Blood Test Results

[cdevane]

I received my blood test results last week. My doctor's assistant just wrote that I was "not allergic to wheat". On the lab sheet, the test requested was for Celiac's Disease, so I called to find out specifically what blood tests were done.

I tried to research withing exisitng posts to help understand my results, but the names of my tests don't match up with any others that I have seen. So now I am beginning to wonder if I was given the correct tests. Here is what they gave me:

IGA plusT=266

Ttg=4

Is anyone familiar with how to read this? The doctor has yet to return my call.

[nicolesmom]

Hi! The IGA 266 is your total IGA, which is in the normal range. The TTg is the tissue transglutaminase which is the newest test for celiac disease and is directly proportional to the amount of damage in your intestines. Your TTg was normal. (less than 20). From my experiences and research I believe a person can have an intolerance to gluten either before damage occurs or stay gluten intolerant with no adverse affects. I've done some reading on the gliadin IgG which you might want to consider being tested for.

The usual celiac panel consists of the gliadin abs-IgG and IgA, the TTg IGA and the reticulin abs, these last are really not very useful and most docs these days are just going with the TTg and a total IGA to make sure you don't have an IGA deficiency which is fairly common in celiacs.

I would suggest that you ask your doc for the gliadin abs and ask him if the IgG comes back positive, should you try gluten free. Many people on this site have positive IgG only yet respond well to a gluten-free diet. The good news is, if you mess up and ingest gluten, you will feel sick with the usual symptoms but there are no circulating IgA abs causing damage to the intestines.