Celiac Testing

[Fbmb]

Hi! I'm new here, and I'm looking for some information because I'm having a hard time finding it. 

Over Labor Day weekend I got some kind of intestinal bug. I didn't think much of it until the D persisted once a day up til now. I tried a priobiotic but that didn't help much. I have bad anxiety and began to think that I was just anxious and stressed. No fever, no pain, all bloodwork is normal, so no infection or anemia.

My mother has 5 siblings and 3 have celiac. One other one had a high result on a blood test but was never officially diagnosed and insists she doesn't have it. So I went to my local health fair and got the ttg-iga test, just in case. My result came back at >100. So I have called and scheduled a visit with a GI for next week.

Aside from the recent intestinal issues I have never thought that I had any signs of celiac. I do have dermatographism and have had that since I was 20 (I am 28). I have severe anxiety. I had PUPPPS when I was pregnant with my daughter and it was miserable. It looks much like the skin rashes that celiacs have. Again, didn't think much of it.

Because of my anxiety I am terrified that this high blood test is from something else, like crohn's. I don't have diabetes, my liver and thyroid numbers are fine. I think it's much more plausible that this is celiac because of my family history. But my anxiety says "what if it's crohns?"

Does anyone have any insight? Is it true that the ttg iga can be elevated from crohns and not celiac? Is >100 pretty definitive of celiac? I didn't know if crohns was the cause if the number would be this high. 

I'm just freaked out. 

[kareng]

When it's that high, it almost always means Celiac.  Sure, you can have Crohns, too.  Just like you can have Celiac and diabetes, the common cold or a hang nail.  I wouldn't jump to Chrohns.  I don't think the tTg really has anything to do with Chrohns?  Where did you see that?  Sometimes, a slightly elevate tTg can be elevated from other issues, but >100 is not a " slightly elevated" reading

[cyclinglady]

I am sorry that you are so stressed!  But think about it.  Even if you should receive a Crohn's diagnosis, you just going to deal with it.  Chances are, with a celiac family history like yours, it is more likely to be celiac disease.  Try not to worry.  Think of the positive, you could be catching a relatively early diagnosis.  Perhaps, you can help your sibilings and children too.  Not all celiacs have symptoms.  

 

 

[Fbmb]

I guess I feel like if it is celiac that's ok. I know so many people with celiac and I feel ok about it. But anything else terrifies me. I just read online that elevated blood tests can be from crohns and not necessarily  celiac. But I don't know how elevated they mean. I also don't know how common that is.

I don't have symptoms of crohns aside from the intestinal issues. No pain, no elevated white count, no bleeding or anemia, my weight is stable. I just didn't know if the ttg-iga can detect crohns rather than just celiac. 

I do think that my weird hives that I get upon scratching or brushing up against something could be related to celiac, if that's what I have. My PUPPP rash was miserable. I never related it to gluten and I don't know if other women with celiac have experienced that. My anxiety started right around the same time that my dermatographism started. I have keratosis on the backs of my arms and on my thighs. They come and go. After my last pregnancy the backs of my arms felt like sandpaper. I can't help but wondering if it's all connected. 

[kareng]

I see no mention of the use of tTg tests to indicate the presence of Chrohns

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[Fbmb]

Thank you for posting that. I've had a lot of that bloodwork done and everything is normal. At the peak of this belly bug I had blood work done and my white count was fine. I think it's just my health anxiety scaring me into thinking this is something scarier (to me) than celiac. Maybe the anxiety will subside once I go gluten-free. The anxiety is brutal.

[cyclinglady]

Hang in there!  Count your blessings.  Do something you like to do and relax. I know that is hard to do as a young mother (as I sit here in the kitchen sipping coffee quietly as my teenager is sleeping in after a late football game last night where she marched in 90 degree plus weather in full uniform).   But seriously, take a few minutes to relax!  

[Fbmb]

Thanks for the advice  I keep telling myself that if I have to have some kind of weird health issue I would prefer celiac over so many other things. I'm assuming it's what I have, since there are no other reasons why my number was so elevated. And with my good blood work maybe I caught it early before it starts to wreak have on my body. I'm looking forward to talking with the GI, and in the meantime I'll do my best to relax and stay away from Dr. Google. 

[GFinDC]

Hi,

The normal process of diagnosing celiac disease is to do blood antibody testing first, and then do an endoscopy to check for small intestine damage characteristic of celiac disease.  You should not go gluten-free until all testing is completed.  There are several more antibody tests beyond the ttg IGA that can and should be done.  The DGP IgA and DGP IgG are 2 for sure that are specific to celiac disease.  They test for IgA and IgG antibodies to gliaden, the specific protein in wheat that celiacs react to.  Celiacs also react to barley and rye proteins but they don't commonly do tests for antibodies to those proteins.

There is a thread called Newbie 101 in the coping with forum sub-section that has some good information.