Celiac Elusiveness Of Diagnosis In The Philippines

[GeorgeDaniel]

Good Morning Everyone! I hope you are all well. 

 

My name is George! My mom is half caucasian, her father is Scottish. 

I had a lot of health woes lasting for nearly a decade which took a huge and terrible toll in my life. I lost my promising career in being a ship's officer and also separated from my wife. I lost a lot of my teeth and had impaired vision. And the most cruel is being in pain for a very very long time. I mean waking up in the morning and feeling that pain coming at your tummy. Terrible. 

 

Sad to say, Ive also been to a whole damn lot of doctors and none of them could give me relief. I was diagnosed with so many conditions (GERD, Oesopaghitis, Gastritis etc). Took a lot of PPIs and other antacid... UNTIL...

 

I tried to find the answer on my own! And VOILA... GLUTEN! 

 

SO I went gluten free. That was already more than a year and a half ago.

 

My problem now is that I went and had a blood test done to me. But thjs is ONLY AFTER TWO WEEKS. 

 

Here are the results:

All units in U/mL 

 

Celiac DGP Screen 5.4 U/mL (POsitive is more than 10)

Gliadin IgG 5.5 (POsitive is more than 12)

Gliadin IgA 4.0 (POsitive is more than 12)

Human ttg IgA 2.9 (Positive is more than 10) 

Human ttg IgG 8.2 (Positive is more than 10) 

 

So with that, my doctor said I can continue then go for biopsy! I will have that this coming Monday <May 12) 

 

Can anyone please tell me if TWO WEEKS is enough to show positive in blood tests? Especially if you have been gluten-free for more than a year and a half and ate like tons of probiotics during the period?

 

And can you please look at my Human ttg IgG 8.2 which is just shy of 1.8 to make it 10 and show that there's damage happening to my intestines already? 

 

Also is ONE MONTH enough to test POSITIVE for BIOPSY (considering I eat a lot of Gluten containing wheat bread, about 4 slices a day)? 

 

Thank you everyone! YOu would think finding diagnosis is difficult there where you come from but imagine it here in my country where it is virtually unheard of.... 

 

Take care and hoping for any response to my queries. 

 

 

 

 

 

[cyclinglady]

You have had to been consuming gluten for 12 weeks prior to the blood test and two weeks before a biopsy.  Check out the University of Chicago's celiac website for more answers:

 

Open Original Shared Link

 

Keep us posted on your progress and I hope you are feeling better soon!

[nvsmom]

Yeah, two weeks probably wasn't long enough but.... that tTG iGG is pretty darn close to positive for only being on gluten for two weeks. It makes me wonder what it would have been if you had been consuming gluten for another 6 to 10 more weeks.

 

2 weeks on gluten is generally considered enough for a biopsy although some doctors like 4 weeks better.

 

I would REALLY push to have those blood tests run again when you go in for your biopsy, or even better, sometime in June. I wouldn't be surprised if that tTG IgG goes up with an adequate gluten challenge... if your body can hack it for that long that is.

 

Probiotics will not affect the blood tests - they simply support the growth of beneficial bacteria, that's all.

 

Lest us know how it goes.

[GeorgeDaniel]

Thank You VERY VERY MUCH Ms cyclinglady! Yeah It is really a good information site this link you have sent me! THANKS  

 

nvsmom yes that is indeed my line of thinking as well! THANK YOU! I feel so overwhelmed there are people like you guys who take their time to listen and give this kind of advice and moral support! You cant imagine how good it feels specially when you've been feeling terrible like hellishly for a long time! Im glad there are people like you!

 

I had my biopsy this morning! They also found some non specific colitis down there in my descending colon and took some sample for biopsy there as well! 

 

another question, its possible to have celiac and another digestive conditon as well right? I mean both at the same time right? Hope you dont think Im too stubborn! Im just thinking perhaps the colitis in rectum have somethng to do with celiac too. 

 

Anyway guys ill just rest a bit but I promise to be more active here in this forum later! 

 

I wish you all the best and pray for a positive result for me so I can finally accept that I am sane and didnt imagine all that  

 

MORE POWER EVERYONE! 

[GeorgeDaniel]

You have had to been consuming gluten for 12 weeks prior to the blood test and two weeks before a biopsy.  Check out the University of Chicago's celiac website for more answers:

 

Open Original Shared Link

 

Keep us posted on your progress and I hope you are feeling better soon!

Thank you maam! I will! Thanks for replying to my query! It means so much!  

[GeorgeDaniel]

Yeah, two weeks probably wasn't long enough but.... that tTG iGG is pretty darn close to positive for only being on gluten for two weeks. It makes me wonder what it would have been if you had been consuming gluten for another 6 to 10 more weeks.

 

2 weeks on gluten is generally considered enough for a biopsy although some doctors like 4 weeks better.

 

I would REALLY push to have those blood tests run again when you go in for your biopsy, or even better, sometime in June. I wouldn't be surprised if that tTG IgG goes up with an adequate gluten challenge... if your body can hack it for that long that is.

 

Probiotics will not affect the blood tests - they simply support the growth of beneficial bacteria, that's all.

 

Lest us know how it goes.

THANKS very very much! Exactly my line of thinking good ma'am! Thanks... I really appreciate it! 

[cyclinglady]

So, you had both an endoscopy and a colonoscopy? I had both but the gastro took biopsies of the small intestine during the endoscopy to determine celiac disease. The colonoscopy was just a well-check since I was over 50.

Yes, you can have more than just celiac.

[GeorgeDaniel]

So, you had both an endoscopy and a colonoscopy? I had both but the gastro took biopsies of the small intestine during the endoscopy to determine celiac disease. The colonoscopy was just a well-check since I was over 50.

Yes, you can have more than just celiac.

Hi Ms Cycling Lady! My biopsy result came out now and thus far they said it was inconclusive! The problem is I dont know how many tissue samples they took for the biopsy! Sigh.. But they said there was ulcers found in my large intestine and they might be investigating Crohns or other IBD sickness.... But this wasnt seen before a long long time ago when I first had symptoms and had an endoscopy more than 10 years ago! I mean I was sick already then and had more colonoscopy and nothing was found only now... sigh... and before they werent considering celiac at all! is it possible to have both Crohns and Celiac? Thanks! 

[cyclinglady]

Find out how many samples they took by asking for copies. You should always get copies of all lab reports. Also, take copies of the testing requirements you saw on the University of Chicago's celiac website and I discuss with your doctor. I really do not think you were back on gluten long enough. Perhaps they will retest. If they refuse, you can always go back to being gluten-free to see if it resolves symptoms.

At least you know the ulcers! That is good news. The doctors should be able to treat those.

[GeorgeDaniel]

Find out how many samples they took by asking for copies. You should always get copies of all lab reports. Also, take copies of the testing requirements you saw on the University of Chicago's celiac website and I discuss with your doctor. I really do not think you were back on gluten long enough. Perhaps they will retest. If they refuse, you can always go back to being gluten-free to see if it resolves symptoms.

At least you know the ulcers! That is good news. The doctors should be able to treat those.

Ok I will do that! Yes indeed I really hope it comes to pass that I get my desired result! I want to make sure because these ulcers in the large intestine weren't there before! Sigh! I will return to Gluten Free and I really know that it will resolve symptoms! Im 100 percent sure of that! Sometimes its frustrating! Im doing this for my kids btw, me and their mom are separated but shes not allowing them to be tested Thats why I am doing this! So that I can use for a court order to test them... I dont want them to suffer what I have been through... if you understand what I mean