Can Someone Please Help With My Blood Results

[niese]

Here are my blood results, my GI dr said I am boarderline Celiac, ok whatever doc.  I have found a new GI dr that is suppose to be a specialist in Celiac but I don't see him till Aug 20th.

 

 

IgA Serum        248

Reference range 81 to 463

 

Gliadin Antbody, IgG    23

Reference range <20

 

Gliadin Antibody, IgA  6

Reference range <20

 

tTG IgA Antibody   1

Reference range <4

 

The biopsy suggest I have Celiac as well.

 

can anyone please tell me what my blood work means?

 

I was still eating gluten at the time of my test but I am now gluten free for almost 2 months.  

 

Thanks

 

 

[nvsmom]

The total serum IgA is the control test to make sure you make enough immunoglobulin A for the othet tests to be accurate (5% of celiacs don't). Yours is in the middle of normal and perfect.

 

The Gliadin antibody tests are most likely the anti-gliadin antibodies (AGA Iga and AGA IgG) tests. That's an older test and not usesd as often anymore partially due to it's unreliability. That test indicates gliadin sensitivity. It is the only test that does not test for damage being done to the intestinal villi, and for those reasons it is thought by some to test for celiac disease and for NCGS (non-celiac gluten sensitivity).  A positive AGA IgG indicates celiac disease or even possibly NCGS.

 

It's a shame that they did not test your tTG IgG, you could be one of those people whose serological tests tend to be positive in the immunoglobulin G's instead of IgA's. The IgA and IgG's are just parts of the immune response that are made in different parts of the body. IgA is used more proabably because it is made in the mucosal areas of the body like the gut, whereas the IgG is more ssytemic (as I understand it). You might want to ask for the tTG IgG test.

 

They did not run the DGP (deaminated gliadin peptide) tests which are the newest tests around. These tests seem to catch a lot of the early cases like in young kids. You might want to request them too. They did not run the EMA IgA, but if your tTG IgA was negative, chances are that it would be too.

 

To me, your blood work says celiac disease, or possibly NCGS but because your biopsy suggests celiac disease, then that positive AGA must be from celiac disease. You are in the gluten-free for life club. 

[niese]

  On 7/23/2013 at 3:06 PM, nvsmom said:

The total serum IgA is the control test to make sure you make enough immunoglobulin A for the othet tests to be accurate (5% of celiacs don't). Yours is in the middle of normal and perfect.

 

The Gliadin antibody tests are most likely the anti-gliadin antibodies (AGA Iga and AGA IgG) tests. That's an older test and not usesd as often anymore partially due to it's unreliability. That test indicates gliadin sensitivity. It is the only test that does not test for damage being done to the intestinal villi, and for those reasons it is thought by some to test for celiac disease and for NCGS (non-celiac gluten sensitivity).  A positive AGA IgG indicates celiac disease or even possibly NCGS.

 

It's a shame that they did not test your tTG IgG, you could be one of those people whose serological tests tend to be positive in the immunoglobulin G's instead of IgA's. The IgA and IgG's are just parts of the immune response that are made in different parts of the body. IgA is used more proabably because it is made in the mucosal areas of the body like the gut, whereas the IgG is more ssytemic (as I understand it). You might want to ask for the tTG IgG test.

 

They did not run the DGP (deaminated gliadin peptide) tests which are the newest tests around. These tests seem to catch a lot of the early cases like in young kids. You might want to request them too. They did not run the EMA IgA, but if your tTG IgA was negative, chances are that it would be too.

 

To me, your blood work says celiac disease, or possibly NCGS but because your biopsy suggests celiac disease, then that positive AGA must be from celiac disease. You are in the gluten-free for life club. 

Thanks Nicole, so when I request these other test you suggested do I have to go back to eating gluten for them? I pray not cause I feel about 75% better now that I have gone gluten-free.  If dr can just get my bowels under control life would be great. 

[GottaSki]

  On 7/23/2013 at 9:58 PM, niese said:

Thanks Nicole, so when I request these other test you suggested do I have to go back to eating gluten for them? I pray not cause I feel about 75% better now that I have gone gluten-free.  If dr can just get my bowels under control life would be great. 

 

Welcome Niese!

 

I agree that both a tTG IgG and DGP IgG should have been run before gluten was removed.  I suggest you still have them done just so your chart has the full antibody panel as close to removing gluten as possible. 

