SIBO Testing in the Denver Metro
If your stomach is flat in the morning and looks six months pregnant by evening, that is not normal digestion. It is fermentation, and it is testable.
Bloating is a symptom, not a diagnosis
Most people with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth have already been told they have IBS, been handed a fiber recommendation or an acid blocker, and sent home. Neither addresses bacteria growing in the wrong part of the intestine. Breath testing measures the hydrogen and methane those bacteria produce, which tells us whether overgrowth is present and which type you have. The two respond to very different plans.
Signs worth testing for
- · Bloating within an hour of eating
- · Distension that grows through the day
- · Gas, belching, and reflux
- · Constipation, diarrhea, or both
- · Reacting to foods you used to tolerate
- · Brain fog and fatigue after meals
- · IBS that never resolves
These are panels, not single values. Most of the labs we run report more than twenty markers each, and several run well over a hundred, so we read patterns across the whole picture rather than one number in isolation.
What we run
- · Hydrogen and methane breath testing
- · Genova Comprehensive Stool Analysis (20+ markers)
- · IgE and IgG food allergy panels
- · Inflammatory and immune markers
- · Mold and heavy metal screening when indicated
Why SIBO relapses
Killing bacteria is the easy part. Keeping the small intestine inhospitable is the work. Overgrowth takes hold when motility slows, stomach acid or bile output drops, or an untreated food allergy keeps the gut lining inflamed. If those are still in place when the antibiotic or herbal protocol ends, the bacteria come back within months. We test for the upstream drivers first, then build the plan in that order. See our gut health testing page and the full lab testing menu.
Serving Denver, Centennial and the south metro
We are an independently owned clinic at 9250 E. Costilla Ave. Suite 300 in Greenwood Village, serving Centennial, Littleton, Parker, Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Castle Rock, Columbine, Stonegate and the greater Denver area. Patients outside Colorado work with us virtually with lab kits shipped to their door.
Common questions
What is SIBO?
SIBO stands for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Bacteria that belong in the large intestine migrate upward and colonize the small intestine, where they ferment carbohydrates before you can absorb them. That fermentation is what produces the gas, distension, and pain most people describe as bloating that gets worse through the day.
What are the most common SIBO symptoms?
Bloating within an hour of eating, abdominal distension that visibly grows through the day, excessive gas, alternating constipation and diarrhea, reflux, nausea, brain fog, fatigue, and reactions to foods that never used to be a problem. Many people have been told for years that it is simply IBS.
How is SIBO tested?
The standard is a breath test that measures hydrogen and methane after a lactulose or glucose challenge. We pair breath testing with comprehensive stool analysis and food allergy panels, because overgrowth is almost always downstream of something else: low stomach acid, poor motility, an untreated food allergy, or prior antibiotic use.
Why does SIBO keep coming back after antibiotics?
Antibiotics reduce the bacterial load but do not address why the small intestine became hospitable in the first place. If motility, digestive enzyme output, bile flow, or immune reactivity to foods is still off, the overgrowth returns. Our plans target the cause alongside the overgrowth, which is why relapse rates drop.
Is SIBO the same as leaky gut or IBS?
No. IBS is a symptom label, leaky gut describes a compromised intestinal barrier, and SIBO is a specific overgrowth in a specific location. They frequently occur together, and testing is the only way to know which of them you are dealing with.
Do I need to be in Denver to get tested?
No. Our clinic is at 9250 E. Costilla Ave. Suite 300 in Greenwood Village serving Centennial, Littleton, Parker, Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Castle Rock and the south metro, and we work with patients nationwide with test kits shipped to your home.