7 Year Old Going Through Testing/ Some Results

[nomorethanfour]

Hi everyone! We have a 7 year old daughter that has been vomitting for 2.5 years at night off and on. Treated for reflux, cyclic vomitting syndrome, checked for brain tumors, EEG, EKG, and FINALLY some bloodwork. DH is in the military and we live in Germany right now...so we have several hands in the care of Sadie, some American docs, and some German. The bloodwork that HAS come back so far from the celiac panel are the

TT Ab IgA 3.52    reference range (0 - 15) Normal

TT Ab IgG 152     reference range (0- 15) High

 

The IgG number has me freaked out! That is crazy high...or at least it seems crazy high. What are some of the numbers you have had?We go back to the German doc on Friday and I'm curious as to what the next step might be? Is it normal to do a biopsy to confirm? I like to prepare Sadie for what to expect. I guess I'm just looking for some reassurance. This has been a very long road and it looks like we may finally have some answers.

[nvsmom]

Your poor girl.    Well, with a ttg IgG like that, I think you have definitely found your answer; she is most likely a celiac.  I would bet money that she will feel much much better after being gluten-free for a few weeks (after you are done all the testing that you plan to do) because I had a ttg IgA that was >200 with a reference range of 0-20 (I think it was) and going gluten-free has definitely helped me.

 

Many doctors like to do a biopsy still but when a test is very positive, some doctors will accept that is enough for a diagnosis and not push for a biopsy as well. I skipped the biopsy myself.  I think a biopsy is most useful when the blood test results are not clear (or contradictory to what was expected), or when other problems are suspected that they want to rule out.

 

I think of it like a pregnancy test. It would be almost like a doctor insisting on an ultrasound before declaring you pregnant even though you had the positive (urine) pregnancy test already.  KWIM? But, that's just my personal opinion and many doctors will not give a diagnosis without a biopsy.

 

Either way, she should go gluten-free when testing is done.  This time spent waiting for tests is a good time to start looking into gluten-free foods and recipes. Mainly buy gluten-free treats now so she can start getting used to it before the switch happens.  I found it easy to switch my kids over because they had lots of advance warning that it was coming, and because we had found a few gluten-free recipes ahead of time that they really liked.

 

Good luck!