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Exams and Tests

Your health care provider may review what you eat and the symptoms produced. You might keep a diary of food and drink for a specific period of time and track the passage of gas during the day. Careful review of diet and the amount of gas passed may help relate specific foods to symptoms and determine the severity of the problem.

The primary tests, if necessary, will likely include measuring the amount of hydrogen in your breath after you eat suspected foods. Because bacteria are largely responsible for the production of hydrogen, an increase in exhaled hydrogen as measured by the breath test will suggest a food intolerance, with the bacteria fermenting the undigested food to produce excess gas. After you eat a problem food, breath testing should show an increase in hydrogen in as little as 2 hours.

Another possible test is analysis of flatus for gas content. This should help differentiate gas produced by swallowing air from gas produced in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

If these tests produce no answers, more broad testing can be accomplished to help exclude more serious disorders such as diabetes, cancer, malabsorption, cirrhosis of the liver, poor thyroid function, and infection.

If you have abdominal pain or appear to have a swollen abdomen, your health care provider may have x-rays taken to show intestinal obstruction or perforation. X-rays can also be taken after you drink x-ray dye to show the GI tract, which can be followed up with an internal view of the colon through colonoscopy, if problems are noted.

If lactase deficiency is the suspected cause of gas, the provider may suggest you avoid milk products for a period of time. A blood or breath test may be used to diagnose lactose intolerance.