Suspecting Celiac Disease

[KLH36]

I am 36 yes old and I have severe stomach problems, daily headaches, some mild joint pain,and what I think is psoriasis on my head and nose. My aunt has been tested and has Celiac's. I have diarrhea almost daily, bloating, horrible painful gas, nausea,and heartburn. Also, every few months I have severe abdominal pain lasting about an hr but I am curled in a ball for that hr. I take a lot of pepto. My headaches have been diagnosed as migraines but meds don't help. I have a history of anxiety and depression and right now I'm dealing w some slight memory loss or maybe just brain fog. How much is testing? I'm miserable most days but I'm not letting it affect my life. In need of advice.

[KLH36]

I have also had an elevated platelet count for the past year and a half.

[nvsmom]

I'm afraid I have no idea what testing costs, but I can tell you which tests to look into, which I really think you should - your symptoms are the same as mine were.  

 

Make sure you are eating gluten (1-2 slices of bread per day) in the 8-12 weeks prior to blood tests, and 4-8 weeks prior to the biopsy.

 

The tests:

• tTG IgA and tTG IgG (tissue transglutaminase) - most common tests
• DGP IgA and DGP IgG (deaminated gliadin peptides) - newer test, good at detecting early celiac disease
• EMA IgA (endomysial antibody) - similar to the tTG IgA but tends to detect more advanced disease
• total serum IgA (a control test)
• AGA IgA and AGA IgG (anti-gliadin antibodies) - older and less reliable tests largely replaced by the DGP tests
• endoscopic biopsy (6+ samples taken)
• skin biopsy - if there is a dermatitis herpetiformis rash - taken from beside an active rash
• DQ2 and or DQ8 genetic tests - these won't tell you if you have celiac disease, but will let you know if you are in the higher risk portion of the population

Good luck!

[KLH36]

Thank you so much for the information. I suppose I should start eating bread more often for awhile.

[nvsmom]

If you can stomach it, it will help make the tests more reliable.  Those blood tests can miss up to a quarter of all celiacs (the old AGA tests miss even more) so it is wise to make sure you are not gluten light before the test.  Good luck.