Can Medication Affect Test Results? Labs?

[kelliac]

Does anyone know if prednisone, remicade and/or imuran can affect labs? What about endoscopy/biopsies? If those drugs suppress the immune system, do they make the villi appear normal (albeit temporarily).

[kuunami]

Does anyone know if prednisone, remicade and/or imuran can affect labs? What about endoscopy/biopsies? If those drugs suppress the immune system, do they make the villi appear normal (albeit temporarily).

I've been asking this question everywhere but nobody seems to have an answer. If somebody knows the answer it would really help me out.

[Looking for answers]

My guess is that they would. Have you asked your doctor?

[kuunami]

My guess is that they would. Have you asked your doctor?

My doctor had me take a celiac panel and many other blood tests because of the chronic itching and rash that I've been having knowing that I'm on prednisone. So I'm guessing that she either didn't think it could affect the results, didn't know, or didn't care. The results for everything came back negative but now I'm not sure if I can trust the results because of the prednisone. I'm having trouble trusting doctors because it seems that when they don't know the answer to something they just brush you off.

[mushroom]

To the best of my knowledge, speaking strictly as a layperson, taking prednisone, Remicade, or Imuran, would not affect your anitibody tests. As they are all anti-inflammatory and immunusupressant, they would affect the levels of inflammation in your body (on biopsy), and would lower the results of a C-reactive Protein test (CRP) which measures inflammation levels in the body by blood test. But I do not believe that these drugs can suppress the gluten antibodies or magically make villi regenerate. I may be wrong about the antibodies

[nasalady]

Does anyone know if prednisone, remicade and/or imuran can affect labs? What about endoscopy/biopsies? If those drugs suppress the immune system, do they make the villi appear normal (albeit temporarily).

Hi kelliac,

My gastroenterologist gave me a clinical diagnosis of celiac disease even though my tests were negative (blood work and biopsy). I have the HLA DQ8 marker, reacted very strongly to a gluten challenge, and have family members with celiac disease, including 3 of my 5 grandchildren. He said that my prednisone and Imuran would suppress antibody production and allow my villi to re-generate.

I guess the bottom line is that we need to listen to our bodies. How do you feel when you eat gluten? How do you feel when you don't? If you feel better gluten free, then you have your answer! It doesn't really matter whether they call it celiac disease or gluten intolerance because the treatment is the same for both: the gluten free diet!

Good luck with everything!

JoAnn

[kuunami]

To the best of my knowledge, speaking strictly as a layperson, taking prednisone, Remicade, or Imuran, would not affect your anitibody tests. As they are all anti-inflammatory and immunusupressant, they would affect the levels of inflammation in your body (on biopsy), and would lower the results of a C-reactive Protein test (CRP) which measures inflammation levels in the body by blood test. But I do not believe that these drugs can suppress the gluten antibodies or magically make villi regenerate. I may be wrong about the antibodies

Thank you for your reply, you've been very helpful. The first time that I took the blood test I had been on a gluten free diet for quite sometime but was still having symptoms so I thought that perhaps I was being exposed to gluten but not realizing it. That was before I knew that you have to be consuming gluten regularly for the test to be accurate. I also wasn't sure about how prednisone would effect the results but you cleared that up. I'm planning to retake the celiac panel because at this point I've had roughly 3 months of consistent gluten exposure in my diet. If the test comes back negative again I'll have some piece of mind knowing that perhaps celiac is not the cause of my itch and rash.

[mushroom]

Please do not take what I said as gospel - I was only expressing an opinion on the basis of little research. I would seek further opinion on whether these drugs suppress antibodies. Since I made that post I have read others who think that they do Please be aware that there are posts on here supported by medical research and other posts expressing the poster's opinion which posts should be verified with further research before being relied upon.