Bloating and gut symptom self-check
Step 1. Are any of these true?
Be honest here rather than optimistic. This is the part that matters most.
Stop here and speak to a clinician
You ticked something that needs assessing properly. A severity score will not help you with this and could give you false reassurance, so the tool has not calculated one.
These symptoms are not diet problems and they do not become more diagnosable by being tracked for a fortnight. Read when bloating needs a doctor, not an app, and take these questions with you.
Step 2. How severe have things been?
Think about the last 10 days. There are no right answers and nothing is being judged.
Your severity score
0 / 500
Summary to take to your doctor
Copy this, add the two lines at the bottom, and bring it with you.
Nothing here was sent anywhere. Closing this tab discards it.
What the score actually means
The IBS-SSS was published by Francis, Morris and Whorwell in 1997 and it has been the standard severity measure in irritable bowel syndrome research ever since. When you read that a trial of a diet or a drug showed improvement, this is very often the number that improved.
| Score | Band | What it usually means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Under 75 | Remission range | The range typical of people without IBS. If you have a diagnosis and score here, you are in remission rather than cured. |
| 75 to 175 | Mild | Symptoms are present and usually manageable with dietary and lifestyle changes. |
| 175 to 300 | Moderate | Symptoms are meaningfully affecting daily life. This is the band where most people seek help, and where structured trigger identification tends to pay off most. |
| Above 300 | Severe | Substantial impact. Worth a clinician's involvement rather than self-management alone, and worth checking that the diagnosis itself has been properly established. |
The single number matters less than the direction of travel. A change of around 50 points is the threshold generally accepted as a real improvement or deterioration, and it is the responder cut-off used in clinical trials. Scoring yourself once tells you where you are. Scoring yourself every four weeks tells you whether anything you are doing is working, which is the more useful question.
What this cannot do
Stated plainly, because symptom quizzes routinely imply otherwise.
- It cannot diagnose IBS. That requires a clinician, and it requires excluding the conditions that present identically. Coeliac disease in particular must be tested for while you are still eating gluten.
- It cannot exclude anything. A low score does not rule out inflammatory bowel disease, coeliac disease or anything else. Severity and seriousness are different axes.
- It cannot tell you what is causing it. No questionnaire can. That needs repeated observation of what you eat against how you feel, compared with your own baseline rate. See the method.
- It is a snapshot of ten days. Symptoms fluctuate, and where you are in your menstrual cycle, how you have slept, and how stressful the fortnight has been will all move the number.
Which tests are worth having done
If you scored in the moderate or severe range and have not had basic testing, that is the more valuable next step than any diet change. The two that change everything if positive are coeliac serology, tested while still eating gluten, and faecal calprotectin, which separates inflammatory disease from functional symptoms. The full list of tests worth doing is here, along with the ones that are not.
Where to go next
- When bloating needs a doctor, not an app. The longer version of step 1.
- Questions to ask your doctor. The four that change what happens next.
- What a food diary should show your doctor. What to bring alongside this score.
- Bristol stool chart. Stool form is the other thing worth recording, and it is what your subtype is defined by.
Minthe re-prompts this questionnaire on a 28-day cycle and charts the trend, so you can see whether the number is moving rather than guessing.
Minthe is a wellness and self-tracking tool, not a medical device. It does not diagnose or treat any condition and isn't a substitute for professional medical advice. If you have red-flag symptoms such as blood in your stool, unintentional weight loss, difficulty swallowing, persistent vomiting or a fever alongside gut symptoms, see a clinician rather than tracking them.
Source
- Francis CY, Morris J, Whorwell PJ. The irritable bowel severity scoring system: a simple method of monitoring irritable bowel syndrome and its progress. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 1997;11(2):395-402.
Frequently asked
Can this tell me whether I have IBS?
No, and no online questionnaire can. IBS is diagnosed by a clinician who takes a history, considers your age and risk factors, and excludes conditions that look similar, including coeliac disease and inflammatory bowel disease. What this tool measures is how severe your symptoms are, which is a different and genuinely useful question, and it gives you a number you can bring to an appointment.
What is the IBS-SSS?
The Irritable Bowel Syndrome Severity Scoring System, published by Francis, Morris and Whorwell in 1997. It combines five items, the severity and frequency of abdominal pain, the severity of distension, satisfaction with bowel habit, and interference with daily life, into a single score from 0 to 500. It is widely used in clinical practice and is the standard severity outcome measure in IBS drug and diet trials.
What do the score bands mean?
Below 75 is the range typical of people without IBS, or of someone in remission. 75 to 175 indicates mild symptoms, 175 to 300 moderate, and above 300 severe. The bands matter less than the trend: a change of around 50 points in either direction is the threshold generally treated as a real improvement or deterioration, and it is the responder cut-off used in clinical trials.
Is my data sent anywhere?
No. Every calculation happens in your browser using ordinary arithmetic, nothing is transmitted to any server, and nothing is saved. Close the tab and it is gone. There is no account, no cookie and no tracking on this page. If you want to keep the result, copy or print the summary.
Why does it ask about red flags first?
Because a severity score is the wrong answer to some situations, and a reassuring number given to the wrong person is worse than no tool at all. Symptoms such as rectal bleeding, unintentional weight loss or difficulty swallowing need medical assessment regardless of how mild everything else feels. If you tick any of them, the tool stops and tells you that rather than scoring you.