Confused by my blood panel results

[rachelliz]

Hello there! So I have been experiencing horrible digestion problems after consuming gluten for years and just last week I woke up with a severe headache with breathing problems following a day where I ate more gluten containing products than I normally do. I figured maybe it was an allergic reaction to wheat, so yesterday I went to my allergist for food allergy testing. She suggested I also get the celiac blood panel done, so she ordered it. This morning I received two results and I am extremely confused by them.

I should also mention when Kaiser released test results they are always very confusing.

IGA  my range: 109 mg/dL Normal range: 70 - 400 mg/dL

TISSUE TRANSGLUTAMINASE IGA  my range: <1.23 U/mL  normal range: <=3.99 U/mL

 

My question is, is it normal for my IGA to be in that range. Would it affect the accuracy of the test results?

[Jmg]

Hello and welcome

Reading your post it looks like each of your results were within the 'normal' range. There doesn't appear to be mention of a total serum IGA to make sure you have enough of this to begin with to make the test accurate however - but there are others here who are more experienced who may be able to tell you more.

There are some other celiac tests:

tTG IgA and tTG IgG

-DGP IgA and DGP IgG

-EMA IgA 

-total serum IgA and IgG (control test to ensure tests are not false negatives)

 

They may not be covered by your provider however. Note that you appear to have been avoiding gluten somewhat already, that could impact on the tests accuracy. Your symptoms sound like they could be gluten related (but then practically everything could!) but you may want to discuss with your doctor whether to push for further testing or move to trial gluten free diet. Some people, like myself, test negative but still find symptoms respond to gluten free.

 

Best of luck!

[tessa25]

The full celiac panel checks TTG IGA and IGG, DGP IGA and IGG, IGA, EMA as Jmg stated above. Your test included TTG IGA and IGA. If your IGA was low, a low on TTG IGA would be inconclusive. But your IGA is fine.

A high on any one test is a positive for celiac and should lead to an endoscopy for confirmation. So I'd get tested for TTG IGG, DGP IGA and IGG and EMA since there are symptoms.

Warning I'm not a doc.

 

 

[cyclinglady]

Only GIs can order a complete celiac panel at Kaiser.  

Your results look negative, but those are just "screening" results.   You are not IgA deficient (used only as a control test for celiac disease) so that means the TTG IgA test worked.  If you suspect celiac disease,  ask for a GI referral.   Keep eating gluten!!!!  If you go gluten free then all the celiac tests will be invalid.  You should rule out other issues like Crohn's, SIBO, etc based on your symptoms and health history.  

I would ask for a complete celiac panel from the GI.  Why?  Not all celiacs  test positive to the TTG which is a cheaper, but excellent test but does not catch all celiacs like me!!!  

[rachelliz]

So just to clarify  had not consumed any gluten for about 4 days before testing. I was assured by my allergist that it wouldn't affect the test. But what was alarming was that she retested my food allergies (my most recent reaction was two weeks ago) and every food allergy I have came back negative. I don't understand how that is possible. These food allergies developed when I was 20 and I am almost 24 now.

[cyclinglady]

1 hour ago, rachelliz said:

So just to clarify  had not consumed any gluten for about 4 days before testing. I was assured by my allergist that it wouldn't affect the test. But what was alarming was that she retested my food allergies (my most recent reaction was two weeks ago) and every food allergy I have came back negative. I don't understand how that is possible. These food allergies developed when I was 20 and I am almost 24 now.

Exactly what are your allergy symptoms?  Were they IgG or IgE?  Allergy testing as a whole is not super accurate -- especially the IgG.  Were you on any H1 or H2 antihistamines for the last five days  when you were tested?  

As far as celiac testing, four days without consuming gluten probably would not impact testing.  

[Jmg]

5 hours ago, rachelliz said:

So just to clarify  had not consumed any gluten for about 4 days before testing. I was assured by my allergist that it wouldn't affect the test. But what was alarming was that she retested my food allergies (my most recent reaction was two weeks ago) and every food allergy I have came back negative. I don't understand how that is possible. These food allergies developed when I was 20 and I am almost 24 now.

Obviously from the outside it's difficult to comment, but if I were you I'd leave allergies for now and pursue definitive celiac testing via your doctor and preferably a gastroenterologist. They're the first port of call for digestion issues. If you do wind up being celiac it's possible that other allergies or intolerances would resolve or improve in any case once you've been on the diet for awhile. That's been my experience.  

Ps note that wheat allergy is completely different and unrelated to celiac or non celiac gluten sensitivity. 

