What is it?

[Unicorn fairy]

Hi!

 

Well Thursday I went to my doctor and she thought I had all the symptoms of hashimotos and ran a full thyroid panel but also ran a wheat igg because she said she lot people she sees have a gluten sensitivity with thyroid disorders.  Well I got my results back today and my thyroid panel is completely normal.  However my wheat igg test was 8.5 and it's supposed to be less than 2. But she said its not celiac it's just sensitivity.  From what I've done research on sensitivity is the prelude to celiac.  I'm so confused I have no idea what's going.  Help!

[kareng]

From what you have said, I'm not sure what was actually run.  Is this am MD?  Get a full Celiac panel blood test.

[Unicorn fairy]

She's an internist. 

[Unicorn fairy]

She ran a wheat gf4 IgG. Mine was 8.5 and it's supposed to be less than 2.

[kareng]

That isn't be a test for Celiac disease.  You might want to get that before you decide to go gluten free.

[Unicorn fairy]

Well what is it a test for?

[kareng]

These are the tests, and there are a few older ones that may be done, for Celiac disease.  

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Currently, there are no legitimate blood  tests for Gluten sensitivity.

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[kareng]

If it is just an odd way of saying  a tTg IGA, you might still want a full panel.  But a positive Celiac test needs further investigation by a GI doctor that may include a full celiac panel and an endoscopy.  It would not mean just a little sensitivity to gluten.

[GFinDC]

Hi,

The antibodies they look for in celiac disease are antibodies to gliaden, a protein in wheat.  They don't test for antibodies to wheat in general.  Perhaps she was running a test for allergies?  That would be an IgE test though.

It would be helpful for you to get the full test results and post them along with the test ranges.  They should include a range of negative and positive values.  The ranges vary by different labs so there is no generic range.  It is something specific to the lab.  A full celiac panel would be good to get per KarenG's suggestion.  Often a doctor will order just the ttg IgA as an initial screening test.  But there are several other tests that they can run which show different types of antibodies.  The demaidated gliaden protein test is generally abbreviated as DGP IgA or DGP IgG.  The DGP tests are very specific for gliaden antibodies.

So you don't have enough test results at the moment to show the full picture.  Sometimes people are only positive on one of the antibody tests but not on others.  So if you don't get the full celiac disease panel you might not think you are positive but could be.

There is also a gene test they can do but it only shows if you have the genes that could lead to celiac disease.  About 30% of people have those genes, but a much smaller percentage of people will actually develop celiac disease.  So the genes can't diagnose celiac disease, only eliminate it as a possibility.

Your internist is correct about thyroid problems and celiac disease.  Hashimoto's Thyroiditis seems to be associated with celiac disease.  Also gall bladder problems and many other issues are.

The usual testing process is a celiac antibodies test panel and then an endoscopy to check for small intestine damage.  You need to keep eating gluten until all the tests are done as the tests are looking for an immune reaction that begins to decline when you stop eating gluten.

[Unicorn fairy]

This is the test she ran and when I asked her if it was celiac she said it was a step down and celiac was a more severe reaction to gluten. But I still don't understand. From what y'all are saying she should have ran more and gotten the whole picture.  Maybe when I go back next month I can ask her to test?

[kareng]

The reason I asked if it was an actual MD that you saw, was because MDs usually don't run these unproven tests.  If it were me, I wouldn't settle for this.   And I would be mad because many insurance companies won't pay for this stuff., so you may be stuck paying for it.  

[Unicorn fairy]

I never got a bill for it.  But I also have Medicaid and I think Medicaid covers this.  Not sure though. 

[GFinDC]

I tried looking this test up on the Quest site and all it says is the name of the test.  That isn't a big help.  They do have a contact page for questions, so maybe you can message them and ask what their test includes.  They do say on their site that there is no test for non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) so it's not that.  I guess it's not an elephant either but that still leaves a lot of possibilities.

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[emma6]

this is a really odd test for a doctor to start with.

i would recommend reading up on food intolerance testing, the test you had is similar to the pinnertest that is promoted all over instagram at the moment. the accuracy and science behind it is questionable at best. it

if you think you have a problem with gluten please get an actual celiac blood test done and maybe wheat allergy testing before you go gluten free

Quote

Serological tests for immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4) against foods are persistently
promoted for the diagnosis of food-induced hypersensitivity. Since many
patients believe that their symptoms are related to food ingestion without
diagnostic confirmation of a causal relationship, tests for food-specific IgG4
represent a growing market. Testing for blood IgG4 against different foods is
performed with large-scale screening for hundreds of food items by enzymelinked
immunosorbent assay-type and radioallergosorbent-type assays in young
children, adolescents and adults. However, many serum samples show positive
IgG4 results without corresponding clinical symptoms. These findings, combined
with the lack of convincing evidence for histamine-releasing properties of
IgG4 in humans, and lack of any controlled studies on the diagnostic value of
IgG4 testing in food allergy, do not provide any basis for the hypothesis that
food-specific IgG4 should be attributed with an effector role in food hypersensitivity.
In contrast to the disputed beliefs, IgG4 against foods indicates that
the organism has been repeatedly exposed to food components, recognized as
foreign proteins by the immune system. Its presence should not be considered as
a factor which induces hypersensitivity, but rather as an indicator for immunological
tolerance, linked to the activity of regulatory T cells. In conclusion,
food-specific IgG4 does not indicate (imminent) food allergy or intolerance, but
rather a physiological response of the immune system after exposition to food
components. Therefore, testing of IgG4 to foods is considered as irrelevant for
the laboratory work-up of food allergy or intolerance and should not be performed
in case of food-related complaints.

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