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Ttg Iga 14 - Not That High?

hazelnutty42

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hazelnutty42 Rookie
hazelnutty42
Posted

I'm new here and have been reading through posts trying to find answers but didn't see anything about this specifically. I've had GI issues for a few years and finally had blood tests done and my TTG IgA was 14. I know that anything greater than 10 is positive but seems like most people here have numbers WAY higher (100+).  I have an biopsy and colonoscopy scheduled and my GI doc said there isn't much to say until he sees those results. He said 14 is technically celiac but he's "not convinced". Whatever that means. So is 14 just a little high? Not a big deal? Would love any feedback. Thanks! 

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GottaSki Mentor
GottaSki
Posted

I'm new here and have been reading through posts trying to find answers but didn't see anything about this specifically. I've had GI issues for a few years and finally had blood tests done and my TTG IgA was 14. I know that anything greater than 10 is positive but seems like most people here have numbers WAY higher (100+).  I have an biopsy and colonoscopy scheduled and my GI doc said there isn't much to say until he sees those results. He said 14 is technically celiac but he's "not convinced". Whatever that means. So is 14 just a little high? Not a big deal? Would love any feedback. Thanks! 

 

Positive is positive.  One need not have extremely high numbers on any of the celiac antibody tests to have celiac disease.  There are a few reasons other than Celiac Disease that raise the tTG, but with digestive issues and positive antibody test it certainly sounds like celiac.

 

Did this doctor run a complete celiac antibody panel or just the tTG?

 

Here is a complete panel:

 

Total Serum IgA

tTG - both IgA and IgG

DGP - both IgA and IgG

EMA - IgA

 

As an example...all of my celiac antibodies were positive, but most were only "weak" positive, yet I had complete villious atrophy - all samples.

 

Keep eating gluten until the endoscopy and do make sure your doctor is planning to take 6-8 samples from the small intestine.

 

Welcome to the forum!

SMRI Collaborator
SMRI
Posted

It's kind of like being pregnant--either you are or you are not :D

BlessedMommy Rising Star
BlessedMommy
Posted

^I was just about to say the same thing! :)

 

My pregnancy test with my oldest was a very "weak positive" but I was just as pregnant! 

nvsmom Community Regular
nvsmom
Posted

Welcome to the board.  :)

 

You are 40% over and above the normal range... doesn't seem that weak to me.  ;)  Yes, some of us had really high tests, but many did not - that's part of the reason this forum is so popular is because the testing can be soooo confusing.  There are also those out there who had completely negative blood tests but a positive biopsy.  And then there is the reverse where you get a negative biopsy but positive labs....

 

I very rarely see someone whose lab results all scream "Celiac!"  It's definitely the minority. LOL

SMRI Collaborator
SMRI
Posted

Welcome to the board.   :)

 

You are 40% over and above the normal range... doesn't seem that weak to me.   ;)  Yes, some of us had really high tests, but many did not - that's part of the reason this forum is so popular is because the testing can be soooo confusing.  There are also those out there who had completely negative blood tests but a positive biopsy.  And then there is the reverse where you get a negative biopsy but positive labs....

 

I very rarely see someone whose lab results all scream "Celiac!"  It's definitely the minority. LOL

 

I think I am one of the few here that tested positive for every test, the IGA, IGG, genes, biopsy, etc.  I would also say that I am one of the least symptomatic people here too....so you just never know. :D.  I was being tested for other things and my dr tossed in the Celiac testing.  My only real symptom was D.  I had other symptoms that I didn't know where related until they went away or started getting better without gluten--brain fog especially--but since most of my friends report the same in perimenopause-I just attributed it to that.

hazelnutty42 Rookie
hazelnutty42
Posted
  • Author

Thank you everyone. These are the blood tests that I know where done:

 

Celiac AB:

Deamidated Gliadin IgA--?

TTG IgA --14

Serum IgA Quantitation--?

 

I wasn't told any answers except TTG IgA . My primary doc was the one to call me and say the "gluten test was abnormal and you'll need to follow a gluten free diet". Then at my GI appt yesterday that doc didn't even mention the abnormal test until I asked him. He was only going to do a colonoscopy to check for colitis but I asked him what that test result was my other doctor was talking about. That made him go back to look - like he hadn't before! - and said the TTG IgA was 14 and so he would do a biopsy as well. He still wasn't convinced. My liver, etc were fine. I just wonder what he's not convinced about. 

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SMRI Collaborator
SMRI
Posted

Thank you everyone. These are the blood tests that I know where done:

 

Celiac AB:

Deamidated Gliadin IgA--?

TTG IgA --14

Serum IgA Quantitation--?

 

I wasn't told any answers except TTG IgA . My primary doc was the one to call me and say the "gluten test was abnormal and you'll need to follow a gluten free diet". Then at my GI appt yesterday that doc didn't even mention the abnormal test until I asked him. He was only going to do a colonoscopy to check for colitis but I asked him what that test result was my other doctor was talking about. That made him go back to look - like he hadn't before! - and said the TTG IgA was 14 and so he would do a biopsy as well. He still wasn't convinced. My liver, etc were fine. I just wonder what he's not convinced about. 

 

Without knowing the range the lab used, it's hard to say if it's "normal" or not.  My lab would have called you a weak positive and then referred you for further testing because lab errors could account for the 14 vs 10 or less that would signal a negative.  I would guess, given the GI's reaction, that your other tests were in normal ranges??  I would call the first dr and request a copy of the complete test results--or, if you have online access, they should be there.  My numbers were not 100+ high but my TTG IgA was 32, my TTG IgG was in the 65 range.  For my lab, anything over 20 was a definite positive but they still did the scope and biopsy for a baseline look and the gene testing.

cyclinglady Grand Master
cyclinglady
Posted

My test results were "mildly positive" but the biopsy showed moderate to severe damage (Marsh Stage IIIB). My only symptom at the time was anemia and since I already had a genetic anemia and I was going through perimenopause (heavy periods), my doctors did not catch it. Only during a GI consult for a routine colonoscopy was my celiac disease caught (I seriously think my GI doc must have just attended a conference or recently read a paper about celiac diease.)

What was really shocking (and put me into denial), was the fact my husband had been gluten-free for 12 years. He went gluten-free per the advice of my allergist and his GP. Sinus infections, snoring, fatigue, body aches? Give up gluten. It worked!!!!!! We really would have like a formal diagnosis though!

GottaSki Mentor
GottaSki
Posted

Thank you everyone. These are the blood tests that I know where done:

Celiac AB:

Deamidated Gliadin IgA--?

TTG IgA --14

Serum IgA Quantitation--?

I wasn't told any answers except TTG IgA . My primary doc was the one to call me and say the "gluten test was abnormal and you'll need to follow a gluten free diet". Then at my GI appt yesterday that doc didn't even mention the abnormal test until I asked him. He was only going to do a colonoscopy to check for colitis but I asked him what that test result was my other doctor was talking about. That made him go back to look - like he hadn't before! - and said the TTG IgA was 14 and so he would do a biopsy as well. He still wasn't convinced. My liver, etc were fine. I just wonder what he's not convinced about.

Unfortunately not all gastroenterologists are well educated with regard to celiac disease. We should not have to convince our doctors...sadly it happens far too often.

Just a suggestion, but I would check if there are any celiac savvy GIs near you.

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