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Concerned About My Symptoms

Laura88

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Laura88 Newbie
Laura88
Posted

I've been experiencing some symptoms for the last year or so and I am a bit concerned they may be indicative of celiac disease.

 

My symptoms include:

constipation

diarrhoea

bloating

abdo pain after eating carb rich foods

lethargy 

heartburn & acid reflux every day. 

 

Should I see my doctor and say I am worried?

 

Thanks in advance!

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nvsmom Community Regular
nvsmom
Posted

Welcome to the board.  :)

 

Those could be symptoms of celiac disease so you may as well be tested. These are the tests you want:

  • tTG IgA and tTG IgG
  • DGP IgA and DGP IgG
  • EMA IgA
  • total serum IgA (a control test)
  • AGA IgA and AGA IgG (older, less reliable tests that are not used as frequently now)

Do not stop consuming gluten before testing or your tests could end up falsely negative.

 

If you have a history of autoimmune diseases, or family members do, such as thyroiditis, diabetes, crohn's, RA, lupus, then push extra hard to get tested as autoimmune diseases tend to run in families.

 

Best wishes!

Laura88 Newbie
Laura88
Posted
  • Author

My IGA result has come back as 0. What does that mean? I've been reading about IGA deficiency and celiac disease. My symptoms strongly point to celiac disease so I am a bit perplexed now! I'm not sure if they can do other blood tests in the UK for celiac disease!

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!

nvsmom Community Regular
nvsmom
Posted

0? Huh. I've never seen an IgA of zero. That's beyond deficient and into non-existant....

 

If your IgA levels are that low, definitely skip all IgA based tests (tTG IgA, DGP IgA, EMA IgA, AGA IgA) and request only IgG based tests (tTG IgG, DGP IgG, etc.).  I would be willing to bet that there are IgG based celiac disease testing options available to you. The UK seems pretty up to date on celiac disease, and considering 1/20 celiacs is low in IgA, I am guessing that you could still be tested.

 

There is also the option of the endoscopic biopsy.

 

You might want to point out to your doctor that IgA deficiency is more common among celiacs than it is the regular population so having such low levels of IgA is suspicious of celiac disease as it is. 

 

Make sure you keep eating gluten until all testing is done.

 

Best wishes to you.  :)

Laura88 Newbie
Laura88
Posted
  • Author

Thank you for getting back to me! The blood test definitely says: IgA tissue transglutaminase ab 0 u/ml

It also goes on to say that the test is invalid in people with IgA deficiency.

I think I need to go back and see my doctor next week and ask for different tests.

I have to say this is a really frustrating journey!

nvsmom Community Regular
nvsmom
Posted

Thank you for getting back to me! The blood test definitely says: IgA tissue transglutaminase ab 0 u/ml

It also goes on to say that the test is invalid in people with IgA deficiency.

I think I need to go back and see my doctor next week and ask for different tests.

I have to say this is a really frustrating journey!

Ah! That one actually IS a celiac disease test. That's the tTG IgA test... I've never seen a zero in that either.  LOL

 

So you have had one celiac disease test, and you passed it. It is very very low so it would be a good idea to check your total serum IgA to see if that affected it, as a low total serum IgA will cause falsely low IgA based tests.

 

Knowing what your test actually was, I would now ask for the:

tTG IgG

DGP IgA and DGP IgG

total serum IgA

 

Good luck with the doctor.

Laura88 Newbie
Laura88
Posted
  • Author

Thank you for getting back to me!

It seems like I most likely do not have celiac disease but I will ask my doctor to do the other blood tests to be sure. 

I am guessing that my result of zero does mean I am likely to be IgA deficient?

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Georgia-guy Enthusiast
Georgia-guy
Posted

A result of 0 would definitely point to being IgA deficient. Remember, this does NOT mean you are NOT celiac. As others have said, a result of 0 is unheard of by them. It would be recommended to request your doctor run a different type of test (either IgG blood or an endoscopic biopsy). Please do not rule out celiac until further testing is done, as a "false negative" on an IgA test is likely.

Lisalee1211 Newbie
Lisalee1211
Posted

So if igA is a 1. Does that mean it's deficient ?? My igG was postive. I'm still trying to understand all this.

Georgia-guy Enthusiast
Georgia-guy
Posted

What was the "negative" range for your IgA ttg test? (Should be "<#") Does your lab work show a "total IgA" on it? I've seen some people say it says "count" and some have it say "syrum".

Lisalee1211 Newbie
Lisalee1211
Posted

What was the "negative" range for your IgA ttg test? (Should be "<#") Does your lab work show a "total IgA" on it? I've seen some people say it says "count" and some have it say "syrum".

I don't see a total IgA. It just reads IgA 1

There is no < before the number 1. Which is normal according to these labs.

I got a strong positive on the IgG which was 15

Maybe I'm not celiac. I have a list of symptoms and have for years. I'm still getting a biopsy tho--

I'm still confused lol

nvsmom Community Regular
nvsmom
Posted

I don't see a total IgA. It just reads IgA 1

There is no < before the number 1. Which is normal according to these labs.

I got a strong positive on the IgG which was 15

Maybe I'm not celiac. I have a list of symptoms and have for years. I'm still getting a biopsy tho--

I'm still confused lol

Lisalee, start your own topic in prediagnosis and list all the tests, as well as their ranges, and then you'll get more help on that.

Laura88 Newbie
Laura88
Posted
  • Author

My doctor just phoned me and said that my celiac test result was negative from the IGA result. So I explained to her that I already knew the results as I called a few days ago and that I am concerned that I am IGA deficient. She was extremely rude to me and said it was highly unlikely that I am IGA deficient. So i told her that I would like further IGG blood tests just to be sure. She agreed to it and then pretty much hung up the phone. Why is everything such a battle sometimes?! I've got to go in on Monday and get more blood taken. Hopefully then i'll get some answers! 

nvsmom Community Regular
nvsmom
Posted

((hugs))

 

Glad the IgG based tests are getting done.  It's a shame it is a fight, but it is good that you are getting it done.

 

Hang in there.

Laura88 Newbie
Laura88
Posted
  • Author

Okay so I had an immunoglobin blood test done the results were:

IgG 9.27 g/l

IgA 2.01 g/l

IgM 0.73 g/l

I'm not quite sure what all of that means!

beth01 Enthusiast
beth01
Posted

Did you get a physical lab report?  The normal values should be listed next to the test value, to the right. If I remember correctly, most of the immunoglobin test here in the stated are reported in mg/l or mg/dl.  I was a lab tech for 16 years but haven't been an immunologist so I am not as familiar with these results.  Having the normal values would gives a little more info.  Or maybe someone else knows a little more about them.

Laura88 Newbie
Laura88
Posted
  • Author

Hi Beth. I've had a look at it says the results are in g/l

It's says that the normal values are:

IgG 6-16

IgA 0.8 - 2.8

IgM 0.5-1.9

Is that any help?

beth01 Enthusiast
beth01
Posted

The immunoglobulin panel is all normal.  That wouldn't necessarily make the tTg IgA come up as a false negative, but I would be more concerned about the 0 result.  I  would ask about it.

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