[rachelliz]

Hey y'all so I realized my allergy medicine probably affected the results of the IgE allergy blood tests. I tried to start eating gluten again so that I would be able to get the full blood panel from my GI but I can't do it. I ate two meals with gluten yesterday and ended up spending half the night in the bathroom throwing up because my body couldn't digest any of it. Do you know if there are any other ways a GI could diagnose possible celiac without me having to consume it?

[Luxie]

On 4/26/2017 at 10:16 AM, tessa25 said:

The full celiac panel checks TTG IGA and IGG, DGP IGA and IGG, IGA, EMA as Jmg stated above. Your test included TTG IGA and IGA. If your IGA was low, a low on TTG IGA would be inconclusive. But your IGA is fine.

A high on any one test is a positive for celiac and should lead to an endoscopy for confirmation. So I'd get tested for TTG IGG, DGP IGA and IGG and EMA since there are symptoms.

Warning I'm not a doc.

 

 

Hi Tessa, I was reading your response in the thread and curious if you had any advice. I’m still waiting for some more tests to come back to check my 8yr old son for Celiac. My aunt took years to be diagnosed with it, and only showed positive after completing a gluten challenge about 2 yrs ago. (we just found out when he was hospitalized in March.) I do not have a confirmed diagnoses of Celiac for myself (yet) but since Childhood had almost every symptom, they checked for tons of other things, but never Celiac. I lived with the daily stomach pain and migraines and more, until this past year when I went gluten free. I now realized that the daily pain I was in was very abnormal. I just grew accustomed to it. My Dr is now ordering a full Celiac panel, we are hoping I test positive. That or my sons GI asked if I would be willing to do a gluten challenge. I have 4 kids and that sounds awful. But will do it if I have to for my son. They are trying to narrow down Celiac, UC, or possible Crohns or combo of Celiac and another. He said he really thinks Celiac, but wants to rule out other things and try to get a positive Celiac if he can, until then he will treat him as Celiac, and said no more eating out at gluten-free places no matter how careful they say they are, he said it’s too risky and only eat at home. 

My son was admitted to the hospital in March with severe stomach pain. He had an inflamed appendix (but not yet infected), inflamed liver/bladder, and some swollen intestine. (Not sure the medical term for the last.) They did almost every test, and repeated some multiple times . CT, multiple ultrasounds, then again a CT.  They did not remove appendix yet, though if he has another screaming disabling bout of pain, they will. He has daily stomach pain and cramping. When he was released they put him on a gluten-free and DF diet. He has been on it since March. He rarely ate gluten before the hospitalization, maybe 5 times in 6 months. 3 of those times being the days leading up to his hospitalization and not much, but more than he was used to.. So his peds said they were pretty sure his TTG would be negative but said Celiac is a strong possibility with his symptoms and family history. His TTG was at 1.23. Then his IGA was 90 with range of 64-209. So both normal. In the past 9months his symptoms improved unless he was exposed to cross contamination of gluten. But recently it’s been way worse because my brother let him eat sweet potato fries at Dave and Busters thinking they were gluten-free but they are cooked with all the breaded onion rings and more there. Then my son had a huge flare up that night and it’s not been good since. Even his rash came back that had been gone for so many months. Now his GI is running a ton of tests, trying to get him a positive Celiac if he can, but checking liver, kidneys, etc. I’m still waiting on more tests to come in but his new IGA is 71 with the ran ge of 64 - 209. Since he dropped almost 20 points after a cross contamination, is there a possibility he is dropping even more and IGA deficient, but we aren’t screening him enough? He also has so many IGA deficient symptoms too, constant ear and sinus infections, asthma, etc.... I’m not sure what other screening I should request? I just want to know how to stop the pain for him. He just turned 8 and yesterday yelled at his 10yr old brother for complaining about something minor about himself, and told him,”you need to stop complaining, it’s a tiny pain, I lI’ve with bad tummy pain every day, and you don’t hear me complaining constantly. I only say something if I can’t take it anymore.” ? Just made me realize his pain is way worse than he even lets me know. Any suggestions for any new tests would be great.

Btw, after he went gluten-free back in march, after 6wks, he started eating gluten-free pasta and gluten-free breads because he knew they wouldn’t hurt his tummy. Before he would not touch them and screamed at you if you suggested he took a bite. He would only eat protein. I thought he had texture issues with food, but it wasn’t that, it was just that he avoided most things since they caused him pain. Now that he is gluten-free he will actually try new foods. But he does flare with any cross contamination. Like 3 days ago at grandmas House she used a non gluten-free toaster, and he was in pain after.