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Can The Tests Be Wrong?


chuckerychick

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chuckerychick Newbie

I have had intestional issues for a while and decided to try out gluten intolerance as a possible diagnosis in my quest to discover what is wrong with me. To this end, I sent in a sample to Enterolab, and have been on a gluten-free diet for 3 months. The test results came back as follows:

Fecal Antigliadin IgA 21

Fecal Antitissue Transglutaminase IgA 15 Units

and the malabsorption was not an issue. So the above IgA's were elevated slightly, but enough for the staff at Enterolab to prompt me to adhere to a strict and lifelong gluten-free diet. Here is my dilemma. I have read many posts on this site where people felt much better or worse after eliminating gluten from their diet. My problem is, I feel the exact same; there is no difference whatsoever, so my question is wondering if anyone can tell me if there are other conditions in which the Antigliadin IgA and the Transglutaminase IgA would be slightly elevated? I feel just like I always have, no change, so anyone with any expertise on this subject, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!

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cruelshoes Enthusiast

There are other things besides celiac that cause an elevated tTg:

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It is important to note that some people with Type 1 Diabetes, Hashimoto
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ravenwoodglass Mentor

Have you eliminated nonfood sources of gluten? Toiletries, shared toasters, lotions, craft and home repair compounds, clays and glues for example. Did you check every med and supplement, OTC and Script, you are on with the maker? Is your house gluten free or are you living with folks that eat gluten? If so you may be getting CC'd. Do you eat out without telling the waitress that you are celiac and that stuff needs to be cooked seperately for you? Have you eliminated dairy? A common problem for us until we heal even if we don't have a casien intolerance. Do you drink alcohol? Some of us are sensitive to gluten grain distilled alcohols and vinagers, not all but you should eliminate until you heal to be on the safe side. Also gluten can hide in some surprising things like orange juice and yogurts, pasta sauces and well you name it. If you can go with whole non-processed foods while you heal that will help. I would double check everything that goes into your body or on it and it does take some time to heal. Even trace amounts can keep the autoimmune process going and it can be very hard and confusing at first.

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chuckerychick Newbie

"It is important to note that some people with Type 1 Diabetes, Hashimoto

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ravenwoodglass Mentor
I have not yet checked my non-food items for gluten, but I will keep an eye out for that. Thank you both for your help.

I would check those nonfood items first before I underwent loads of other testing. Celiac disease can effect the functioning of a lot of other organs, including the thyroid and liver. Delete the gluten from all the things that come into contact with your body, that may be enough to end your problems.

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lightening16 Rookie

Hi

You have not mentioned how long you went gluten free for or how severe your symptoms were. I had relief, or lessening of symptoms right away but I still had symptoms for a good two weeks to a month and still would have the odd issue after that. I found that there were many foods that I could not digest right away. So foods had to be really simple with very low fat, no grains other than rice, and no hard to digest vegetables, no nuts or beans, no apples....no fun really. Things have gotten much better and my diet has started to grow again. I had been lactose intolerant for a while but obviously no lactose either. It seemed that my body really need time to heal. My numbers were as low as yours and it was explained to me that it was like being pregnant. you are not just a little pregnant or borderline pregnant. I would keep going to see how long it takes and keep things really simple for a while. Like a long while

Good luck

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