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Elevated Ttg Iga, Negative Ema-Anyone Had These Results And Been Dx With Something Else?

tealeaves1

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tealeaves1 Newbie
tealeaves1
Posted

I went to the doctor close to 2 weeks ago for fatigue, tingly hands and feet, joint pain, gas, bloating and mild abdominal pain for the past few month.  I thought it could possibly be celiac since the symptoms seem to have a correlation to gluten containing foods.

 

I had labs drawn twice, the results of the TTG IgA were 50 and 54, the EMA was negative however I know this test is more subjective and the false negative rate coud be as high as 30%.  I've been monitoring my symptoms and they are significantly correlated to the amount of gluten I am eating and I've had to cut back because of how sick I've been feeling, it has helped but I don't want to be too hasty about completely eliminating it until I have a confirmed diagnosis.   The labs for thyroid, B12 and folate were within normal range though I take high doses of vitamin D and my result was barely within the normal range.

 

I am waiting to hear back from the doctor as far as what the next step will be, there was confusion at the office as to which doctor would be the one to address the abnormal labs and it sounds like I should hear back in the next few days. 

 

Has anyone had elevated TTG IgA levels like mine and been diagnosed with something else?  What were you diagnosed with?  I am wondering what else could be causing my elevated labs and my symptoms.  I have read that autoimmune liver disease or type one diabetes and I don't have any symptoms of those.  Other inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn's can also cause elevated TTG, IgA but given that my symptoms are not specific to my bowel, I don't think that's the problem.  I do have a history of hashimotos, do not take medication and my TSH was within normal range

 

Thanks in advance.

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nvsmom Community Regular
nvsmom
Posted

Occasionally an infection can cause elevated tTG IgA, as can colitis. 95% of the time a positive tTG IgA means celiac disease though.

The EMA IgA tends to show advanced damage to the intestines. Basically, the gut is attacked and damaged and then eventually EMA IgA is produced to wipe out the upper Ayer off the damaged villi. It's like cutting off a toe to deal with a hangnail. KWIM? If your damage sn't as advanced, you could have a negative EMA. After being gluten-free for a long while, my EMA became negative even though my tTG IgA was still a (lower) weak positive... It happens.

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