 

Since your biopsy indicated Celiac Disease as well - I do not suggest returning to eating gluten for any tests now.  I do suggest you get a written or electronic copy of both the procedural and pathology reports of your endoscopy to find out exactly what type of damage was seen or revealed via biopsy.

 

I also suggest you call your primary's office and ask if they can order the missing tests from your Celiac Antibody Panel along with nutrient testing - as malabsorption of nutrients is another strong indicator of Celiac and this info is important if you need to be supplementing any nutrients while healing.  If your primary says no, try getting a message to the Celiac specialist that you are already gluten-free -- perhaps they can move the appt up or order the tests now so he/she will have the results for your appointment next month.

 

Below are the nutrient tests my Celiac Doc ran at diagnosis and annually - if you did not have these done during your diagnosis process - I would add them now so you have as close to starting data as possible.:

 

B1, B2, B6, B12, D, K, Iron, Ferritin, Copper and Zinc

CMP

CBC

 

Hang in there

[niese]

  On 7/23/2013 at 10:18 PM, GottaSki said:

Welcome Niese!

 

I agree that both a tTG IgG and DGP IgG should have been run before gluten was removed.  I suggest you still have them done just so your chart has the full antibody panel as close to removing gluten as possible. 

 

Since your biopsy indicated Celiac Disease as well - I do not suggest returning to eating gluten for any tests now.  I do suggest you get a written or electronic copy of both the procedural and pathology reports of your endoscopy to find out exactly what type of damage was seen or revealed via biopsy.

 

I also suggest you call your primary's office and ask if they can order the missing tests from your Celiac Antibody Panel along with nutrient testing - as malabsorption of nutrients is another strong indicator of Celiac and this info is important if you need to be supplementing any nutrients while healing.  If your primary says no, try getting a message to the Celiac specialist that you are already gluten-free -- perhaps they can move the appt up or order the tests now so he/she will have the results for your appointment next month.

 

Below are the nutrient tests my Celiac Doc ran at diagnosis and annually - if you did not have these done during your diagnosis process - I would add them now so you have as close to starting data as possible.:

 

B1, B2, B6, B12, D, K, Iron, Ferritin, Copper and Zinc

CMP

CBC

 

Hang in there

Thanks for the info I do have these test on my list to ask my dr for.  I will call my old GI dr tomorrow to request the test results of my biopsy, thanks for being so helpful. I DO NOT want to return to eating gluten I was way too sick and in too much pain it was so bad no pain meds helped me I just had to deal with the pain 

[GottaSki]

  On 7/23/2013 at 10:25 PM, niese said:

Thanks for the info I do have these test on my list to ask my dr for.  I will call my old GI dr tomorrow to request the test results of my biopsy, thanks for being so helpful. I DO NOT want to return to eating gluten I was way too sick and in too much pain it was so bad no pain meds helped me I just had to deal with the pain 

 

Completely understand and agree....you seem to have enough for on official diagnosis -- but things can go a bit wonky with the process at times....the tests are not perfect and the system is far, far from perfect.

 

Your improvement gluten-free is another huge piece of the puzzle....happy to hear you have already had some

[niese]

  On 7/23/2013 at 10:29 PM, GottaSki said:

Completely understand and agree....you seem to have enough for on official diagnosis -- but things can go a bit wonky with the process at times....the tests are not perfect and the system is far, far from perfect.

 

Your improvement gluten-free is another huge piece of the puzzle....happy to hear you have already had some

Thank you

[nvsmom]

I think you might as well get tested too, even if you have been gluten-free for a few months as sometimes the antibodies stay elevated for quite some time gluten-free. my tTG IgA was still elevated after a year so I know it can happen.

I hope you continue to feel better gluten-free.

[niese]

  On 7/24/2013 at 3:46 AM, nvsmom said:

I think you might as well get tested too, even if you have been gluten-free for a few months as sometimes the antibodies stay elevated for quite some time gluten-free. my tTG IgA was still elevated after a year so I know it can happen.

I hope you continue to feel better gluten-free.

 

  On 7/24/2013 at 3:46 AM, nvsmom said:

I think you might as well get tested too, even if you have been gluten-free for a few months as sometimes the antibodies stay elevated for quite some time gluten-free. my tTG IgA was still elevated after a year so I know it can happen.

I hope you continue to feel better gluten-free.

Thank you