Preparing for a SIBO appointment: useful notes and questions

Prepare a short symptom history, a list of medicines and supplements, and the questions you most want answered. The NHS appointment guide recommends this approach. You can use one page for the notes below, leaving room to record the agreed next step.

Describe what has happened

Write down when symptoms began, changes in bowel habits, and how pain relates to bowel movements. Include recent infections and relevant family history. Mention blood in your stool or unexplained weight loss explicitly. These details help clinicians assess digestive symptoms and possible explanations, as described in NIDDK’s diagnosis guide.

For a simple note layout, use:

• Main concern: what you want to discuss first.
• Timeline: when symptoms started and what changed.
• Previous care: investigations and advice already received.
• Questions: the points you want clarified.

Use your own words. There is no need to turn your notes into a medical report.

Include medicines and previous care

Keep your medicines list and appointment details available. Guy’s and St Thomas’ gastroenterology service asks patients to bring these; check your own service’s arrangements too.

Mention previous digestive conditions or surgery. Changes in bowel structure or movement can be relevant to SIBO assessment, according to the American College of Gastroenterology.

Ask what happens next

Choose questions that address your main uncertainty:

• What explanations are you considering?
• What would a proposed test help establish?
• How would its result change the plan?
• Who will give me the results, and when?
• Who should I contact if symptoms worsen?

Before leaving, check your understanding and write down the follow-up arrangements. These prompts follow the NHS guidance linked above.

Keep test preparation separate

If a breath test is booked, follow the testing service’s preparation instructions. Ask the team to clarify medicine instructions instead of stopping treatment yourself. Plymouth’s breath-test information explains why preparation matters; it is guidance for that service, not a universal schedule.

Read our breath-test explainer if you want to prepare questions about the result.