biology-trained consultants can do, something the standard SIBO breath test framework fundamentally cannot.