Preparing For Blood Test Need Help!

[Ellethwyn]

Hello:) 

 

A couple days ago my doctor told me to have a gluten allergy blood test done. She told me that I don't need to do anything in advance and that I can go right away to have it done. I haven't done it yet.  I read online that if you don't eat gluten everyday then you could get a false negative.  I was on a gluten free diet 3 years ago for one year straight, then I started to slowly add gluten back into my diet. For the past two years I've been eating gluten a few times a week, some days more than others but I don't eat it everyday. Do I need to eat gluten everyday for 6 weeks before taking the blood test?  Or could I eat it everyday for 2 weeks?  Or should I just go ahead  take the test ASAP?    

 

For the record, when I eat gluten I get very nauseous, thirsty, and I have been chronically anemic for years. 

[nvsmom]

Welcome to the board.  

 

Most specialists agree that a gluten challenge of 8-12 weeks (the longer the better), while eating the equivalent of 1-2 slices of bread per day, is best for accurate celiac disease testing. Some people's antibodies seem to go down to normal levels within weeks while others take years; also, some people have higher test results than others (which does not seem to correlate to intestinal damage) so people with lower positives can be missed if they are not eating adequate gluten.

 

Increasing your gluten intake for a few weeks prior to testing will more likely give you a stronger positive. I don't know if two weeks would be enough for you if you are gluten-lite right now.  

 

If you are able to be retested after 6+ more weeks of eating larger amounts of gluten if the first is negative, then I would say do it soon BUT if you only get one shot at testing, I would delay testing for a month or so depending on how little gluten you were eating this spring.

 

Good luck!

[Ellethwyn]

Welcome to the board.  

 

Most specialists agree that a gluten challenge of 8-12 weeks (the longer the better), while eating the equivalent of 1-2 slices of bread per day, is best for accurate celiac disease testing. Some people's antibodies seem to go down to normal levels within weeks while others take years; also, some people have higher test results than others (which does not seem to correlate to intestinal damage) so people with lower positives can be missed if they are not eating adequate gluten.

 

Increasing your gluten intake for a few weeks prior to testing will more likely give you a stronger positive. I don't know if two weeks would be enough for you if you are gluten-lite right now.  

 

If you are able to be retested after 6+ more weeks of eating larger amounts of gluten if the first is negative, then I would say do it soon BUT if you only get one shot at testing, I would delay testing for a month or so depending on how little gluten you were eating this spring.

 

Good luck!

Thank you!  My lab referral is good up until the end of August so I will go ahead and do a gluten challenge for at least 8 weeks. Thank you very much.