Ttg iga over 250

[Vic40]

Hello! I've just been given my blood results and told they are highly suggestive of coeliacs but will have to wait till next month to see the gastroenterologist and who knows how much longer for a biopsy.

My igA, igG and tissuetrans igA were all over 250 and tissuetrans igG was the only one that was normal. These results don't mean much to me yet but I'm told they are very high.

I'm now quite fearful of how much damage I've gone to myself. I've had stomach problems for 25 years (just turned 40) and have often steered clear of too much bread and pasta for how bloated it made me feel but the symptoms were always vague and inconsistent so I kept eating. I had a couple of boats of gastro in the past few months (thanks kids) which I took a lot longer than normal to recover from which looking back may have been related. Then last Friday I had a blowout with wine, cheese, crackers, pizza and chocolate cake. I'm sure I've probably had blowouts like that before but I have never felt so sick before and am still slowly recovering. This is what finally prompted me to go back to my GP after being fobbed off so many times over the years.

So I guess my question and my concern is whether there is still  chance of a false positive with levels like this? I worry what else it might be if not coeliac. I'm also worried that I may have done so much damage to myself that I will have several disorders going on! I'm also still recovering from last Friday and wondering when I'm going to feel better. I've stayed off gluten and dairy since my blood result a couple of days ago but feel like I'm allergic to food in general. 

Thankyou!!

 

 

[cyclinglady]

I am sorry that you are sick!  

Unfortunately, all celiac testing requires you to be on gluten.  ?.   Testing is usually not over until you get an actual diagnosis, but it appears that you may very well have celiac disease.    Here is more information:

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

in the meantime, you can eliminate dairy products temporarily.  It may provide some relief.  

[pschwab]

My son's antibodies were 300. Based on his extremely high levels, his pediatric GI suggested genetic testing instead of the biopsy. Genetic testing can't diagnose celiac on its own but combined with such high levels, the gi dr was confident a positive genetic test would confidently diagnose celiac. He warned that biopsies are small snapshots of the intestine and can miss damage. He said this is an approach used very often in Europe but not as much in the US. What sold me on that approach was the ability to put my son directly on a gluten free diet instead of waiting three weeks for the biopsy, during which time he would continue to eat gluten and feel terrible. I'm not sure if this is more common with younger patients though (our son is two), based on the idea that he's had less time to inflict damage that would show in a biopsy? We are very happy that we immediately started the gluten free diet and chose the genetic testing. Our son got the proper diagnosis and his recent number shows a drop to 71 after only 4.5 months gluten free! Not sure if this helps. Good luck and I hope you feel better soon!

[Vic40]

Thankyou both! I was wondering if my high levels left much doubt on the diagnosis. I don't see the GI until the 15th Sep and I don't think I can stand to eat gluten in that time. If he tells me to I will do so after then. After 25 years of symptoms I don't think there is much chance of healing my bowel In a couple of weeks. I'm actually terrified of the damage they might find. But I think I will need the endo since there may be other things going on with me. So great they didn't put your son through the biopsy! Once I have a formal diagnosis I have my kids to worry about also. I can't even stand the thought of my daughter having a blood test. I think she would need to be sedated as she is so fearful and pain sensitive. My son is not yet 2 so I don't think they will test him. I'm feeling so off at the moment. I think I have some anxiety and reflux going on complicating things quite a bit.