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Question About Blood Test

beadgirl

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beadgirl Rookie
beadgirl
Posted

Hello everyone.

 

I have just started the gluten challenge for a biopsy. I have been eating gluten on and off for several months, but prior to that I went gluten free (at least most of the time) for a couple of years after discovering that gluten/wheat is the cause of my lifelong eczema/dermatitis. At that time I had a blood test which was negative for celiac, but positive for the HLA DQ2 gene. I was not on the gluten challenge at the time, but I wasn't entirely gluten free either. As well as eczema, I have been bloated with IBS issues since my early teens and have had numerous neurological issues, chronic pain and vitamin/mineral deficiencies.

 

My question is: do you need to be on the gluten challenge for the blood test to be accurate? I understand that not eating gluten at all will affect the result, but do you need to eat the required level of gluten on the gluten challenge for the blood test? Or is that just for the biopsy? I have been eating some amount of gluten almost daily for a couple of months, and I feel horrible with much worse gastrointestinal symptoms than I have ever had, which is why I felt that I might as well keep it going and get a biopsy so I can stop guessing. Can I get a blood test now, or do I need to be on the gluten challenge for longer?

 

Thanks for your time :)

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kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

What is a gluten challenge?

A gluten challenge is the period of time when gluten is added back into a person’s diet to assist in the diagnosis of celiac disease. Antibodies take time to build into the blood stream before they can be detected through blood analysis. For a gluten challenge we recommend eating 1/2 slice of bread or a cracker each day for the duration of the challenge.

  • Prior to blood testing we recommend 12 weeks of eating gluten.
  • Prior to an endoscopic biopsy we recommend 2 weeks of eating gluten.

In the case of a severe reaction to gluten, a medical professional may opt to shorten the 12-week challenge and move immediately to an endoscopic biopsy.

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beadgirl Rookie
beadgirl
Posted
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Thank you kareng!

beadgirl Rookie
beadgirl
Posted
  • Author

That's different to here (Australia). We're required to eat the equivalent of four slices of bread for 6 weeks.

nvsmom Community Regular
nvsmom
Posted

That's different to here (Australia). We're required to eat the equivalent of four slices of bread for 6 weeks.

Often if you increase your gluten intake, doctors will accept a shorter challenge, but not everybody could handle that much gluten for so long.

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