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PCP was convinced but suggested biopsy anyway

Vegasgirl2007

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Vegasgirl2007 Newbie
Vegasgirl2007
Posted

My PCP ran a CBC, thyroid test, and food allergy panel in addition to a celiac panel consisting of Gliadin AB, Deamid. IgG, Gliadin AB, Deamid. IgA, TTG IgG, and TTG IgA. Everything was completely normal except the celiac panel (he said he was truly shocked at the fact that the numbers not only indicated positive results but all were actually off the charts with both IgA tests over 10x higher than the minimum positive thresholds.) He said that really the only reason to go through with the biopsy was to set a baseline for the future, but he did give a referral to a gastroenterologist. I decided to try to stop eating gluten for a few days to see if I noticed ANY difference because I absolutely love every gluten filled creation you can come up with (ok a bit of an exaggeration because I am a picky eater, but I truly felt that I would starve without it!). I was skeptical but after 3 days, the headache that I have had for months went away and I could feel the muscles in my back and neck trying to start to relax-even muscle relaxers for a month barely achieved that. After about 2 weeks, the itchy, blistering rash on my knees and elbows (which I had on and off, mostly on depending on diet at the time, for about 10 years) completely stopped itching and has almost completely gone away. The gastroenterologist seemed to think that I was faking it because it is a "fad", he actually hadn't seen the results of the bloodwork and kind of changed his attitude towards me once he did. I scheduled the biopsy for next Wednesday, but that will put me at about 3.5 weeks gluten free. I actually feel somewhat better although there is still a long way to go, but I am concerned that I may have gone off gluten for too long, especially given his attitude towards me and what I have read about false negatives due to sampling techniques during biopsies. Is it worth eating gluten for the next week or is it too late? I have a doctor's note for work/meeting meals already and even though I was extremely doubtful, I do feel better.

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squirmingitch Veteran
squirmingitch
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